Funeral bus for guests - everyone travels together, at the pace of the procession

Seating capacity and prices

The city rate covers the entire route of the funeral day: picking guests up at the meeting point, waiting outside the church and at the cemetery, and taking everyone on to the wake. Waiting time is not charged separately as long as the day runs at its usual pace. Extra stops, such as dropping guests off at their homes after the wake, are agreed with the family in advance.

Route of the day, step by step

1. Gathering: guests meet outside the house, the hall or the church. The bus is in position half an hour early so that older passengers can take their seats without being rushed.
2. Procession: the bus follows directly behind the hearse, with the family's cars after it. The drivers stay in touch by radio or phone.
3. Church: during the funeral service the bus waits, and the driver picks a parking spot that will not block the road when the procession sets off again.
4. Cemetery: the bus drives as close to the right section as it can. If the inner lane is too narrow, it stops at the gate, and a smaller car - if booked beforehand - takes elderly guests up to the graveside.
5. Wake: from the cemetery, guests ride straight to the restaurant or to the family home for the memorial meal.

A typical timetable

To give families a picture of the bus's day, here is an example of an ordinary Tbilisi funeral, with the farewell held at home, the funeral service in the local parish church and the wake at a restaurant not far from the cemetery:

• 10:30 the bus pulls up at the house and the driver rings the family's contact person.
• 11:00 the coffin is carried out, guests board and the procession moves off.
• 11:20 arrival at the church, where the service lasts about an hour.
• 12:40 the cemetery: lowering of the coffin and the final goodbye.
• 14:00 the restaurant, where guests sit down to the wake.
• 17:30 optional: elderly relatives are driven back to their homes.

We draw up the schedule separately with every family, and the driver receives it the evening before, so there is no confusion in the morning.

Elderly guests and guests with limited mobility

Many of the people at a funeral are older, some walk with a stick and some use a wheelchair. We keep the front seats near the door free for them, and the driver or one of our staff helps them climb aboard. A wheelchair goes into the luggage compartment and comes straight back out on arrival. If someone will struggle with the bus steps, tell us beforehand and we will arrange a separate car for that person, which travels in the procession and gets as near to the grave as the paths allow.

Meeting relatives at the airport or railway station

When family members fly in from abroad or travel from another city, often on a night flight, collecting them becomes one more worry for the relatives who are staying at home beside their loved one. A minibus or car meets the new arrivals at the airport or station, helps with their luggage and brings them to wherever the family is gathered. If relatives are landing on different flights, we plan the pickups so that nobody has to wait around for long.

Several pickup points

In a big city, guests come from many different districts, and it is sometimes easier to collect them at two or three places: outside a metro station, at the family's house and at a workplace where colleagues are setting out from. We agree a route like this ahead of time, with exact times and addresses, and send the family a short message they can forward to relatives. That way everyone knows where to be and when, and the family is spared dozens of phone calls on the morning of the funeral.

Guests who benefit most from the bus

A bus matters most for older relatives who no longer drive, for neighbours who want to travel together, and for visitors who do not know Tbilisi well. If the person who died was a teacher, a doctor or a factory worker, the institution often sends a group of colleagues, and the bus can collect them directly from work. Younger members of the family usually take their own cars, while the bus brings everyone else together.

Working out how many seats you need

As a rule, between a third and a half of the guests ride on the bus, and the rest come by car. For a hundred mourners, one mid-size coach is usually enough; for two hundred or more, two coaches, or one large coach plus a minibus. The coordinator asks the family who will be travelling without a car and plans the seating from that. If seats run short on the day, a second vehicle can usually be added within an hour.

Buses for village funerals

When someone is buried in the village they came from, a bus is often the only practical way for relatives and friends from Tbilisi to get there together. It leaves early in the morning, alongside the hearse or a little later, and in the evening, after the wake, it brings the guests back to the capital. The price is calculated on the distance both ways and includes the driver waiting in the village for the whole day. In winter, on mountain passes, the bus carries snow chains, and we check the road the evening before.

After the wake: getting everyone home

A wake often goes on until evening, and finding a taxi can be hard, especially at restaurants on the edge of town. So many families ask for the bus to wait and then take guests back to the centre or round several districts. In that case the driver stays outside the restaurant until the meal ends and plans the return route with the family's representative, based on where each person lives. This matters especially in winter, when it gets dark early and older people find it hard to stand at the roadside for long.

Drivers and vehicle condition

Our drivers are chosen for their experience with funeral processions: they drive slowly and smoothly, keep the music off, do not take calls on the move and help guests politely. The buses are clean, air-conditioned in summer and heated in winter, with a handrail at the door for older passengers. Every vehicle has regular technical inspections and runs on winter tyres in the cold months. If something does go wrong on the road, which is rare, a replacement bus reaches any point in the city within half an hour, and the hearse and procession wait for it.

Booked on its own or with the full ceremony

You can book the bus on its own, even if another company or the family itself is handling the rest of the arrangements. It is easiest, though, when the bus and the hearse answer to a single coordinator: then both drivers follow the same route and timings, and the procession never splits up. In that case the bus is itemised on its own in the overall estimate and is paid after the funeral together with everything else.

Frequently asked questions