A Tbilisi to Bakuriani transfer is about three hours by car. Most of it is on the main highway and then along a river gorge. The last 30 kilometres are different. They climb from Borjomi to the resort, and in winter that last part of the road decides how the first evening goes.
Bakuriani sits at 1,700 metres in the Borjomi municipality of southern Georgia, about 180 kilometres from Tbilisi according to Georgia’s national tourism administration. In 2023 it hosted the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships, the first FIS world championships held in Georgia. Guests arrive through Tbilisi airport or Kutaisi airport, and the drive from each is about the same length.
Photo: ZeevoX / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tbilisi to Bakuriani by car
The road leaves Tbilisi on the S1, the main highway west, as far as Khashuri. There it turns south onto the S8, which follows the Kura river into the Borjomi gorge. Borjomi, the spa town, is 26 kilometres down that road, at about 800 metres.
From Borjomi a separate road climbs to the resort. It is 30 kilometres long and gains about 900 metres on the way. In summer it is an easy climb. In winter it is the part of the drive to plan around.
On a dry road the drive takes about three hours from central Tbilisi, and a little more from the airport on the far side of the city. Borjomi is the natural place for a short stop before the climb, and a day in Borjomi is a separate trip, built around the park and the mineral water.
Kutaisi airport to Bakuriani
Kutaisi International is about 170 kilometres from Bakuriani. The road runs east on the S1 past Rikoti, then turns south near Khashuri and joins the Tbilisi route for the last hour. On a dry road it is about three hours.
For Bakuriani the two airports are nearly equal, so let the flight time and the fare decide. The other routes from that terminal are set out in the roads out of Kutaisi airport, and choosing between Georgia’s three airports is worth reading before the flight is booked.
Winter tyres are the law on the way up
Since 2024, winter tyres have been compulsory from 1 December to 1 March on the roads listed in a government resolution. The list includes the whole road from Borjomi to Bakuriani, the ring road through the resort and the short road up to the Didveli ski area. It also includes the S8 through the Borjomi gorge and two stretches of the S1 near Surami and the Rikoti tunnel. Nearly all of the last hour of the drive is on the list, from either airport.
That window covers most of the ski season, which the tourism administration puts at December to March. The Ministry of Internal Affairs sets out the detail: the snowflake symbol on the tyre, at least 3 millimetres of tread on a car, and tyres no more than ten years old. In bad weather the police can also require chains. The fine is 100 ₾ and five points on the licence, and an officer can stop a car on the wrong tyres from entering the road at all.
The law applies to every car on those roads, whether it is a rental, a taxi or a car with a driver. Ask the rental desk about the tyres before you collect a car in January, and read the rules for driving in Georgia yourself before you drive up.
What the day costs
Whether it is booked as a transfer or as a Tbilisi to Bakuriani taxi, it is priced at our day rate, because the car and driver are committed for the day: about three hours up and three hours back. A full day of eight to nine hours is 1 350 ₾ in the seven-seat V-Class, 1 500 ₾ in the S-Class and 2 500 ₾ in either Maybach. The ride down at the end of the stay is the same day in reverse.
Our fixed Tbilisi airport transfer fares are for the run between the airport and the city. They do not apply to the mountains. From Kutaisi airport, which is itself more than three hours from Tbilisi, the day runs longer. Longer days are quoted with the extra hours already included, and every fare is confirmed in writing before the car is dispatched.
That is many times the price of a marshrutka seat, and sometimes the marshrutka is the right choice. What a day with a private driver costs in Georgia shows how to compare a day rate with cheaper quotes.
Ski bags, families and the seven-seat car
Count the bags as well as the people. Ski bags are long, boot bags are heavy, and a family of four with a week of luggage fills a car faster than the head count suggests.
The S-Class and both Maybachs, three of the four cars we run, take three guests each. The V-Class takes seven. For a ski family of four or more it is the only one that fits, and with ski bags it is worth asking about even for three, for the reasons in the piece on the V-Class for groups. Send the number of ski bags, boot bags and suitcases with the booking. That list decides the car more than the head count does.
Landing after dark
In late December the sun sets at Bakuriani at about 17:40, and in mid-January at about 18:00. A flight that lands in mid-afternoon or later puts the climb from Borjomi at dusk or in the dark.
Snow and ice are easier to see in daylight, and a family that left home before dawn is tired by evening. For a late landing there are two good options. Sleep in Tbilisi or Kutaisi and leave after breakfast, which puts the climb in the late morning. Or drive as far as Borjomi, sleep in the spa town, and do the last 30 kilometres the next morning.
A morning landing needs neither. The car leaves the airport before noon, and the climb happens in full daylight.
The train, the Kukushka and the marshrutka
Georgian Railway runs two electric trains a day from Tbilisi to Borjomi, at 06:35 and 18:35, and the ride takes a little over four hours. It suits travellers with time and light bags, who still need a way up the hill from Borjomi.
That way used to be the Kukushka, the old narrow-gauge railway from Borjomi to Bakuriani, 37 kilometres long. Before it stopped, the ride took about two and a half hours. The line has been out of service for several years. The government announced a full restoration in April 2026, and the economy minister has since said the works are nearly finished and trains should run again in December. Until they actually do, do not plan a ski week around it.
Marshrutkas are the budget option. Direct minibuses leave Didube bus station in Tbilisi for Bakuriani a few times a day, for about 20 lari a seat, and take three to four hours. Others run hourly to Borjomi, where local vans go up to the resort. For two adults with light luggage and no ski bags, arriving in daylight, the marshrutka is a reasonable way to travel, at a small fraction of our day rate.
If the resort is not decided yet, Gudauri lies north of Tbilisi on the Georgian Military Highway, and its transfer is a different drive. Tbilisi airport to Gudauri and the Gudauri winter arrival cover that road.
Bakuriani is priced at the same day rate as our day trips from Tbilisi. Send the flight number, the hotel and the bag count to booking@soitblack.com, and the fare comes back in writing before the car is dispatched.