Tbilisi, Kazbegi, Kutaisi and Kakheti on a real £30 a day budget, with marshrutka fares, guesthouse prices and a full receipt from 21 days.
Georgia gives UK passport holders 365 days visa free, sells a bed with breakfast for £12, and runs minibuses to almost every valley for the price of a coffee at home. Three weeks here cost £631 including flights, which works out at £30 a day on the ground.
This is the full breakdown: where the money went, what each leg cost, and what I would change.
The route
Twenty one days, four bases, no internal flights.
| Leg | Nights | Getting there | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kutaisi | 3 | Airport bus | £2 |
| Tbilisi | 8 | Marshrutka, 4 hours | £5 |
| Stepantsminda, Kazbegi | 4 | Marshrutka from Didube | £4 |
| Sighnaghi, Kakheti | 3 | Marshrutka from Samgori | £3 |
| Tbilisi again | 3 | Marshrutka | £3 |
Kutaisi first is a money decision. Budget flights land there, not in Tbilisi, and the airport bus into the city is £2 against a £25 taxi.
What things cost
Guesthouses, not hostels, are the value here. A family room with breakfast in Stepantsminda is £14. The same money buys a dorm bed in Tbilisi, and the guesthouse is quieter.
- Khinkali, five dumplings, £1.60. Six is a meal.
- Khachapuri, cheese bread, £2. Split one.
- A litre of house wine poured from a jug, £2.20.
- Metro ride in Tbilisi, 30p with a Metromoney card.
- Marshrutka, any journey under four hours, £3 to £5.
Tbilisi, eight nights
Eight nights sounds long for one city. It is not. Tbilisi has three separate old quarters, a sulphur bath district, a Soviet era funicular and a food scene that costs almost nothing.
Practical notes:
- Stay in Sololaki or Chugureti. Both are walkable to everything and cheaper than Rustaveli.
- The sulphur baths at Abanotubani are £9 for a private room for an hour. Go before 10am and you get the place empty.
- The Dry Bridge market is where you buy old Soviet cameras and enamel pins. Haggle by walking away once.
- Bolt taxis cost £1.50 across the centre. Street taxis cost four times that if you do not agree a fare first.
Kazbegi, four nights
The marshrutka from Didube station to Stepantsminda takes three hours on the Georgian Military Highway and costs £4. Sit on the left going north.
Gergeti Trinity Church is the reason people come. You can walk up in ninety minutes on a steep forest track, or take a shared 4x4 for £8 each way. I walked up and rode down.
Weather changes fast. In late September it was 18 degrees in the valley and 4 degrees at the church with sleet. Bring a shell layer even in summer.
Kakheti, three nights
Wine country. Sighnaghi is a small walled town on a ridge with a view over the Alazani valley. Two family cellars will pour you six glasses and feed you lunch for £12 each. Ask your guesthouse to phone ahead rather than booking a tour online for triple the price.
Where the budget nearly broke
Three moments cost more than they should have.
- A taxi from Tbilisi airport at midnight, £11, when the 337 bus runs 24 hours for 50p.
- A restaurant on Shardeni Street with an English menu and no prices, £26 for two courses. The same meal two streets away is £8.
- An ATM that charged a £4.50 fee. Bank of Georgia and TBC are the two to use, and both let you decline the conversion offer.
Is Georgia safe to travel alone
Yes, in the way most of Europe is. Tbilisi is fine to walk at night in the central districts. Dogs in rural areas are the more common problem, and they are usually herding dogs doing their job rather than strays. Keep to the road, do not run.
Standard cover applies anywhere: a policy, a copy of your passport in email, and someone at home who knows your route. Full checklist in how to plan an international trip.
Three weeks, or two
If you only have fourteen days, cut Kutaisi and Kakheti, keep Tbilisi at seven nights and Kazbegi at four, and you will spend about £430 including flights.
FAQs
How much money do I need per day in Georgia? £30 a day covers a private guesthouse room with breakfast, three meals, local transport and one paid entry. £22 a day works if you use dorms and cook occasionally.
Do I need a visa for Georgia? UK, EU, US, Canadian and Australian passport holders get 365 days visa free on arrival. Check your own nationality before booking.
Is Georgia cheaper than Turkey or Albania? Slightly, mainly on accommodation and wine. Turkey is cheaper for long distance buses; Georgia is cheaper for rooms.
What is the best time to visit Georgia? May, June, September and early October. July and August are hot in Tbilisi and busy in the mountains. Winter is cheap but many mountain roads close.
Can I pay by card in Georgia? In cities, yes. In villages and on marshrutkas, cash only. Carry 100 lari in small notes.
How do marshrutkas work? They leave when full, not on a timetable. Turn up at the station, say the town name, pay the driver in cash, and keep your bag on your lap if it is small.
More numbers from other countries in best countries to visit on a budget, first trip advice in best destinations for first time travellers, everywhere covered so far on the travel map, and the rest of the notebook in the dispatch index. Monthly field notes go out through the newsletter. Questions go to the contact page.
Packing notes for this trip
Twenty eight litres, carry on only, nine kilos loaded.
- Two walking layers and one warm mid layer. Mountain evenings drop to 4 degrees even in September.
- A rain shell. Rain in the Caucasus arrives in twenty minutes and lasts an hour.
- A power bank. Marshrutkas have no sockets and some guesthouses have one plug per room.
- A padlock for guesthouse cupboards, mainly for peace of mind on long days out.
- 200 lari in cash split between two places. Village shops and bus drivers do not take cards.
Money, cards and tipping
Draw cash from Bank of Georgia or TBC machines and always decline the machine's own conversion rate, which costs about 5 percent. Revolut and Wise both work at the counter in city restaurants. Tipping is not automatic; 10 percent in a sit down restaurant is generous and nothing is expected in a bakery or on a bus.
Getting a SIM on arrival
Magti and Silknet both sell tourist SIMs at Tbilisi and Kutaisi airports for around £8 with 10GB and 30 days. Coverage in the Kazbegi valley is good, coverage on the Military Highway between passes is patchy for about forty minutes.
Two day trips worth the fare
- Mtskheta, 30 minutes from Didube by marshrutka, £1. Two of the oldest churches in the country and a river confluence you can swim in during July.
- Chronicle of Georgia, a bus and a walk from Tbilisi, free. Sixteen black pillars on a hill above a reservoir, almost empty most days.
A realistic first day
Land, take the airport bus, drop bags, eat khinkali, sleep. Jet lag from the UK is only three hours, so day one can be useful, but do not book anything before 11am.