Overnight bus from Yerevan to Tehran

I’ve heard there’re two options to cross the border into Iran, either by using mini buses to break the trip or by taking a direct bus. The direct bus takes around 22 hours to get to Tehran. It leaves at 10:30 in Yerevan and arrives at 8:10 (Iranian time). It’s probably the longest bus ride I’ve ever done.

I’m not sure if it is really necessary to get the ticket in advance but I did it anyway just to be sure. There are some travel agencies that sell the ticket if you don’t want to go all the way to the station. Ticket costs 25000 dram (44€). The bus was only half full and most of the passengers were Iranians. I was surprised to realize that I was the only tourist in the bus, I thought it would be packed with travelers instead.

Iranians on the bus are super friendly, most of them have families in both countries. One guy showed me a photo of his wife, he told me proudly, « Life is good in Yerevan, my wife doesn’t need to wear hijab ».

Here is some piratical information that might to useful.

1. The bus leaves at Kalakia (central) terminal, you find it at the right side in front of the unique church-transferred bus station.
2. There is no toilet in the bus, they did make some stops every 2-3 hours.
3. Bring some Armenian dram (3000ish dram should be enough) order to buy some meals on the way. Later at the border you can change them back to Iranian rial. (the euro/rial rate they gave wasn’t the best but that’s normal.)
4. The seat was comfortable, with big leg space, temperature was at the warm side.
5. The bus arrives at Tehran Azadi Bus Station, which is messy, full of hassles. Luckily I got my ticket for Isfahan in the end.

中文

我经过22个多小时的长途跋涉，终于到伊朗了。关于这个从亚美尼亚到伊朗的跨国大巴，网上信息不多，所以我打算来写写。从叶里温到德黑兰大体有两种方式，一直是这个22小时的直达大巴，还有一种方法就是拆分行程，一段一段走，中途多停靠，我开始也打算起码要在伊朗北部的Tabriz停留一下的，结果还是懒，于是就直接来德黑兰省事。

大巴从叶里温的中央车站出发，每天早上10点半。中央车站很有意思，是一座教堂改建的。我那辆车甚至都没有半满，所以不确定是不是有必要提前订票，我是为了保险起见，提前去随便找了个旅行社订了票，大概花了44欧。有点出乎我意料的是，基本上所有乘客都是伊朗人，就我一个游客，车上人都说我有冒险精神哈哈哈。他们很多人都是住在亚美尼亚的伊朗人，有个大叔还给我看他太太在亚美尼亚的照片，说根本这里不需要戴头巾，多好，顺便黑了几句伊朗政府，顺便提醒我在伊朗多多小心，大叔人很好。

来总结一下这趟车程吧：

车上没有厕所，虽然每隔两三小时停一下，还是不敢多喝水，我可是每天要灌几瓶水的啊。
在亚美尼亚停一次吃午餐，记得准备点零钱，一顿大概3000dram可以解决。
亚美尼亚和伊朗的陆地边界检查很快也很顺利。在边境还钱也很容易，可能汇率不是最好就是了。
车上气温比较热，不需要担心会冷。座椅还算舒服，空间也比较大。
在德黑兰到达的车站是西站，很屌丝，很多拉人买票的汽车公司出租车公司，本来就累，被他们一吵更累，还好休息了一天。从西站可以去伊斯法罕。