Quick answer
Spring in Georgia runs from a changeable March, when Tbilisi averages 13°C by day and the mountains are still in winter, to a warm May, when the capital averages 24°C and the lowland hikes, Kakheti and Kazbegi are all at their best. Orthodox Easter is on 2 May 2027, with public holidays from 30 April to 3 May. The high passes stay shut: the Tusheti road opens between late May and late June (20 June in 2026), and the Juta, Truso and Svaneti high trails from late May at the earliest. For most people the second half of May is the best two weeks of the year in Georgia.
- Tbilisi May high
- 24°C
- Easter 2027
- 2 May
- Tusheti road 2026
- 20 June
- Sunset, 31 May
- 20:25
We live in Tbilisi, and spring is the season we tell friends to gamble on. The odds are good: March can throw a day of snow and a day of 20°C at you in the same week, but April turns the city green almost overnight and May is the month the whole country looks like the photographs. What you give up is the high mountains, which do not open until June. What you gain is Easter, the new wine, the wildflowers below the snowline, empty trails near the capital and rooms that cost less than in summer. Our best time to visit guide compares the four seasons; this page goes deep on the one that needs the most planning.
The short version of the plan: Tbilisi and Kakheti any time from March, the west and the coast from April if you accept rain, Kazbegi and the lower hikes from mid-May, the high passes not at all. The rest of this page explains why.
March, April or May
Spring is three different months, not one season. The figures below are the 1991-2020 climate normals for Tbilisi (mean daily high and low, monthly rainfall, days with rain, hours of sunshine), so treat them as averages: a single week can run five degrees either side.
| Month | What it is like |
|---|---|
| March | 13°C by day, 4°C at night, 29 mm of rain over about 8 wet days, 142 hours of sun, snow on 3 days. The driest of the three months but the least predictable. Winter lingers until the equinox, blossom starts in the last ten days. Tbilisi, Mtskheta and Kakheti only; the mountains are still skiing. |
| April | 19°C / 8°C, 64 mm over about 12 wet days, 171 hours of sun. Spring commits. Wisteria and fruit blossom through mid-month, terraces open, the hills go green. Wetter than March, with the last cold snap possible in the first week. |
| May | 24°C / 13°C, 83 mm over about 12 wet days, 213 hours of sun. The wettest month of the year in Tbilisi and also the sunniest of the three, because the rain comes in short afternoon bursts. Kazbegi, the lowland hikes and the whole of the lowlands are open. Summer heat has not arrived. |
Spring weather by region
Georgia is small enough to cross in a day and varied enough that May means four different things depending on where you stand. Highs and lows below are published normals (1991-2020 for Tbilisi, Telavi and Kutaisi; 1981-2010 for Batumi Airport; a modelled average for Stepantsminda, which has no long published record), rounded to whole degrees.
| Place | March, April, May |
|---|---|
| Tbilisi | 13/4, 19/8, 24/13°C. Rain rises through the season (29, 64 and 83 mm). The driest big city in spring and the warmest by May. |
| Telavi (Kakheti, 490 m) | 13/3, 18/7, 23/12°C. A degree cooler than Tbilisi with cold nights in March and more rain in May (119 mm). Vines leaf out in April. |
| Kutaisi (Imereti) | 15/6, 20/10, 25/14°C. Warmer than the east all season and wet in March (134 mm), then similar to Tbilisi. Green from the start. |
| Batumi (coast) | 12/6, 19/9, 23/13°C. March is the wet one (157 mm); April and May run about 90 mm each. The sea averages 12°C in April and 17°C in May, so this is not a beach season. |
| Stepantsminda (Kazbegi, 1,740 m) | 3/-7, 9/-3, 14/3°C. Winter in March, thaw in April, a wet spring in May (about 145 mm). The trailheads sit higher still. |
Two things the table hides. First, the mountains lag the lowlands by six to eight weeks: a May day in Tbilisi feels like early summer while Stepantsminda is only just past the last snowfall. Second, the western totals are big because the rain comes hard and short; a wet forecast in Kutaisi rarely means a whole day indoors, and the same is true of a May afternoon in Tbilisi.
Daylight in spring
Georgia stays on UTC+4 all year with no clock change, and the days stretch by almost three hours across the season. Sunrise in Tbilisi moves from about 07:35 on 1 March to 05:30 on 31 May, and sunset from about 18:50 to 20:25 (our own calculation with the standard solar formula; treat it as accurate to five minutes). Batumi runs about a quarter of an hour later at both ends. By mid-May you have fifteen hours of light, which is what makes long day trips from Tbilisi and the Kazbegi walks work in a way they do not in October.
Tbilisi in spring
If summer Tbilisi is a furnace and winter Tbilisi is grey and indoors, spring is the city at its most liveable. The sequence is the same every year, give or take a week. Almond, plum and peach blossom appears around the old town in the third and fourth weeks of March. From late March to mid-April the wisteria comes out, draped over the balconies of Sololaki and the old town and, at its most impressive, over the main entrance of the National Botanical Garden. By late April the fruit trees are fully green, the cafes of Vera and the old town have their courtyards open, and in May the poppies flower on the Sololaki ridge and the hills above the city.
The walks are the point. The National Botanical Garden (4 GEL, about $1.50) covers the valley behind Narikala and is at its best from late March to mid-April, when the garden's own wisteria and cherries flower together. Narikala fortress itself has been closed for restoration since late 2023 with no reopening date when we checked; the ridge path past it to the Mother of Georgia statue is open. The Turtle Lake to Mtatsminda traverse is the classic spring day walk inside the city, and the funicular (12 GEL plus 2 GEL for the park's card) brings you down. Our day hikes near Tbilisi guide has all twelve routes with fares.
Then the markets. Dezerter Bazaar by the railway station fills in spring with bundles of tarragon and the first sour green plums, and in mid-spring with the small, very sweet strawberries Georgians call raspberry strawberries, sold by the bucket. Our markets guide covers what to buy and where.
Easter 2027 and the spring holidays
Georgia follows the Julian calendar for Easter, so it usually falls one to five weeks after Western Easter. In 2027 it is late: Easter Sunday is 2 May 2027, and the four days from Good Friday through Easter Monday are public holidays, so expect closures from 30 April to 3 May. (In 2026 it was 12 April.) It is the most important holiday of the year, more than Christmas, and it is not commercial: red-dyed eggs, tall sweet paska bread in every bakery in Holy Week, boxwood branches sold outside churches on Palm Sunday, and the midnight liturgy on Saturday night, when the flame is passed candle to candle until the whole crowd outside the church is lit. Banks, offices and many restaurants close over the weekend, and on Easter Monday families visit the graves of relatives with eggs and wine. Our Easter guide has the full weekend, hour by hour, and the etiquette.
Where to be: Sameba cathedral in Tbilisi for the biggest midnight service, Sioni in the old town for the easy option if you are staying in the centre, or any village church for the most local version. Kakheti fills with Tbilisi families over the long weekend, so if you want Sighnaghi for Easter, book it first and plan the rest of the trip around it.
The other spring dates worth knowing, all from the official public holiday list: Mother's Day on 3 March and Women's Day on 8 March close banks, museums and offices while shops and restaurants trade as normal; Victory Day on 9 May, St Andrew's Day on 12 May and Family Sanctity Day on 17 May are quieter holidays; and Independence Day on 26 May closes part of Rustaveli Avenue for a street festival with ceremonies, concerts and fireworks. The New Wine Festival in Mtatsminda Park, the day family cellars from every region pour the new vintage, is the second Saturday of May, which should be 8 May 2027 (9 May in 2026; free, 11:00 to 18:00). The full year is in our festivals calendar.
Where to go in spring
| Destination | Spring verdict |
|---|---|
| Tbilisi | Good from March, best in April and May. Blossom, wisteria, terraces, the ridge walks, Easter, the New Wine Festival and Independence Day. |
| Kakheti | Good from March, best in May. The vines leaf out in April and the Alazani valley is green with snow on the Caucasus behind it. Wineries are open and quiet; Easter weekend is the exception. |
| Mtskheta and David Gareja | Best in April and May. Gareja's semi-desert is green for a few weeks only, and the ridge walk is comfortable rather than baking. Vashlovani, further east, has the same short green season. |
| Borjomi and Vardzia | Good from April. The Borjomi park is green and the cave city comfortable. Note that the road on over the Goderdzi Pass to Batumi is off-limits in a rental car. |
| Kutaisi and the canyons | Good all spring, wettest in March. Martvili and Okatse run high with meltwater; Okatse closes in rain, snow or fog, so pick a dry day. Prometheus Cave works whatever the weather. |
| Kazbegi | Cold in March, variable in April, good from mid-May. The Military Highway is open all year; the walks are a May affair. |
| Svaneti (Mestia) | Late May only, and low. Mestia is reachable all year and the sealed Ushguli road reopens as the snow goes, but the trails above the villages hold snow into June. |
| Tusheti | Closed. The Abano Pass opens between late May and late June (20 June in 2026). Plan it for July to September. |
| Batumi and the coast | Skip for the beach. The sea is 17°C in May and the coast is the wettest region in spring. Fine for a rainy city break, not for swimming. |
The mountains and hiking in spring
Spring hiking in Georgia is a matter of altitude and patience. Below about 1,000 m the trails are walkable from March and at their best in April and May; above the treeline the snow lasts into June, and the passes and lakes that make Georgia famous are summer routes, not spring ones. Expect mud, high rivers and the odd washed-out track after snowmelt on anything in between.
What that means by area:
- Around Tbilisi. The city ridge walks, Tbilisi National Park, Kojori, Lisi Lake and Birtvisi canyon (60 km, a driver from 126 GEL per car) are the reliable spring hikes and the wildflowers are best in April and May. Lagodekhi's waterfall trails in Kakheti run high with meltwater, and the Ninoskhevi route has river crossings that are knee-deep in spring.
- Kazbegi. Vans leave Didube for Stepantsminda for 20 GEL (about $8), about eleven times a day in summer. The walk to Gergeti Trinity church (about 7 km return, 60 to 75 minutes up) is fine from mid-May, earlier if the winter was mild; before that the 4x4s do the run. The Truso and Juta valleys open in the last weeks of May or in June, and the Mountain Travel Agency's shared minibuses to them (45 GEL return) start in June. The Chaukhi pass between Juta and Roshka is a June-onwards route. Our Kazbegi guide has the details.
- Svaneti. Mestia is open all year (Vanilla Sky flies from Natakhtari for 90 GEL, or the 08:15 train to Zugdidi for 17 GEL and a van), but the Mestia to Ushguli trek and the Koruldi Lakes are June to October routes. The Zagari Pass road from Ushguli towards Kutaisi is normally open by mid-June.
- Tusheti. Not in spring. The Abano Pass opened on 20 June in 2026 and some years not until the end of the month. Our Tusheti road guide explains the drive and why rental cars are banned from it.
- Skiing. The season runs into spring: in 2025-26 Bakuriani and Goderdzi closed on 29 March, Tetnuldi in Svaneti on 9 April and Gudauri on 19 April. Our skiing guide has the passes and prices.
Eating and drinking in spring
Georgian cooking is seasonal in a way visitors rarely expect, and spring is the herb season. The dish to order is chakapuli, lamb (or veal) stewed with tarragon, white wine and unripe green plums; restaurants serve it all year, but it belongs to Easter and tastes right in April and May when the tarragon and the plums are fresh. Look too for pkhali made with spring greens, the pickled bladdernut flowers called jonjoli, ekala (a wild vine shoot from eastern Georgia, served as pkhali), the first sharp green tkemali sauce from the same unripe plums, and paska in every bakery in the week before Easter.
Spring is also when the previous autumn's wine is being opened and judged. The New Wine Festival on the second Saturday of May is the organised version; the unorganised one is any family cellar in Kakheti in April or May, when the owner has time to pour. Our Kakheti wine road trip has the route and the fees.
Getting around in spring
Nothing about transport changes with the season except the mountain roads above. Marshrutkas run their full timetables: 20 GEL to Kazbegi and 25 GEL to Kutaisi from Didube, 12 to 15 GEL to Telavi and 15 GEL to Sighnaghi from the Navtlughi yard at Samgori metro, 25 to 35 GEL to Batumi. The Tbilisi to Batumi train runs four times a day in about four hours for 36 GEL second class or 76 GEL first (about $14 and $29), and the fast trains stop at Kutaisi Airport station in 2 h 35 min for 34 GEL. Our getting around guide has every route and price.
With a car, spring is the easy season: no winter equipment is needed in the lowlands after March, the Military Highway to Kazbegi is a normal drive, and the roads to Kakheti, Borjomi, Kutaisi and Mestia are paved the whole way. Where a car changes a spring trip is Kakheti and the country around Tbilisi, where the vans do not reach the cellars, the canyons or the trailheads. What a rental will not do is Tusheti, Truso, Juta, Vashlovani, Shatili or the Goderdzi Pass: Localrent's Georgia terms exclude those roads, as do most agencies' contracts.
What spring costs
Spring sits below the summer peak for rooms and cars, and the numbers above show it: a two-night Sighnaghi guesthouse over the 2027 Easter weekend from 100 GEL (about $38) with balcony, or 153 GEL with breakfast, and a compact rental from $27 a day with no deposit. Restaurants, transport and entry fees do not change with the season. The one bump is Easter weekend itself, when Kakheti and the Tbilisi old town tighten a few weeks ahead. For a full trip estimate by travel style, use our trip budget calculator, which is built on prices we checked in 2026, and the travel budget guide.
What to pack for spring
The problem is the range: a 24°C afternoon in Tbilisi and a frost in Stepantsminda in the same week, and rain most weeks from April. Layers and waterproofs solve it.
- A light jacket plus a fleece or sweater. March wants both every day; May wants them in the mountains and on Tbilisi evenings.
- A rain shell you will actually wear. From April onwards, essential. Better than an umbrella on any trail.
- Waterproof shoes or boots. Spring trails are mud and stream beds; trainers do not survive them.
- Sunglasses and sunscreen. The May sun at 2,000 m is strong and the air is clear after rain.
- A scarf. It doubles as a church head covering at Easter; the big churches lend wraps at the door, village churches may not.
- Your own antihistamines if pollen affects you.
Our packing guide has the full list by season, and the insurance guide explains the mandatory-insurance rule for visitors.
Spring mistakes to avoid
- Planning Tusheti, Ushguli or Chaukhi for spring. They open in June. Come in summer or early autumn for those, or accept Kazbegi and the lowland hikes instead.
- Building the trip around Batumi. The sea is 17°C in May and the coast is the wettest part of the country in spring. Make it an optional stop, not the anchor.
- Booking Easter weekend late. Sighnaghi and the Tbilisi old town tighten weeks ahead of 30 April 2027. Book with free cancellation and adjust.
- Arriving on a public holiday expecting banks and museums. 3 and 8 March, 30 April to 3 May, 9, 12, 17 and 26 May all close them. Shops and most restaurants stay open except over Easter.
- Packing for the forecast on the day you leave home. March and early April can swing 15 degrees in a day. Bring the layers whatever the app says.
- Trusting a trail report from last month. Snowlines move weekly in May. Ask the guesthouse the night before.
Frequently asked questions
Is spring a good time to visit Georgia?
What is the weather like in Georgia in March?
When is Orthodox Easter in Georgia in 2027?
Can you hike in Georgia in spring?
Is Georgia cheaper in spring?
Can you swim in Batumi in spring?
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