Taxis in Tbilisi: Bolt, Yandex Go, Prices and Street Taxis

Taxis in Tbilisi are cheap, and almost everyone, locals included, books them in an app rather than on the street. Here's what you need to know about Bolt and Yandex Go, what a ride really costs in 2026, the airport fare, paying by card or cash, and the few times a street taxi still makes sense.

Bolt and Yandex Go: the taxi apps in Tbilisi

Tbilisi runs on Bolt. It has the most cars in the city and the lowest fares, and it's what I open for nearly every ride, from a short hop across the river to a 3 am airport run. Yandex Go is the other app with real coverage. Its fares are close to Bolt's most of the day and run slightly higher at peak hours, so I keep it as the backup for when Bolt shows a long wait.

Uber does not operate in Georgia. If you have it on your phone from home, it will find nothing here.

Both apps work the same way. You set the pickup and the destination, the app shows the price, and that is the price you pay. The driver can't add to it at the end, and it only changes if you switch destination halfway or keep the driver waiting. That fixed fare is the main reason I never bother with street taxis in the city: there's nothing to negotiate and nothing to get wrong. One habit helps: in Old Tbilisi and Sololaki many lanes are too steep or narrow for a car, so drop the pickup pin on the nearest proper street rather than at your door.

Set Bolt up before you fly. The app sends a text code to confirm your phone number, which is easy at home and annoying at the airport when your home SIM has no signal. Once you land you only need data, and a local SIM card is cheap: Magti's tourist package costs 20 GEL for 15 GB over 30 days, from a stand at the airport that is open around the clock.

Taxi prices in Tbilisi in 2026

A taxi is one of the best deals in the city. These are normal-hours Bolt fares on the routes visitors ride most, next to what a street taxi driver will usually ask a tourist for the same trip.

Bolt raised its fares in Georgia by about 12% in September 2026, so I'd plan on the upper half of each range. Even then, a ride from Freedom Square down to the sulfur baths costs about the same as a coffee, and that is why I'd never walk the hill back up after a long soak. Late nights are where Bolt earns its keep: getting home from the courtyard bars at Fabrika to a room in Mtatsminda costs 5 to 8 GEL, against 15 to 25 GEL from a street driver.

Rain and rush hour push the price up. Rain is the big one: half the city orders a car at once and fares climb 1.5 to 2 times. The evening rush from 6 to 8 pm does the same, and the traffic makes the ride slower on top. Late at night you'll see a small bump too, mostly on the airport route.

When the metro beats a taxi

The metro costs 1 GEL a ride on a Metromoney card, and it runs from 6 am to midnight. Solo and going between two metro stops, it wins on price every time and often on speed in rush hour. In a group the sums change: 4 friends splitting an 8 GEL Bolt across the center pay 2 GEL each, door to door, with no walk at either end.

My rule is simple. Alone, I take the metro for long straight runs and Bolt for anything with a hill or a late finish. With 3 or 4 people, I take Bolt almost everywhere. The rest of getting around Tbilisi is just as cheap: buses cost 1 GEL, the cable car up to Narikala 2.50 GEL, and a bus within 90 minutes of a metro tap is free on the Metromoney card.

After midnight the metro and buses stop, and there's no night service. From then until 6 am, an app taxi is the only sensible way home.

Bolt, Yandex Go or a street taxi: which to use

Here's how the three options compare on the things that matter at the curb.

And this is what I'd use, by situation:

Taxis from Tbilisi Airport

The airport is where visitors overpay most, so know the numbers before you land. Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport sits about 17 km southeast of the center, and a car gets you to Freedom Square in 25 to 30 minutes.

Bolt is what I'd use for most arrivals. It costs about 25 to 35 GEL to the center, more at night or in rain, and it works 24 hours a day. You meet the car in the shared pickup zone outside arrivals, and you pay by card in the app or in cash.

The official taxi booth inside the terminal charges a flat 60 GEL to Avlabari and 80 GEL to anywhere beyond it. Staff walk you to the car, and the cars have no card terminals, so you pay at the booth. It's double the Bolt fare, so I'd only use it when your phone has no data.

The drivers at the exit are the ones to ignore. They quote 40 to 100 GEL, often 2 to 3 times the app price, and some have lines ready: Bolt "isn't working" tonight, or the center is much further than you think. A few walk up and claim to be your Bolt driver.

Bus 337 is the 1 GEL alternative from about 7 am to 11 pm, and a prebooked transfer from about 53 GEL per car suits families and 3 am landings. If you land after 10 pm, I'd skip the bus: the ride from Tbilisi Airport to the city center takes about an hour on the 337, and the last one leaves around 11.

Street taxis and how to agree a fare

You'll still see plenty of street taxis in Tbilisi, from old Mercedes sedans with a roof sign to private cars with a sticker in the window. None of them run a meter. The price is whatever you and the driver agree before the door closes, and a driver who sees a tourist will start high.

A fair price is about 1.5 times what Bolt would charge for the same trip. On a 6 GEL Bolt route, that means settling at around 9 or 10 GEL, and the opening ask may be 15 or 20. Agree the number before you get in, make sure you both mean lari, and have something close to the right money ready, because change can be a problem late at night.

In the city I only take a street taxi when my phone has died or has no signal. In the mountains it's different. In Kazbegi and Svaneti, street taxis and local drivers are the main way to get around, and there the agreed-price system is just how things work. Haggle politely, settle once, and don't reopen the price at the end.

Paying for a taxi: card, cash and tipping

Both apps take Visa and Mastercard. Link the card once and every ride is charged automatically when you get out, which is the easiest way to pay. You can also choose cash in the app and pay the driver directly. Some drivers prefer cash in the evening, and a few may ask, but the fare stays the one in the app.

Russian Mir cards do not work in either app. UnionPay is patchy across Georgia, so if that's your only card, bring cash as well.

For cash, carry small notes. A 50 GEL note for a 6 GEL fare can be hard to break, especially at night. Cash is still needed for marshrutkas, markets and bakeries, so I keep 50 to 100 GEL on me in any case. The cheapest way to get money in Georgia is a TBC or Bank of Georgia ATM, or an exchange office in town, which pays 2 to 5% more than a bank.

Elsewhere, tipping in Georgia is optional too: about 10% in restaurants is kind, and many bills already carry a 10% service charge.

Are taxis safe in Tbilisi?

Yes. Taxis in Tbilisi are safe, and app rides are the safest of all because the car, the plate and the driver's name are logged before you get in. The real risk is the overcharge at the airport, which the plate check above takes care of.

The thing I'd actually watch is the driving. Georgian drivers are fast and overtake hard, and traffic is a bigger hazard in Tbilisi than crime. Wear your seat belt, front or back, even if the driver doesn't.

A few habits I'd keep, especially late at night:

• Check the plate before you open the door, every time.
• Share the trip from the app with a friend when you ride alone at night.
• Book from the app, not from the curb, after dark.

Overall, Tbilisi is safe for visitors, and getting home late is easy. The risks I'd actually plan around are the taxi overcharge, the bar scam and the evening protests on Rustaveli Avenue near Parliament.

Taxis for day trips from Tbilisi

Bolt works for the short trips out of town. Mtskheta, Georgia's old capital, is 25 km away and about 30 to 45 GEL by Bolt, which makes a Mtskheta day trip by app taxi easy for 2 to 4 people. Book the ride back from Mtskheta itself, since the cars there are fewer than in the city.

For anything further, I wouldn't use app fares. A driver hired for the day works out cheaper than paying a taxi there and back, he waits while you look around, and he stops wherever you ask on the way. On the mountain roads, that's also the safer choice over driving yourself.

Kazbegi is about 3 hours each way when the pass is open, and Tbilisi to Kazbegi by marshrutka or with a driver is the trip where the choice matters most. Once you're in Stepantsminda, you're back in street taxi country: agree the 4x4 price before you climb in.