SOIT Journal
Route guides, drive times and prices for travelling Georgia by car from Tbilisi: airport transfers, Kazbegi, Kakheti wine country, Batumi and multi-day trips.
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Georgia trip cost: a week's budget from the official figures
How much does a trip to Georgia cost? The official survey puts the average visit at 2 187 ₾ over 5.6 nights. The visa and insurance rules, and getting around priced three ways, flights excluded.
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Tbilisi to Kutaisi: train, bus or car to the airport
Tbilisi to Kutaisi airport by train, airport bus or car: the timetables and fares, the hour to leave Tbilisi for a morning flight, and what the drive costs with a driver.
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Georgia trip from Dubai: visas, flights, and what it costs
Planning a Georgia trip from Dubai: who needs a visa and who does not, the direct flights from Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, what three or five days cost with a driver, the 2026 insurance rule, and when to come.
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Tbilisi airport to Batumi: the drive, the price, and when not to
A Tbilisi airport to Batumi transfer is about 375 kilometres and five and a half hours on the road, priced as a full day. What it costs, when the train or a night in Tbilisi makes more sense, and when to book a different flight.
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A seven-day Georgia itinerary, driven rather than flown
One week, one country, and a route that does not spend half of it in transit. The common mistake is trying to reach the coast and the high mountains in the same seven days. Here is what actually fits.
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What a Tbilisi airport transfer costs, and what you are paying for
Four ways to get from Tbilisi airport into the city, with the actual numbers. The cheapest option is one lari. We are not it, and this piece is honest about when the gap is worth paying and when it is not.
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Tbilisi to Kazbegi by car: the price, the drive time, one day or two
A private driver from Tbilisi to Kazbegi costs a full day at our published rate. The real drive time to Stepantsminda, when one day is too much, going straight from Tbilisi airport, the winter pass, and when the marshrutka wins.
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Tbilisi, Kutaisi or Batumi: choosing Georgian airports
Three international airports, three very different propositions, and a choice too often made on fare alone. The cheapest arrival is frequently the one that costs a day of the holiday on the road.
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Hiring a car with a driver in Georgia: how it actually works
The phrase covers four different products at four different prices, and most booking confusion comes from the gap between them. What you are actually hiring, what the day includes, and the questions that separate a real quote from a guess.
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Bakuriani ski transfer: Tbilisi or Kutaisi airport, and what it costs
A Tbilisi to Bakuriani transfer is about three hours by car, and Kutaisi airport to Bakuriani is about the same. The road through Borjomi, the winter tyre law, the train that is not back yet, and what the day costs.
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Car rental in Georgia, or a chauffeur: an honest split
We are a chauffeur company, so treat this with the suspicion it deserves. There are trips where renting a car is plainly the better decision, and there are three where it reliably is not. The dividing line is not budget.
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Ride-hail at Tbilisi airport: what works, what does not, and the app you already have
The app most travellers arrive with does not work in Georgia. Two others do, they are cheap, and they fail in specific ways at the airport. An honest account from a company that would rather you booked a car.
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Tbilisi to Sighnaghi and Kakheti by car: what the day costs
A transfer from Tbilisi to Sighnaghi is about 110 kilometres and under two hours. What a Kakheti day with a driver costs, the marshrutka and taxi alternatives, and the one day the cheaper options stop making sense.
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Gudauri transfers in winter: the arrival, not the skiing
Everyone writes about the lifts and the powder. Nobody writes about the last hour of road, which is the part that decides whether a guest reaches the hotel that evening. Winter driving on the Military Highway, honestly.
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Tbilisi to Yerevan by road: the three ways, and what each one costs you
Two capitals, 280 kilometres and one border. The train takes ten hours, the marshrutka takes six, and the car takes five. Which to pick, what the Sadakhlo crossing is actually like, and where a Tbilisi chauffeur fits in.
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Wedding car hire in Tbilisi: the cars, the day, and how it is priced
Wedding car hire in Tbilisi without a stretch limousine: which of four cars suits the couple, the parents and the guests of honour, how to plan the addresses and the waiting, and why the price is agreed per wedding.
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Tbilisi airport to Gudauri: the transfer, the price, and the hour that decides it
Booking the flight first and the transfer last is the wrong order for a ski trip. About three hours from the terminal to the resort, one of them on a pass that closes, and a winter tyre law with a date on it.
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Tbilisi or Kutaisi airport to Mestia: the long road into Svaneti
A Tbilisi to Mestia private transfer is about 450 kilometres: officially 7 hours 10 minutes, so allow eight or more. The Kutaisi airport to Mestia transfer is roughly half. The mountain road, the flight and its price, the minibus, and why Mestia is quoted.
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Vardzia from Tbilisi: the cave city in one long day
A twelfth-century monastery carved into a cliff in the far south, about 225 kilometres from the capital. It is a genuine long day rather than an afternoon, and the drive there is half the reason to go.
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Driving in Georgia yourself: the licence, the tyres, and what the roads actually ask
Your licence is valid for a year from the day you crossed the border, an international permit is not legally required, and winter tyres are. The paperwork, the rules with dates attached, and an honest read on the driving itself.
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Batumi airport transfers: a small terminal, a short season
Batumi has its own airport, it sits close to the city, and it behaves differently from the other two Georgian airports. It fills in summer and empties in winter, and the schedule shapes what a transfer there is worth.
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10 days in Georgia: an itinerary with a driver, and what it costs
A 10-day Georgia itinerary that reaches the mountains, the wine country and the west, from Tbilisi airport and back. The driving time of each day, the cost at published rates, and the legs that work without a car.
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What a day with a private driver costs in Georgia
Day rates in Georgia run from a small fraction of ours to well over two thousand lari, for what looks like the same service. The published numbers, what separates the tiers, and the four questions that decide which end of the range a quote belongs at.
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A business trip to Tbilisi: what to know before you land
Visa-free entry for 94 countries, an insurance rule in force since January 2026, a last airport bus at 22:59 and a working day that ends at dinner. What a corporate booker should settle before a Tbilisi trip.
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Tbilisi to Batumi: the train, the plane, the bus, or the car
Four ways to cross Georgia from the capital to the coast, with the real numbers for each. The train is genuinely good. The flight is longer than it looks on paper. The drive is not the fastest option, and we will say so.
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Luxury car hire in Tbilisi: what is actually available, and what is not
Searches for premium self-drive hire in Tbilisi outnumber the cars that exist. What the market really offers, why the insurance maths rarely works, and the honest case for the chauffeured version.
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Georgia's history and culture, in day trips from Tbilisi
Georgia's history and culture, checked against the sources: wine residue from about 6000 BC, a conversion dated to 337, a medieval golden age and three living alphabets, with the day trips from Tbilisi that reach each one.
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Kutaisi airport transfers: the four roads that matter
Kutaisi is where the cheap flights land, and it is nowhere near most of what guests came to see. Four roads leave that terminal. Tbilisi, Batumi, Gudauri, and Mestia, with the real driving times and the one arrival that catches concierges out.
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Tbilisi to Baku by road: why the obvious route is closed, and what works instead
Azerbaijan's land border has been closed to arriving passengers since March 2020, and the closure keeps being renewed. Plenty of pages still describe a bus over Red Bridge. What is actually possible between the two capitals, and how to check before you plan.
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English in Georgia, and what a driver's language actually buys you
English is common among younger Georgians in the capital and thin outside it. Russian still carries further. What that means for a day on the road, and the three moments where the driver's language stops being a convenience.
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Inside the Maybach: what the rear seat actually does
The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is not a more expensive S-Class. The engine and the dashboard are similar; the rear cabin is the entire product. What an 18-centimetre longer wheelbase, a Maybach drive mode and electric comfort doors actually mean for the passenger.
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The chauffeur, briefly: what a good driver does
The car is the visible part. The driver is the part that decides whether the trip works. What a good chauffeur knows beyond the road, what they should handle without asking, and the three things a concierge can do to make them more useful.
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A second Maybach: the EQS 680 in the fleet
The fleet is four cars, and two of them are Maybachs. One is the Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680, an electric SUV, at the same rates as the saloon. What it is, what it is not, and which of the two Maybachs to ask for.
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Three hours in Tbilisi: a between-meetings afternoon
The awkward window: meeting one ends at 2pm, meeting two starts at 5pm, the guest does not want to sit in the hotel lobby. What to do with three hours that is honest, off the tourist trail, and finishes on time.
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The Tbilisi airport VIP arrivals: when to book it, when to skip
Tbilisi airport sells its own Meet & Greet, from the gate to the car, plus a Fast Track lane and a lounge by Gate 101. Worth booking, sometimes. The four scenarios where the premium pays back, the four where it does not, and how to book it.
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Eight hours between flights in Tbilisi: what is actually possible
A layover at Tbilisi airport is not the layover at Heathrow. The airport sits 17 kilometres from the city, customs is fast, and an 8-hour transit can mean something. The math of what fits, the four sensible options, and the one a concierge should never agree to.
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Borjomi in a day: west of Tbilisi, water and a Romanov palace
The other direction. Kakheti is east, Kazbegi is north, Mtskheta is also north. Borjomi is west, about 160 kilometres, two to two and a half hours each way, and a different Georgia. What the trip is, when it works, when it doesn't.
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Kutaisi in a long day from Tbilisi: Gelati and Bagrati
Everyone goes east to Kakheti or north to Kazbegi. West gets skipped. Kutaisi is 220 kilometres west, a full long day, and holds two of the country's older churches plus the road to them. When it's worth the seven hours of driving, and when it isn't.
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Rtveli in Kakheti: the six weeks a year this trip exists
Between early September and mid-October, the wine roads of Kakheti turn into something else. Not a route, an event. What rtveli actually is, which cellars to ask, and why this is the trip that needs booking three months ahead.
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The Anaklia deepwater port and what it means for the country's next decade
The Anaklia deepwater port has been promised for more than a decade. In 2026 the state took it over under a landlord model, dredging began in August, and the first stage is due in 2029. What it is, what it does, and why the next decade hinges on it.
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Off-season Georgia: the May, September, and winter strategy that's working
Georgia's autumn quarter set a record of 1.2 million tourist trips in 2025, growing faster than the year as a whole. What the numbers show, when May, September and winter work, and the trip shape that suits each off-season.
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Georgia in the wine world: medals, exports, and the case for itself
Georgian wine exports surpassed 100 million bottles in 2024, with Decanter, IWSC and Concours Mondial medals rising in step. The country is now the 17th-largest exporter by volume. What is selling, where, and why Georgian wine became unignorable.
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Where hospitality FDI is going in Georgia
Foreign direct investment in Georgia's hotels and restaurants came to about $40 million a year in 2023-2025, some 2 percent of the total. Who builds the country's hotels, where the money lands, and what the second-tier opportunities look like.
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Gulf and Indian travellers in Georgia: what the numbers say
The Gulf states sent Georgia 145,513 visits in 2025 and India 142,476, before both fell sharply in early 2026. The official figures, the entry rules for each passport, the direct flights, and where a chauffeur fits.
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Tbilisi International Airport: the expansion due as early as 2028
TAV Airports is investing about USD 150 million to lift Tbilisi airport's capacity past ten million passengers a year. The project was launched in July 2026 and is due to finish as early as 2028. What is being built, and how to plan an arrival meanwhile.
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The Rikoti tunnel: how a 51-tunnel highway changed Georgia's geography
Since 30 December 2025 the Rikoti pass, where Georgia's main road crosses from east to west, has been 52 kilometres of four-lane highway with 51 tunnels and 97 bridges. What the old road was like, who paid for the new one, and what it changes for a trip.
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Wine tourism's quiet revolution: how Kakheti became an international destination
A decade ago Kakheti was a regional wine area visited mostly by Georgians on weekends. Today it has international press, premium cellar-hotels, and a UNESCO-protected method at the centre of its story. What changed.
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The Tbilisi hotel pipeline: international flags landing by 2027
GNTA counts more than 340 new accommodation establishments, with 38,800 beds, due in Georgia between 2026 and 2029. What has opened in Tbilisi, what is announced, and why concierges should know the city's hotel map.
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Georgia's tourism reset: from 1.5 million visitors to 6.9 million
In 2020 Georgia took 1.5 million visitors. In 2025 it took nearly seven million, with record numbers of overnight tourists and record travel revenue from a wider spread of countries. The numbers, the reasons, and what they mean.
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Minivan with driver in Tbilisi: when the V-Class beats a saloon
Two travellers and three bags fit in an S-Class. Four travellers and ten bags do not. When a minivan with a driver, the seven-seat V-Class, becomes the right answer in Tbilisi, and when two saloons still beat it.
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Tbilisi's sulfur baths: bathhouses, rooms and prices
Abanotubani's bathhouses are not interchangeable. The best known by name, private rooms against the public baths, what the kisa scrub is, the price ranges the tourism administration publishes, and the etiquette worth knowing first.
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Where Tbilisi's old town actually starts
Maps draw the old town as a triangle from Freedom Square to the river. The medieval city ran along one line of streets, from Anchiskhati past Sioni Cathedral to Meidan, and that line is the one-hour walk worth taking.
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Arriving at Tbilisi's hotels by car: addresses and entrances
A hotel name is not an address. Where eight central Tbilisi hotels sit, from Freedom Square along Rustaveli Avenue to Kostava Street and the old town, what they publish about their entrances, and what to ask before a car pulls up.
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Multi-day chauffeur: what concierges actually need
Single-day briefs ask for car class and meeting point. Multi-day briefs need four fields the single-day version never names: driver downtime, fuel reload, lunch protocol, and route control. The version we wish every multi-day brief had.
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Tbilisi to the border crossings: a road manual
Three crossings reach three countries from Tbilisi. Choosing the wrong one can cost hours. Which crossing for which trip, what to carry, and where we fit in.
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Svaneti by road: where the trip starts feeling remote
The road to Mestia is paved now, but at Lentekhi the asphalt narrows and the cellphone signal disappears for the next forty kilometres. The honest version of the Svaneti road trip from Tbilisi: routes, towers, what goes wrong, and when the V-Class handles it.
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The Georgian Military Highway in shoulder season
May and late September are the two windows where the Cross Pass is open, the tour buses are gone, and the wildflowers above Gudauri don't yet have anyone photographing them. The case for skipping peak summer on Georgia's most famous road.
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Alaverdi Monastery cellar: where Georgian wine actually started
The qvevri buried beneath Alaverdi have been making wine for centuries. What the eight-thousand-year claim actually means, what a visit looks like, and how to pair it with Ikalto for the deepest wine-history day in Kakheti.
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Telavi as a base, not a stop
Sighnaghi gets the postcards and the day-trip crowds; Telavi gets the wineries within twenty minutes of breakfast. The case for the other Kakheti base and the three hotels that earn the slot.
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The booking brief: what we ask for, and why
A transfer can fail at the brief before it reaches the road. The seven fields we ask concierges and corporate bookers for, what each one buys you, and the side-by-side of a brief that works against one that creates a phone call at 7am.
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Sighnaghi in a day: when the overnight isn't possible
The shorter Kakheti. One walled town on a ridge, one monastery, one cellar, back to Tbilisi for dinner. What the wine-roads piece does in two days, this version does in one (and what you give up to make that work).
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A half-day in Mtskheta: the trip an afternoon can hold
A half-day from Tbilisi: the 20 kilometres north, the two churches that earn the trip, the part that looks essential but is not, and the timing that decides whether it works as an afternoon or has to be a morning.
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Kazbegi from Tbilisi: when to go, what to skip
A practical read on the Tbilisi-Kazbegi day trip: the Military Highway in shoulder season, Gergeti Trinity at golden hour, Gudauri without skiing, and the parts that look essential on paper but are not.
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The Tbilisi airport transfer playbook
What concierges and corporate bookers actually need from a Tbilisi airport pickup. Flight buffers, flexible windows, the early-morning question, and the short list of things that go wrong.
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The wine roads of Kakheti: a chauffeur's itinerary
A discreet road guide to Kakheti's qvevri cellars and the slow way from Tbilisi. What the bus tours miss, where the motorway ends, and which cellars are worth the drive.