One of the most useful modes of transportation in Armenia’s capital city is the humble taxi. This is a Yerevan taxi guide that will help you effortlessly take a taxi in Yerevan with three simple apps and a few tips.
If youʻre booking your trip to Yerevan last minute, we have you covered. Below are some of the top tours, hotels, and more!
🇦🇲 Top Experiences and Tours in/from Yerevan:
- Day Trip to Khorvirap, Noravank, and Areni Winery (top-rated day tour from Yerevan!)
- Garni Temple & Geghard Tour with Lavash Baking Day tour (also popular day tour!)
- Tsaghkadzor & Lake Sevan Guided Tour (wonderful nature tour from Yerevan!)
- Private Walking Food Tour with 6 Tastings (recommended food tour in Yerevan!)
🛌 Top Hotels in Yerevan:
- The Alexander (luxury option + SPA, authentic dining venues, indoor pool!)
- Daniel’s Boutique Hotel (mid-range in excellent location!)
- 14th Floor (in the center with a wonderful view of Mount Ararat!)
- Grand Hostel (budget option in Yerevan!)
🚗 Looking for the best way to get around Armenia? Click here to check rental car rates for Armenia!
Yerevan Taxi Tips: Taking a Taxi in Yerevan with 3 Useful Apps
One of the most frustrating things about arriving in a city as a foreigner is learning how to get around. There are a few efficient ways to get around Yerevan (the Yerevan Pass helps with this), but the easiest way, currently, is via a taxi that will wait for you at the entrance of your hotel in Yerevan.
It might not be the most eco-friendly mode of transportation but in a city with limited options, taxis in Yerevan are a viable way. This guide will showcase three reputable apps that we use to get around Yerevan by taxi.
We will discuss our top picks and the benefits and drawbacks of each. These Armenian apps all work ubiquitously around Yerevan and are great to have downloaded on your phone before your arrival to Armenia.
If you have any additional suggestions, please leave them in the comments section as we will be updating this guide as the Yerevan taxi situation changes over time.
Tips for Taking a Taxi in Yerevan
There are a few things to know about taking a taxi in Yerevan before you do it. Here are a few tips that will help you plan your trip:
⇒ Taxi drivers often smoke: It is commonplace in Yerevan and the rest of Armenia for taxi drivers to smoke in their vehicles.
In fact, it is more of a rarity when they don’t. Just be prepared when hailing a taxi from the street or ordering one by an app. There is a high likelihood that they will pick you up in a vehicle that smells like smoke.
⇒ Taxi drivers often talk on phones when driving: In fact, many Armenians do this.
Until this is phased out, it is a reality when you’re taking a taxi and it is scary. Neither of us has been in an accident or fender-bender in a taxi, but this is just something to be aware of. Hopefully, things will change shortly.
⇒ Many foreign credit cards don’t work on the taxi apps: I actually am unable to get my card connected with any of the taxi apps in Armenia so I have to pay for everything with cash. Just be prepared in case this happens to you too.
⇒ Always have small denominations: If you’re taking a taxi in Armenia, be sure to have small amounts of money on you. I always have a lot of 1000 AMD notes and changes in my wallet just to pay for taxis here.
Sometimes, if you try paying with something larger like a 5000 AMD note, the driver won’t have changed and will entice you into giving him a larger tip.
If you have issues with this, report it to the taxi app immediately. They are supposed to carry change.
⇒ Taxis are affordable in Armenia: Taking a taxi in Yerevan is a very affordable mode of transportation.
You can get across the entire city for under $1 when it is not rush hour. You can get to the suburbs of the city for extremely affordable prices.
You can also get to nearby locations, such as Etchmiadzin, for prices around $5 or the Zvartnots Airport for $4.
⇒ Armenian drivers are friendly and may chat: You may not understand them, but you will, at some point, come across a talker.
Usually, they are harmless and just like small talk… but other times they may want to become Facebook friends, WhatsApp buddies, or to slip something into your Viber.
This is pretty commonplace in Armenia. I have met some really nice taxi drivers in Yerevan over the years from these casual taxi chats, actually.
1. GG Taxi App
The most popular taxi app to use for locals is GG Taxi. The app is actually Armenian and locals really like supporting the app.
Aram uses it by default and I actually don’t use it by default because I find the interface a bit more cumbersome to work through to get a taxi and there are many times when cars are not available.
But, many locals vow that GG cars are nicer, cleaner, and more modern.
Nevertheless, we definitely recommend downloading GG Taxi before coming to Armenia as one of your go-to taxi apps.
Click here to download on iOS | Click here to download for Android
2. Yandex Taxi
Another popular taxi app here in Armenia is Yandex. If you’ve traveled around CIS countries, you will know that Yandex is pretty common in many and is a mega-company from Russia.
Yandex works pretty brilliantly in Yerevan and is a great way to catch a taxi.
I find Yandex the easiest to use interface-wise and I like it because it works in many other countries that I travel to without problems (even Serbia!) I also like it because Yandex almost always has cars available.
Many locals don’t use it as their first choice because it is not an Armenian company and because they say the cars are crappier.
I rarely have issues with the app and when I have reported problems with drivers, Yandex customer service has been nothing but fantastic and quick to get the issues resolved.
Click here to download on iOS | Click here to download for Android
3. Utaxi
The app Utaxi is one that Aram and I are less familiar with but it comes with recommendations from some of its users so we have included it for good measure to diversify the mix a bit.
This is an Armenian app.
The reason I haven’t used Utaxi yet is that I can’t easily figure out the interface of the app. I like the clean look of it, but I can’t easily put in an address of where I’m headed.
This makes the process frustrating for me and I just open another app and use it instead. One plus to Utaxi is that they will send you a 1000 AMD credit upon registration and download which is pretty cool.
While it is not an option that Aram and I use, it is still worth downloading if you want an additional option for your trip to Armenia.
Click here to download on iOS | Click here to download for Android
There are other ways to get around Yerevan from taking the metro to hopping on a marshrutka to using your own feet to walk around.
This taxi guide offers an alternative to those options and these apps will definitely come in handy when you’re looking for the most efficient and reliable way to get around Yerevan.
Click here if you’re keen to learn how to get a SIM card in Yerevan so that you can easily use these taxi apps! If you have any other suggestions or are a new app that wants us to try your services, please get in touch via email or a comment. Thanks!
Taxi drivers talking on the phone while driving totally freaks me out! I feel like being in a cab is my time to tune out – listen to music, watch the world go by, scroll through Instagram. And having to pay attention to traffic gets me on edge! Its common here in India, but I know how it can be unnerving for tourists.
GG Taxi have few cars, so it is often not available outside of Yerevan city center. You shall commonly expect long waiting time when applying to GG. Also the GG app doesn’t work with Huawei and some other smartphones, as well as possesses lots of bugs that may cause you unpleasant incidentals.
Yandex Go has much more taxis, however the car condition and sanitation could be out of hand, esp. when ordered at Start rate. Through possessing itself as if the lowest price taxis in advertisement, the real rates in Yandex Go are not even close to their minimum, they practice “temporarily” raised rates 24/7. Also these rates are unpleasantly flexible meaning that they double in case of a rain and triple in case of snow, even in downtown Yerevan where rain or snow can’t affect the traffic by default. Yandex Go app is famous for construing strange (prolonged) navigation routes apparently aimed to increase the ride costs for passengers.
U-taxi is dead in most parts of Yerevan, and shall be long waited wherever available which is in strong dissonance with their rates that are higher than in their above-listed competitors.
Hi Gregory!
Thank you for your comment! Agreed!
in GG app it is sometimes hard to find an adresses, if you do not know exactly correct translitteration.
I am trying to register in both GG and Yandex using my foreign number, but none seems to work. Do I need to get an Armenian number to register?
Hi! If you do not have a connection with your number then yes get a local one but if yours work then it should also work with the apps.
Why is nobody commenting on Uber, Bolt, FreeNow?
Thanks a bunch for the awesome taxi booking tips in Yerevan! 🚖 Your insights are super helpful, and I’m ready to book with confidence. Much appreciated!
You are welcome!
Great tips in your article! Much appreciated, Sara.
You Are welcome! 🙂
Thank you Aram – I am going to try to get to Zvartsnots cathedral from the centre of Yerevan with both GG and Yandex. Wish me luck!
You are welcome and good luck 🙂