The Verkhniy Lars checkpoint is located on the border between Russia and Georgia. For those who intend to travel to Georgia from Russia by car, Verkhniy Lars is the only legal crossing by land across the border. Before crossing the border, you should familiarize yourself with useful information regarding the features of the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint, presented in this article.
Weather
The Verkhniy Lars checkpoint is located 40 kilometers from Vladikavkaz and is located in the picturesque Darial Gorge. On the Georgian side, the nearby village - Stepantsminda, is located 10 kilometers from the border (about 15 minutes by car).
Do not forget that the border is in a mountainous area, which means that the weather is very changeable here. In winter, the road is often covered with snow, avalanches fall, and in summer, due to heavy downpours, mudflows descend. In such cases, the road is closed until the weather conditions improve.
Today, the route through Upper Lars is open for all types of transport in two directions, including passenger buses, cars, cargo trucks and bicycles. It is not necessary to have snow chains on wheels, but for safety reasons it is better to take them with you, as the weather on the pass is changeable.
Georgian border crossing rules
For all foreign citizens entering the territory of Georgia, there is a visa-free regime. Anyone who plans to legally visit the country is considered a tourist, so there is no need to worry about political differences. In recent years, the development of tourism has become an important component of the Georgian economy. In this regard, Georgians receive guests with equal hospitality and cordiality, be they Russians, Ukrainians or Belarusians.
Crossing the border on foot at the checkpoint is prohibited, but there is no such prohibition on a bicycle.
The visa regime in Georgia was canceled for citizens of 94 states, including the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus. Thanks to this, you can stay on the territory of the country for one year without leaving its borders.
Documents required to cross the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint
crossing the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint in a vehicle, the following documents are required:
- A valid international passport (it must be valid at the time of entry into the territory of Georgia, and another 3 months from the date of the planned return).
- Driver's license (international or Russian). The main requirement: driver's data must be duplicated in the license in the Latin alphabet.
- Vehicle registration certificate.
- CTP insurance policy. Since March 2018, this document is mandatory. You can also issue it on the territory of Georgia, at the border checkpoint, or online at www.tpl.ge. The insurance period can be selected depending on the number of days of stay in the country: from 15 days - up to one year. Lack of insurance may result in a fine from 100 to 200 GEL.
- Power of attorney for the car, giving the right to travel abroad. This document is needed if you are not the owner of the car you drove to another country. The power of attorney must be notarized.
For adults - a valid passport.
For kids. If you are traveling with a child, then it must be entered in the parents' passport or a separate document issued for him. It should be noted that your passport must contain a photograph of the child with the stamp of the passport and visa organization. The child's birth certificate (original) is not a mandatory document, but it is better to take it if the child has a different surname or is traveling on a separate document. Thus, you can confirm your relationship without delay.
Veterinary passport is a mandatory document for an animal when passing control. Along with the standard vaccination marks, a rabies vaccination must be present in the animal's veterinary passport. It should be done for your pet a maximum of one year and at least one month before the trip. No later than 5 days before the trip, you must issue a Form No. 1 veterinary certificate at any of the veterinary clinics in your city.
Reasons why you may not be allowed to enter Georgia
It is necessary that there are no marks in your passport that you have previously crossed the border of Abkhazia or South Ossetia. For Georgia, these are occupied territories. In the presence of such stamps, a tourist from Russia can be “deployed” back or fined a significant amount (about 500 euros). If you were in Abkhazia with a passport, then you need to change your passport, or for now refuse to travel to Georgia. This does not mean that you should not visit Abkhazia or South Ossetia. Their borders are open to tourists. However, you should enter these regions from Russian territory and with a Russian passport. No stamps are placed on the internal Russian passport, and such information is not available to Georgian border guards.
If you entered Georgia “legally” and left its territory through Abkhazia, then your passport will only have an entry stamp for Georgia, but there will be no exit stamp. In this case, even replacing a foreign passport with a new one will be useless, since information about entering the country and the absence of an exit mark are stored in the database by the border guards. In such a situation, it would be more correct to refuse to travel to Georgia until the political situation changes.
These numbers belong to the Crimean region and the Georgian border guards have a decree not to let cars with such numbers into the country. There is an unpleasant fact that the same numbers were registered in other regions of Russia. But even in this case, you will still not be allowed into the country. The only option is to change the numbers to the 15th region in the traffic police of Vladikavkaz. According to eyewitnesses, this procedure will not take much time. If you live in the Crimea, do not spread on the Georgian border about the place of your registration. Due to political differences regarding the status of Crimea, residents of Crimea must travel outside its borders with a Ukrainian foreign passport.
How to plan the time of passing the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint
When crossing the border, the time of year in which you want to travel plays an important role. The queue for passing the checkpoint and the speed of its movement depends on the time of day, season and weather conditions. For example, in the "low" season (cold season, except for New Year's holidays), you can plan for about 2-3 hours of waiting on both sides of the border. And in the "high" season (summer months, May, September, a large number of weekends in Russia), the border crossing time can be 8-10 hours. The best option is to watch the situation at the checkpoint using webcams online and follow the news in the media 2-3 hours before crossing the border.
Taking into account all of the above, when planning a trip, it would be wiser to stay for the night in one of the border settlements with "infrastructure". For example, on the way to Georgia - this is the village of Stepantsminda, and back - the Russian city of Vladikavkaz. You can easily find accommodation there for every taste, from inexpensive hostels and "guesthouses" to five-star hotels and apartments.
Contacts for communication with the staff of the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint
Checkpoint duty service: + 78672-252-753.
Deputy head of the post: + 78672-827-523.
The telephone number of the emergency duty officer of the Ministry of Emergency Situations: +78672548672. (For up-to-date information on the Russian side).
Helpline of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in North Ossetia-Alania: +7 (867) 225-84-32.
