Information for future visitors of Abkhazia!!!!
1- You must understand that although Abkhazia seems in any international map you have, as part of Georgia, de facto it is not! It is an independent country with her own official institutions, own constitution and own regulations.
2- Please check if a visa to enter Abkhazia is required for you according to the passport you have at the Ministry of Foriegn Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia's official website at :
http://mfaabkhazia.org/en/
3- If you require a visa than please fill in the form at that page and send it to the ministry before your trip. You should have a letter of clearance when you arrive. And it takes time to receive this email. Please consider you will have to pay 20 dolars for your visa at your arrival to Sohum otherwise you can not get your printed visa which is your ticket out! If you do not require a visa than enjoy your journey directly.
4- Please consider that Abkhazia's status is recognized officially by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, South Ossetia and Transnistria. (besides people from all over the world recognize its independence-such as the UNPO members). There is still an ongoing embargo from the west- both informational and travel (you can find anything you need in the local market and shops so I do not count the economic embargo). The borders are open but it is not very easy to pass because of the regulations and restrictions on both Georgian and Russian side.
5- If you will come from Adler-Psou, the Russian Border you can not leave the country from the Georgian border since you will be arrested by the Georgians and be charged 900 Euros and there is nothing Abkhazia can do about that- only to tell you the risks. If you require a visa for Russia than you MUST have a double entry visa to go back but now that the Russian consulate is opened in Sukhum, maybe you could get a transit visa but you have to check it at the MFA Abkhazia too. The border is a little crowded in summer and autumn - since many people wants to come here for a cheap holiday and in autumn there is a trade of mandarin going on. Usually, Russians take their time in document checking since they want it to be as problematic as possible for the visitors so that they will not come again... Still last few years, people from Germany, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, England, France, USA and some other parts of the world came to Abkhazia and enjoyed their visit.
6- If you will come from Georgia they say that you may have to wait for 2 weeks to get a permission which you may not receive at all. This is usually the answer when you ask if you can. I think the best way is to just go and pass the border but I do not want to be the one to suggest. The information I got is not something you can trust. But if you manage to get it than you may go back from the same border or through Psou to Russia if you have a suitable Russian visa. If you go back to Georgia, it is possible that you may be questioned informally on your purposes of visit but it is not usually very problematic as far as I heard!
7- I know it seems too much trouble to take. But I think it will worth it!!!! Ask the people who have already come!!! We have the greatest nature, best sea, interesting traditional couzine, the Ritza lake region for mountaineers and people who love trekking and camping in the mountains (snowboarders came to Abkhazia just a few years back to ski in untouched snow), religious monuments such as the 300 year old church, or the monastry, a great history that we know little about- the dolmens that belongs to an old past, the castles of hundreds of years, the exiled Abkhazians of the Tsarist period and their distinct Caucasian culture still living in the modern world, the Soviet heritage- we are all one and equal- you can still see the same piece of Muhina glass in every house, the Abkhazian-Goergian war of the 1990s- with its monuments and loss in every family and its remains in every corner, the transition period with its "capitals"- the market that has it all....
