Getting to Gudauri from Tbilisi
Gudauri is 120 km north of Tbilisi, about 2.5 hours up the old military road.
From Tbilisi and the airport
Prices we saw on 13 October 2026. Treat them as the going rate, not a quote from us:
- Marshrutka from Didube station, about 7 GEL a head. It leaves when it fills up and there is nowhere good to put skis. Fine if you travel light.
- Taxi from Tbilisi, around 110 GEL for the car.
- A car booked ahead, around 200 GEL. With luggage and skis this is what we would do.
- Shared transfers sold online start near 34 USD a head.
- A private sedan online starts near 111 USD, a minivan near 163 USD.
- A 4×4 with a ski rack costs more and is worth it after a big snowfall.
The road in winter
The last part climbs the Jvari Pass, and the police shut it in storms and for avalanche work. Usually a few hours, sometimes a whole day. Winter tyres are required and chains are sold in Pasanauri on the way up. If it closes while you are driving, stop in Pasanauri or Ananuri and eat something. Sitting in the queue at the barrier helps nobody.
Tell us when you set off and we will tell you what the road is doing. We live with that road all winter, so we usually know before the news does.
What's within walking distance
- Lift
- 100 m
One thing worth getting right before a taxi driver asks: we are in New Gudauri, Block 2. New Gudauri is the cluster of newer blocks by the lift. Old Gudauri is the village strung along the road, a couple of kilometres away, and drivers sometimes take you to the wrong one.
Shops
There are two SPARs and a Carrefour here. The Carrefour is in Four Seasons F2 with a SPAR next to it, and the other SPAR has a Bank of Georgia cash machine, a small pharmacy and a coffee counter in it. Between them that covers almost everything people walk out for on the first evening.
They are resort shops at resort prices. If you are driving up from Tbilisi, do the week's shopping down there and leave these for what you forgot.
Eating and drinking
Drunk Cherry is in Block 4, at the bottom of the slope, open 09:00–24:00. Khinkali and khachapuri, but also burgers and pizza, and they do vegan dishes, which is rare up here. Big windows onto the mountains.
Platforma is in Loft II, Georgian and Italian, live music most evenings. Friends sits in Red‑co 3 by the lift and does Georgian and European food with folk music. For a drink rather than a meal, Gudauri Travel Bar in Block I is the cocktail bar where everyone ends up talking to strangers about the snow, Black Dog Bar is the après‑ski one, and Cafe Gondola does coffee and pastries by the lift.
Red Fox Park is next to the ice rink. That is where our own afternoons go when somebody in the group is not skiing.
Skis, lessons and lift passes
- Aviator Ski Rental was charging about 50 GEL a day for skis, 70 GEL for a snowboard and 10 GEL for a helmet.
- Vagabond Adventures teach in several languages. Ask before you come rather than at the lift, especially in the holidays.
- In 2025/26 a day pass was 70 GEL plus 5 GEL deposit for the card, 45 GEL for the gondolas only, 20 GEL for one chairlift, and children aged 6 to 12 pay half. This season's prices come out in December and we will change this line when they do.
- The lifts are Pirveli, Shino, the four‑stage Kobi–Gudauri cable car, Sadzele and Kudebi.
- Night skiing runs on the Pirveli lift, Fridays and Saturdays, 20:00–22:00.
Summer
Gudauri doesn't shut when the snow goes. Tandem paragliding off the ridge runs from about 349 GEL for a short flight, 399 GEL for a longer one, 499 GEL if you want to be thrown around, and the air is steadiest June to September. The same road carries on north to Kazbegi and the church above Gergeti, which is an easy day out from here.