How to get to Gudauri in winter 2026/27

How far is Gudauri from Tbilisi and how long is the drive?

Gudauri is about 120 km from central Tbilisi, a drive of about 2 hours in good weather and up to 3 hours in snow.

The resort sits on the Georgian Military Road at about 2,200 m. The road runs north past Mtskheta, the Zhinvali reservoir, Ananuri fortress and Pasanauri, then climbs the Mleta hairpins to Gudauri. The lifts reach from about 1,990 m to 3,276 m.

• From central Tbilisi, about 120 km, 2 hours, up to 3 in snow.
• From Tbilisi Airport, about 135 km, 2 hours 15 minutes in good weather.
• From Kutaisi Airport, about 300 km, 4.5 to 5 hours, longer in winter.
• From Stepantsminda (Kazbegi), about 35 km over the Jvari Pass, when the pass is open.

Tour

Kazbegi and the Georgian Military Road

1 day≈ 11 hfrom $300from €270from ₾785

How do you get from Tbilisi Airport to Gudauri?

There is no direct bus from Tbilisi Airport to Gudauri. By car it is about 135 km and 2 hours 15 minutes. By public transport it takes 4 to 5 hours with two changes, and only in daylight.

Without a car, take bus 337 from outside arrivals to Station Square, about an hour (it runs from 7:00 to 23:00). Then take the metro to Didube and a Gudauri or Kazbegi minibus from Didube bus station. The last minibus leaves at about 19:00, so this suits only flights that land in the morning or around midday.

Drivers in the arrivals hall will offer you a ride. Do not take a street taxi from the airport to Gudauri. Order a car in an app such as Bolt, which shows the fare before you confirm, or book a transfer at a fixed price. An ordinary city taxi may not have the winter tyres that are compulsory on the climb above Mleta from 1 December.

With a TravelAroundGeorgia transfer the driver follows your flight and waits in arrivals with a name sign, and the first 60 minutes of waiting are free. Book Tbilisi Airport to Gudauri on the site or in the Telegram bot. More about the airport in Tbilisi Airport to the city centre.

How do you get from Kutaisi Airport to Gudauri?

Kutaisi Airport is about 300 km from Gudauri, 4.5 to 5 hours by car in good weather and 5 hours or more in winter. The road follows the E60 east and the Georgian Military Road north, without going into Tbilisi.

In the ski season Georgian Bus runs coaches from the airport to Old and New Gudauri, timed to the flights. In 2025/26 they ran from about mid-December to March, a ticket cost about 60 GEL and the ride took 4.5 to 6 hours, with skis allowed. As of 19 October 2026 the 2026/27 dates and fare were not published. Outside those dates, go to Tbilisi by coach or train and on by minibus from Didube, 8 hours or more door to door.

If you land late and snow is forecast, sleep in Kutaisi or Tbilisi and drive the mountain part in daylight. All the options are in our guide Kutaisi Airport to Gudauri, and we quote a transfer from Kutaisi Airport for your date.

How do you get from Tbilisi to Gudauri by minibus?

Minibuses (marshrutkas) to Gudauri leave Didube bus station in Tbilisi, cost 15 GEL and take 2.5 to 3 hours. In May 2026 the Gudauri vans were listed at 8:00, 9:00, 9:30, 11:00, 13:30, 15:00, 17:00 and 18:00. The Kazbegi vans, about every hour from 8:00 to 19:00, also drop off in Gudauri, but the driver may charge the full Kazbegi fare of 20 GEL.

You cannot book a seat. Come 30 to 40 minutes early, pay the driver in cash and expect the van to leave as soon as it is full. Skis and boards ride on the roof, and luggage space is tight. In winter some late vans do not run, so take a morning one and arrive before dark. Times change often, so check at Didube the day before.

The vans stop in Old Gudauri by the Wissol petrol station and the Smart supermarket, and some drivers go on to New Gudauri if you ask. There is no coach from Tbilisi to Gudauri. Georgian Bus serves Gudauri only from Kutaisi Airport.

How much is a taxi or a private transfer from Tbilisi to Gudauri?

A seat in a shared taxi from Didube costs about 40 to 50 GEL, and the car leaves when it is full. A private transfer is priced for the whole car, not per person, and takes you door to door with skis and luggage.

Taxi apps such as Bolt show the fare before you confirm. Check that the car has winter tyres, because from 1 December the police can turn back cars without them on the climb above Mleta.

Our transfer is one more option. The price is fixed per car, and you pay the driver after the trip, in cash or by card. At the airports the first 60 minutes of waiting are free, child seats are free, and in winter our cars run on winter tyres and carry chains. The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado is the car we recommend for snow, and the Mercedes V-Class takes up to 7 people with skis. Book the Tbilisi to Gudauri transfer on the site or in our Telegram bot in about two minutes.

Do you need winter tyres or chains to drive to Gudauri?

Yes. From 1 December to 1 March winter tyres are compulsory on the Georgian Military Road between Mleta and Kobi, which is the hairpin climb to Gudauri and the road on over the Jvari Pass.

The tyres need the snowflake mark and at least 3 mm of tread, and the fine is 100 GEL (Government Resolution 526 of 2023, in force since January 2024). Chains are for roads covered in snow or ice. In snowfall the police can require them and turn back cars without them. Four-wheel drive is not required by law, but it helps on the climb.

In a rental car, get winter tyres and chains written into the contract and practise fitting the chains before you need them. Driving rules and rental prices are in Renting a car in Georgia or hiring a driver.

Does the road to Gudauri close in winter, and what happens then?

The road to Gudauri itself usually stays open. What closes, when the avalanche risk is high, is the stretch beyond the resort, between Gudauri and Kobi, towards the Jvari Pass and Kazbegi.

In winter 2025/26 cars could not use the Gudauri to Kobi stretch for about two days from 13 January, three days from 2 February and almost four days from 26 February. Lorries and trailers are stopped first, the road is not cleared at night, and the avalanche galleries sometimes run one way at a time with waits of up to an hour. On the climb from Mleta to Gudauri the police may tell drivers not to stop.

If you are going to Gudauri from Tbilisi, a closure beyond the resort does not stop you. It matters if you stay in Kazbegi and want to ski, or plan a day trip from Gudauri to Kazbegi. Check the Roads Department restrictions page the evening before and again in the morning. On the day you fly home, leave half a day spare in case of snow on the way down.

If the authorities close the road on the day of a TravelAroundGeorgia transfer, we wait and drive later, move the ride to another day or cancel without charge. A new Kvesheti to Kobi road with a 9 km tunnel, which will bypass the avalanche stretch and the pass, is due in 2028. More about the pass in Kazbegi in winter.

When does the 2026/27 ski season open in Gudauri?

The 2026/27 season opens on 20 December 2026. The Ministry of Economy announced the date on 9 October 2026 for Gudauri, Bakuriani, Goderdzi and Mestia at once, citing the Mountain Trails Agency (MTA), which runs the lifts. The closing date is not announced yet, and Gudauri usually skis until mid-April.

In past seasons the lifts and pistes opened in stages as the snow allowed. In 2025/26 the Gudauri lifts ran from 27 December to 19 April, and in 2024/25 from 21 December to 17 April. From December to February they run from 10:00 to 17:00, and in spring from 9:00 to 16:00. Night skiing on the Pirveli lift runs on Fridays and Saturdays from 20:00 to 22:00.

For 2026/27 two new runs are being built, Kobi 3 and Tatra 3, about 6 km together, along with two new T-bar lifts and a covered 200 m moving carpet for beginners in the snow park. Snowmaking is going in on 7.5 km of the Soliko and Kikilo runs, and the New Gudauri run is getting floodlights for night skiing. The work is due to finish in December 2026.

The snow is usually most reliable from mid-January to early March. The busiest weeks are New Year and Orthodox Christmas, from about 30 December to mid-January, and the last two weeks of March, when the UAE spring break brings many families from the Gulf.

How much is a ski pass in Gudauri in 2026/27?

The 2026/27 prices are not published yet (checked on 19 October 2026), and MTA usually announces them in December. Expect about the 2025/26 prices below, which had not changed for several seasons.

• Day pass in 2025/26, 70 GEL for adults and 35 GEL for children aged 6 to 12. Children under 6 ski free.
• Passes for several days, about 140 GEL for 2 days, 260 GEL for 4 days and 340 GEL for 6 days.
• MultiSki for all four state resorts, 370 GEL for 7 days or 460 GEL for 10 days, used on any days of the season. A season pass costs 650 GEL for adults and 325 GEL for children.
• Night ticket, 30 GEL. For non-skiers, the gondola towards Kobi and back cost 45 GEL.
• Multicard, 5 GEL once. Every pass goes on it, and it works at all the state resorts.

Where do you buy a ski pass, and what does ski rental cost?

Passes are sold at the resort ticket offices, online on tkt.ge and skipass.ge, and at Smart supermarkets in Tbilisi, Zhinvali and Gudauri. In 2025/26 online sales opened on 23 December, passes could not be refunded, and in March MTA cut the price of 1 to 6 day passes by 30 percent. Carry the card itself, as a QR code on a phone does not open the turnstile.

Renting skis or a snowboard with boots costs about 40 to 90 GEL a day, a helmet about 10 GEL, and a private instructor about 100 to 150 GEL an hour.

Since 1 January 2026 foreign visitors need health and accident insurance for their whole stay in Georgia, so check that your policy covers skiing. See Georgia entry requirements 2026.

Old Gudauri or New Gudauri, where should you stay?

Stay as close to a lift as you can, because walking between the parts of Gudauri in snow is hard. New Gudauri is a cluster of apartment blocks next to several lifts and gondolas. Old Gudauri is the original part of the resort, where the minibuses stop. Hotels by the Pirveli chairlift are ski-in and ski-out, and the restaurants here are cheaper.

Higher up, the Recreation Zone has the snow parks, the lifts to the upper runs and the priciest restaurants. The main supermarkets are Smart in Old Gudauri and Spar in New Gudauri, with TBC and Bank of Georgia cash machines. Rooms start at about 50 EUR a night outside the peak weeks, and for New Year you should book early.

Besides skiing there is heli-skiing and freeride, and paragliding when the weather allows. More about the resort on our Gudauri page.

How many days do you need in Gudauri?

A week suits most skiers, and 3 or 4 days is enough for a first taste. Gudauri has about 35 km of marked pistes, which a strong skier covers in a few days, so a week leaves time for freeride, a lesson, a day when wind stops the lifts and a trip to Kazbegi.

A day trip from Tbilisi works too. Leave by 8:00 to be at the lifts when they open at 10:00, and expect to drive back in the dark, as the sun sets at about 17:30 in December.

From Gudauri, Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) and the Gergeti Trinity Church are about 35 km away over the Jvari Pass. When the pass is open, that makes a good day off the slopes. From Tbilisi, our Kazbegi and Military Road tour goes the same way.

Gudauri or Bakuriani?

Choose Gudauri for higher, longer runs and a season that lasts to mid-April, and Bakuriani for a family trip in the forest at lower prices. Gudauri is 2 hours from Tbilisi, with lifts from about 1,990 m to 3,276 m, above the treeline. Bakuriani is about 190 km and 3 hours from Tbilisi, at 1,700 m among conifers, and usually closes in late March. In 2025/26 a day pass cost 70 GEL in Gudauri and 55 GEL in Bakuriani. From Kutaisi Airport, Bakuriani is much closer, about 170 km against 300 km.

The full comparison, with Mestia and Goderdzi, is in Ski resorts in Georgia, and the other resort is covered in Bakuriani in winter.