Gudauri from Tbilisi: Skiing, Paragliding and the Day Trip

Gudauri is Georgia's main ski resort, high on the Georgian Military Highway about 2 hours north of Tbilisi, and in summer it turns into a paragliding and hiking base. It's close enough for a day trip and big enough to fill a week. Here's what you need to know about getting there, ski passes and rental prices, paragliding, the summer months and where to stay.

Where Gudauri is and what it's like

Gudauri sits on a broad, treeless shoulder of the Greater Caucasus, at about 2,200 m, on the main road from Tbilisi to Kazbegi and the Russian border. The village itself is mostly hotels, apartment blocks and ski rental shops strung along the slope, built for skiing rather than for wandering. You come for the mountain, and the mountain is big: the lifts climb from about 1,990 m at the bottom to 3,279 m on Mount Sadzele.

The slopes face south and have no trees, which means sun, wide open pistes and long views across the valley in every direction. It also means there's nowhere to hide on a windy day. In winter it's Georgia's main ski resort, full of skiers from Tbilisi at weekends. In summer the snow melts into green, grassy slopes, the paragliders take over and the place goes very quiet.

For most visitors to Tbilisi, Gudauri is one of two things: a ski day or weekend in winter, or a stop on the way to Kazbegi in summer. I'd plan it as the first. As the second, it's a 30-minute leg stretch, and the real stop is the viewpoint just past the resort.

How to get from Tbilisi to Gudauri

There's one road: the Georgian Military Highway, north out of Tbilisi past the Zhinvali reservoir and Ananuri, then up a long run of hairpins to the resort. In good conditions it takes 2 to 2.5 hours. Snow, ice and traffic queues add to that in winter.

Marshrutka. Gudauri doesn't have its own van. You ride the marshrutka to Kazbegi, which leaves from 08:00, and tell the driver you're getting off at Gudauri. It's the cheapest way up by a long way, and with skis or a board you'll pay for the bag too. The vans go from Didube station, the yard next to Didube metro that serves every town on the road north.

Private transfer. A pre-booked car costs about 150 to 180 GEL one way for the whole car, and the driver can pick you up at the airport. Split between 3 or 4 skiers with gear, it's the option I'd pick: door to door, no van timetable and room for the bags.

Rental car. In summer the road is easy and paved all the way, and renting a car in Georgia lets you stop at Ananuri and the viewpoints on your own schedule. In winter I'd only drive it in a 4x4 with snow chains in the boot, and only if you've driven mountain roads in snow before. The trucks heading for the border don't slow down for nervous drivers.

Day tours. Group and private tours from Tbilisi run about 8 to 9 hours, and most pair Gudauri with Ananuri and the viewpoint, or carry on to Kazbegi. Ski equipment is almost never included; you rent it at the resort.

Skiing in Gudauri

Gudauri is a serious resort, not a beginners' hill with a café. It has about 15 fast lifts and roughly 35 km of marked pistes, and counting the freeride routes the total grows to 57 km and more. Most of the marked runs are red (around 56%) or black (around 31%), with a smaller share of blues near the village.

The slopes and lifts

The lifts climb in stages from the village toward Kudebi, Chirdili and Sadzele, the top of the resort at 3,279 m. Because the slopes are south facing and above the tree line, the runs are wide and open, the snow is usually dry, and on a clear day you ski facing a wall of Caucasus peaks. The flip side is wind: the top lift on Sadzele often closes when it blows hard, and in a whiteout there are no trees to give you contrast.

The lifts run from about 10:00 to 17:00, and there's night skiing at weekends. For the 2025 to 2026 winter the resort opened on 28 December and closed on 19 April, which is a fair guide for next year.

Ski pass and rental prices

Skiing in Gudauri costs a fraction of the Alps. These are the 2026 prices I'd budget with.

Rental shops line the main road and cluster around the lift stations, and they're easy to compare, so look at the gear in two or three before you pick one. Smaller shops may not take cards, so bring lari from Tbilisi, where ATMs and exchange rates are better than anything you'll find on the mountain.

Is Gudauri good for beginners?

Yes, with a lesson. The lower slopes near the village have gentle blue runs that suit a first day, and a private instructor at about 100 to 120 GEL will get you on them safely. What I wouldn't do is follow confident friends up the main lifts on day one, because the runs back down are mostly red.

If you're a nervous beginner or you're skiing with small children, Bakuriani, the family resort above Borjomi, is gentler and a little cheaper. For everyone else, Gudauri has more terrain, better snow and a much easier trip from Tbilisi.

Freeride and heliskiing

For strong skiers, the draw is freeride. Big, open, treeless bowls fall away below Chirdili, Kudebi and Sadzele, and after a fresh snowfall you can ski untracked powder minutes from a lift. Heliskiing runs from the resort too: Heliksir is one operator, from about 550 EUR a day for 3 runs.

Paragliding in Gudauri

Paragliding is Gudauri's other big draw, and it runs in both seasons. In winter you take off from the snowy ridges above the resort and fly over the white peaks; in summer you launch from the same green slopes and glide down over the valley. You don't need any experience: the tandem pilot does the flying, you sit in front and run a few steps on take-off.

A tandem flight costs from about 420 GEL in winter, and the whole activity, with the ride up, the briefing and the flight, takes about 45 minutes. SkyAtlantida is one of the tandem teams flying here. Flights depend on the wind, so pilots cancel or delay on gusty days.

I'd book a morning slot. If the wind is wrong, you still have the afternoon to try again, which matters on a day trip when you can't just come back tomorrow. Wear ski gear or a warm jacket and gloves even in summer, because it's cold up there.

Gudauri in summer

In summer Gudauri swaps skis for hiking boots. The slopes go green, the air is cool and fresh after a hot day in Tbilisi, and the paragliders fill the sky above the village. It's a calmer, cheaper version of the resort, with far fewer people and hotel prices to match.

What to do in summer:

• Paragliding. The main event, and the one reason I'd stop in summer rather than drive straight through.
• Hiking. The open slopes are easy to walk in any direction from the village, and the views across the valley open up within half an hour of leaving the road.
• The wakeboard park. White Rabbit, on a small mountain lake in the Gudauri recreation area, puts wakeboard ramps on the water against a backdrop of bare green peaks.

• The Aragvi river and the mineral springs. The drive itself is the best part of a summer visit: the Aragvi valley on the way up, the viewpoint, and the orange mineral terraces near the pass.

In summer Gudauri works best as a stop on a longer day north. On the Kazbegi day trip, Ananuri, Gudauri and the Friendship Monument line up on the same road, and you finish under Gergeti Trinity Church.

The Friendship Monument and the Jvari Pass

A few minutes' drive past the resort, a curved stone wall stands on the edge of a cliff above the Devil's Valley. This is the Russia-Georgia Friendship Monument, built in 1983 to mark 200 years since the Treaty of Georgievsk of 1783. Its inside face is covered in a long tiled mural of Georgian and Russian history, saints and horsemen and mothers with children, in bright reds and blues.

The mural is worth a look, but the reason to stop is the drop. You walk out onto the platform and the gorge falls away below your feet, with ridge after ridge on the far side. It's windy and cold here even in August, so bring a layer.

Past the monument, the road climbs to the Jvari Pass, the highest point of the Military Highway, and then drops toward Kobi and the valley that leads to Stepantsminda. Near the pass, mineral water seeps out of the hillside and has built orange and cream terraces right beside the road. If you're coming by marshrutka, the van won't stop at either, which is one more reason to take a driver in summer.

Gudauri as a day trip from Tbilisi

You can ski Gudauri as a day trip, and plenty of people in Tbilisi do it every winter weekend. The day works if you leave early and accept 4 to 5 hours on the road. Here's how I'd time it with a driver or a transfer.

By marshrutka it's tighter. The first Kazbegi van leaves Didube at 08:00 and puts you in Gudauri after 10:00, so you lose the first hour of skiing. Getting back is the weak point: there's no van that starts in Gudauri, so you flag down one coming down from Kazbegi, and a full van won't stop. I'd only do the van both ways in a group that can share a local taxi if it comes to that, and I'd head for the road by 15:30.

A summer day looks different, because the lifts aren't the point.

And here's what a ski day costs per person, before lunch.

Day trip, overnight or skip it

This is how I'd decide, depending on who you are.

• A confident skier with one free day in Tbilisi: do the day trip with a driver or a transfer, leave at 07:00 and be at the first lift.
• Skiing two days or more: stay in Gudauri. The drive is 4 to 5 hours return, and a hotel near the lifts gets you the first runs and the evening at the bar.
• A first-time skier: go for a night at least, book a lesson for the morning, and don't try to learn on a day trip after 2.5 hours in a van.
• Paragliding only, in summer: fold it into the Kazbegi day trip rather than making Gudauri the whole day.
• Kazbegi is your real goal in winter: don't plan to ski Gudauri and drive over the Jvari Pass in the same afternoon. If the pass closes, you're stuck on the wrong side. Ski one day, do Kazbegi another.
• Between seasons, from mid-April to June and from October to mid-December: skip it as a destination. The lifts are closed, and Gudauri is a quiet row of hotels on the way to somewhere else.

Where to stay in Gudauri

Gudauri has two kinds of accommodation: big hotels near the lifts, and apartments in the large blocks along the slope. The hotels cost more and save you the walk in ski boots; the apartments give you a kitchen and more space for a group. Book early for New Year and for weekends in January and February, when half of Tbilisi seems to head for the slopes.

The places I'd look at first:

There's no Rooms hotel in Gudauri; the Rooms hotels are in Kazbegi and Tbilisi.

Where to eat and après-ski

Food on the mountain is simple Georgian comfort cooking, built for cold days: khinkali, Adjarian khachapuri with its egg and butter, lobio bean stew in a clay pot, mchadi cornbread, and elarji and chvishtari, the cheesy cornmeal dishes from western Georgia. If you've been eating your way through Georgian food in Tbilisi, it's the heavier end of the same menu. Prices at the slope-side restaurants run about 40 to 60% above Tbilisi, which still makes lunch cheap by any ski resort standard.

In the village, Magi Style does Georgian dishes from breakfast until late.

Posticino, in front of the gondolas, is the place for pizza when you've had enough cheese bread.

For après-ski, Black Dog Bar is the best known, with live music and beer at about 13 GEL.

Powder Bar also has live music and stays open until 02:00, and Travel Bar and Drunk Cherry fill up after the lifts close.

The drinks are part of it: mulled wine on the terraces, a shot of chacha to warm up after the last run, and Borjomi mineral water the morning after. Après-ski here is small and friendly rather than wild, a handful of bars rather than a party town.

Best time to visit Gudauri

For skiing, go in January or February, when the snow is deepest and driest. March brings more sunshine and softer spring snow, and it's my pick for a relaxed ski trip. For paragliding and hiking, go in summer.

Winter in Gudauri also pairs well with a few days in the city. Snow on the mountain, sulfur baths and wine bars in town make Tbilisi in winter an easy trip to build around a ski weekend.

What to bring to Gudauri

• Your own ski jacket, trousers, gloves and goggles. The shops rent skis, boards, boots and helmets, but you'll want your own clothing.
• Sunscreen and sunglasses. The slopes face south at over 2,000 m, and the sun on the snow burns fast, even in February.
• Cash in lari. Rental shops, small cafés and taxis often don't take cards.
• Anti-slip shoes or boot grips. The paths between the hotels and the lifts are icy in the mornings.
• A warm layer in summer. The Friendship Monument and the paragliding launch are cold and windy in any month, and a packing list for Georgia built for Tbilisi in July won't cover it.