Day Trips from Tbilisi, Georgia: All Six Compared (2026)

Six group day trips leave Tbilisi, and choosing between them depends less on what you will see than on hours spent in a vehicle. With one free day take Kazbegi; the canyons run only on Saturdays and Vardzia only on Sundays, so those two decide the shape of your week.

Per-person prices sit in the "Dates and prices" table on each tour page. Booking is a request, not a charge: you pay once your date is confirmed, with free cancellation more than three days before departure.

Choose on road hours first

All six carry a licensed guide working in English or Russian. We do not run a Greek-speaking guide on group departures; if you need one, write to us and we arrange it privately, after telling you honestly whether your dates allow it.

The six days, one by one

Kazbegi, if you only have one day

The Kazbegi day trip climbs north on the Georgian Military Highway and in under three hours puts you under glaciers: Ananuri fortress on the Zhinvali reservoir, the Friendship Monument above the Devil's Valley, a 4x4 transfer to Gergeti Trinity Church at 2,170 m, lunch in Stepantsminda. It is rated easy and it is: the day is driven and the jeep covers the one climb, though you can walk it in an hour and a half. With exactly one day, this is it.

Kakheti, the gentlest day we run

The day in the Kakheti vineyards is two tastings — a family qvevri cellar and a small winery — plus walled Sighnaghi above the Alazani valley and Bodbe Monastery. Pickup is around 09:00, the walking short and flat, and if you do not drink the landscape and the food carry the day. Tell us about vegetarians when you book.

Mtskheta, Gori and Uplistsikhe, the history route

Jvari, Svetitskhoveli, Gori and Uplistsikhe starts with a short climb north of Tbilisi to Jvari, on the ridge above the meeting of two rivers, and the cathedral of the old capital; then an hour west to Gori and the Stalin Museum, and the town cut into rock at Uplistsikhe.

The only real physical ask is Uplistsikhe: twenty to thirty minutes over bare rock and cut steps, polished smooth in places, few handrails. Svetitskhoveli has a dress code: shoulders and knees covered, hair covered and a skirt for women. Hours and what is open vary at Gori, so we check the timetables when we confirm your date and tell you beforehand if anything is closed.

Martvili and Okatse, the canyons — Saturdays only

The two canyons of western Georgia are the best landscape on the list and a day we grade moderate: a 700 m paved loop above the Abasha, the optional inflatable boat for 300 m, then at Okatse 2.3 km of forest path before a 780 m steel walkway pinned to the cliff up to 140 m above the floor. Homeward, a half-hour stop in Kutaisi below Bagrati cathedral.

Five to six kilometres of walking across the day: closed shoes with grip and a rain jacket whatever the forecast says, because western Georgia is far wetter than Tbilisi. Children under six are not allowed on the Okatse trail. We will not promise the boat — it stops in high water, rain or snow — but it is a separate ticket, so if it is off you do not pay.

Borjomi, Rabati and Vardzia, the longest day we sell

The southwestern route says so before you book: pickup 07:00–07:30, back around 21:00, roughly 450 km. Borjomi's park and spring pavilion, Rabati above Akhaltsikhe — a mosque, a church, a synagogue and a citadel inside one wall — and the cave city of Vardzia on thirteen tiers. A shuttle minibus covers the uphill road from the ticket office; inside, you are on narrow stone staircases and uneven rock.

It is not suitable for anyone with limited mobility, and is best in late spring and autumn. If fourteen hours sounds too much, the same three places fit into two days with a night on the road — ask us for a quote.

Gudauri, only when the lifts are turning

The Gudauri ski day is transport, help at the rental and ticket windows, and a phone that answers all day — not lessons, not equipment. The lifts climb from about 1,990 m to 3,279 m and you get five to six hours up there; non-skiers pay the same price.

Last season the Mountain Trails Agency announced on 18 December 2025 that Gudauri's lifts would start on 27 December. For 2026/27 no date has been announced and we will not guess — ask us and we will tell you what the resort has confirmed. That is why the trip includes a road and lift check every morning before we leave Tbilisi: if either is down we cancel before departure, and you take another date or a full refund.

Which dates will not combine

The published calendar follows a fixed week: Tuesday and Friday for Mtskheta–Gori–Uplistsikhe, Wednesday and Saturday for Kazbegi, Thursday and Sunday for Kakheti, Saturday for the canyons, Sunday for Vardzia, Monday nothing. Gudauri sits outside that pattern, on Fridays and Sundays from December, once the canyons and Vardzia have closed for the season.

Note the two overlaps: every canyon date is a Saturday that also has a Kazbegi departure, and every Vardzia date is a Sunday that also has Kakheti. So they do not all fit:

• Three days: Wednesday Kazbegi, Thursday Kakheti, Friday Mtskheta–Gori–Uplistsikhe — no punishing day in the set.
• Five days: keep Saturday for the canyons and leave Monday for Tbilisi.
• A week: add Sunday for Borjomi–Rabati–Vardzia. Saturday then Sunday is possible, but it is two very long driving days in a row — put the Monday after them, not before.

If you plan to reach Vardzia under your own steam, here is official information most guides leave out: Vardzia is closed on Mondays, and open 10:00–19:00 the rest of the week (National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation, checked 9 October 2026).

What you pay on top

Site entrance fees are not included on any day trip, and want cash in lari. The sites set them:

• Vardzia and Uplistsikhe — 15 GEL per adult at both, plus 2 GEL for the shuttle at Vardzia; an audio guide is 15 GEL. Khertvisi Fortress, on the same road, is 10 GEL (National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation).
• Rabati — 20 GEL for a foreign visitor, 15 GEL for foreign students and pupils (official rabati.ge price list). No separate price is published for the history museum inside the grounds.
• Martvili and Okatse — 20 GEL per foreign adult at each, 5.50 GEL for ages 6 to 18, free under 6; the boat on the Abasha is 20 GEL with a 1 m minimum height. Hours are 10:00–18:00 and 10:00–17:00 respectively (Agency of Protected Areas). Those price pages carry no update date, so confirm at the visitor centre.
• Gori and Borjomi — museum, park gate, cable car and sulphur pools are paid on the day.
• Gudauri — lift pass and equipment rental are bought at the resort's own windows, in lari. No 2026/27 price list has been published; last season's figures are on the tour page.
• Lunch — never included: 25 to 40 GEL on the southwestern route, 25 to 35 in Kakheti.

How a published date becomes a confirmed one

Each published date states what it is. A guaranteed departure runs whatever the final numbers; any other needs four travellers and is confirmed no later than seven days ahead. If it does not fill, we offer the nearest alternative or you take a full refund.

Groups run to a maximum of 14, pickup is from your hotel in central Tbilisi, and the exact time reaches you on WhatsApp the evening before. Send dates through plan my trip or message us on WhatsApp — we reply the same day. Full terms: the cancellation policy.

The road that closes, and the two trips it affects

Kazbegi and Gudauri share one road, and in winter it closes. On 11 January 2026 the Roads Department of Georgia restored light-vehicle traffic between km 93 and 107, the Gudauri–Kobi stretch, with trailers still prohibited; on 15 March 2026 it temporarily banned all vehicles on the same stretch for high avalanche risk, keeping the Mleta–Gudauri section open.

In short: the closure sits above Gudauri, so there are days when the resort is reachable and Stepantsminda is not. At Gudauri the morning check is part of the trip; on Kazbegi a closed road means another date or a full refund.

Insurance and ID, before you fly

Since 1 January 2026, every tourist entering Georgia must hold valid health and accident insurance with cover of no less than 30,000 GEL. The policy may be paper or electronic, from a Georgian or a foreign insurer, must be available in Georgian or English, and must cover the full period of your stay including both the arrival and departure dates. The requirement rests on Article 12 of Georgia's Law on Tourism (Georgian MFA notice of 30 December 2025; the same figure and period appear in UK government travel advice — both checked 9 October 2026). It is not included in any of our tours.

Greek citizens need no visa and can stay up to one full year, and Georgian law expressly accepts an EU member state identity card carrying the holder's name, surname, date of birth and photograph. The catch is which card. Under EU Regulation 2019/1157, identity cards that fail the minimum security standards in part 2 of ICAO document 9303 or lack a functional machine-readable zone ceased to be valid at expiry or on 3 August 2026, whichever came first. That date has passed: travel on a current-type ID card or a passport, checked before you book a flight.

Want more than a day?

The four-day Svaneti tour is the next step if the mountains won you over: three nights in Mestia under the medieval stone towers, a day in Ushguli at 2,100 m, a hike to the Chalaadi Glacier, family guesthouses with Svan home cooking. It departs Thursdays with a licensed mountain guide. If you are torn, we compare the two in Kazbegi or Svaneti.

Every fixed-date departure is under small-group tours, the private trips on the Georgia page. Send dates through plan my trip and we answer the same day.