Money in Georgia: Lari, Cards, ATMs and Exchange

Georgia pays in lari, and in Tbilisi a contactless card covers most of what you'll buy. Cash still matters at bakeries, markets, marshrutkas and village guesthouses. Here's what you need to know about the currency, which cards work, the ATMs I use, where to change money at a fair rate and how much cash to keep in your pocket.

The Georgian lari: currency and exchange rate

Georgia's currency is the Georgian lari, written GEL or with the symbol ₾, and each lari splits into 100 tetri. You'll see tetri on price tags all the time: one khinkali dumpling costs 1.20 to 2.50 GEL, and a metro ride is a flat 1 GEL.

In 2026, 1 US dollar buys about 2.7 lari and 1 euro about 2.9 lari. My shortcut at the till is to divide by 3, then add 10% for dollars. A 100 GEL dinner bill is roughly 33 plus 3, so about $37. For euros, dividing by 3 is close enough on its own: the same bill is about €34.

Here's what everyday things cost in lari, with the dollar and euro figures worked out at those rates:

Georgia is not as cheap as it was a few years ago. A careful day for two runs 250 to 350 GEL and a comfortable one 400 to 600 GEL, and the real swing in a Tbilisi travel budget is where you sleep.

Paying by card in Georgia

Tbilisi is a card city. Visa and Mastercard work in about 90% of places, from supermarkets and wine bars to hotels, and Apple Pay and Google Pay are common across the cities. Shops don't add a surcharge for paying by card, so there's no reason to save cash for the big bills.

Transport takes cards too. City buses take a tap of a bank card, though a foreign card can be charged up to 1.50 GEL a ride where a Metromoney transit card pays 1 GEL. The Metromoney card costs a 2 GEL deposit: the station windows sell it for Visa or Mastercard, while the machines take cash only. Bolt charges the card linked in the app, so getting around Tbilisi itself needs almost no cash.

I carry two cards from different banks, one Visa and one Mastercard, and keep them in different places. If one gets blocked by a fraud check on the first foreign payment, the other one pays for dinner while you sort it out with your bank.

Where you still need cash in Georgia

Cards cover Tbilisi's restaurants, bars, hotels and shops. Cash covers the old, small and rural side of the country, which is often the best side of it. This is how I pay, place by place:

The Dry Bridge market and Dezerter Bazaar both run on cash, and both are places where haggling is expected, so I bring small notes and name a price rather than handing over a 100. Markets are also where Tbilisi's pickpockets work, so the wallet goes in a front pocket.

Tips are cash too, and so are a few extras that catch people out. Even the Abanotubani sulfur baths, where the room goes on a card, want cash for the kisa scrub, about 15 to 20 GEL. Outside the city the share of cash rises fast: the marshrutka to Kazbegi is 15 GEL from Didube station, paid to the driver, and the family guesthouses and cafes in the mountains rarely have a card machine.

ATMs in Tbilisi: banks, limits and fees

ATMs are easy to find in Tbilisi, and three banks run most of them: TBC Bank in light blue, Bank of Georgia in orange, and Liberty Bank. Most machines give out lari and US dollars, and some also give euros. The usual limit is 2,000 to 3,000 GEL per withdrawal, more than most trips need in one go.

Fees depend on the bank and on your card. At Tbilisi Airport, the TBC and Bank of Georgia machines charge 2 to 3 GEL a withdrawal, and your own bank may add its fee on top. Because each withdrawal can carry a fixed fee, I take out a few hundred lari at a time rather than 50 GEL every other day.

At the airport, the ATMs sit on the right as you leave arrivals, and there are more a minute's walk away in departures, some of them giving euros or dollars. Flying into Kutaisi instead? That airport has ATMs for lari and dollars plus an exchange office, and the bus counters in arrivals take card or cash, so the long Kutaisi Airport to Tbilisi ride costs 25 GEL without a trip to the cash machine.

Exchanging money in Tbilisi: where to get the best rate

If you arrive with dollars or euros, an exchange office in town is where to change them. City exchange offices pay 2 to 5% more than the banks, charge no commission and don't ask for a passport. You'll find them along Rustaveli Avenue, Kote Abkhazi Street in the old town and Agmashenebeli Avenue, and Rico Credit has branches across the city. The booth at 6 Pushkin Street, by Freedom Square, is the one I'd walk to first.

US dollars and euros are the easy currencies, and exchange offices all over Tbilisi change them. The difference between the counters adds up fast. Here's what changing 300 US dollars looks like at each one:

The airport gap on that one swap is 80 to 120 GEL, roughly 3 Bolt rides from the airport into town. That's why I'd change nothing at the airport and use the offices on the walk to Freedom Square on day one instead. Count the notes at the window before you step away.

How much cash to carry in Georgia

My rule in Tbilisi: carry 50 to 100 GEL and top it up from an ATM, rather than walking around with a week's money. Outside the city, the cash share of every bill goes up, so plan by the kind of trip you're on.

A Kazbegi day trip is where people get caught short: the 4x4 up to Gergeti Trinity Church costs 30 GEL, and that, the driver's tip and lunch in a family cafe all want cash.

Bills, VAT and the service charge

The number on a Georgian menu already includes the 18% VAT, so nothing gets added for tax. What does get added, at many restaurants, is a 10% service charge, printed on the bill, and it usually doesn't reach the staff who served you.

Where the service charge is on the bill, I round up or leave a few coins for good service. Where it isn't, about 10% is the custom and it stays optional. The rest of tipping in Georgia is simple: nothing on a Bolt fare, little or nothing in bakeries, and 20 to 50 GEL a day for a guide or driver. Haggling belongs in the markets, never in restaurants or shops.

Money mistakes that cost travelers in Tbilisi

These are the mistakes that cost visitors real money here, and each one is easy to dodge:

• Changing money at the airport. The desks pay 10 to 15% less than offices in town, and you don't need cash to reach the city.
• Getting into a street taxi without a price. Street taxis have no meter, so agree the fare before you get in; about 1.5 times the Bolt price is a normal deal. Airport touts ask 40 to 60 GEL for a ride the app does for a third to half of that, and Tbilisi taxis booked through Bolt show the price before you ride.
• Letting a stranger pick the bar. The bar scam starts with someone met online who suggests a bar, and ends with an inflated bill. Choose your own venues, which is most of what keeps Tbilisi safe for visitors on a night out.
• Eating on the main drag. Restaurants on Rustaveli Avenue charge more for the same food; walk a street or two back toward Sololaki or Vera.
• Tipping twice. Check the bill for the 10% service charge before you add 10% of your own.
• Arriving with only a Mir card. It won't work anywhere in Georgia, and neither will a Russian-issued Visa or Mastercard, so bring dollars or euros to exchange.