Quick answer
Ski Gudauri if you want serious terrain: about 35 km of marked runs above the treeline, a top lift at 3,279 m and real freeride, two hours north of Tbilisi. Ski Bakuriani with children or as a beginner: gentler, forested, with a proper town. Mestia and Goderdzi are for people who want empty slopes and do not mind a long trip in. A 2025-26 adult day pass was 70 GEL at Gudauri (about $27), 55 at Bakuriani, 50 at Mestia and 30 at Goderdzi. Lifts open between 20 and 27 December and run to late March, or 19 April at Gudauri. The 2026-27 dates and prices are published in mid-December.
- Resorts
- 4
- Day pass 2025-26
- 30-70 GEL
- Lifts run
- late Dec-Apr
- Gudauri top lift
- 3,279 m
We ski here every winter, mostly at Gudauri because it is the closest to Tbilisi and the biggest, sometimes at Bakuriani when friends bring children. The pitch is simple. Georgian resorts are cheap, uncrowded on weekdays, and the snow is reliable from January. What they are not is polished: the villages are thin on charm, the roads close, and the operator publishes its season dates about a week before the lifts start. So this guide is organised around decisions. Which resort, which weeks, what a pass and a bed cost, and how you get there without a car. Every price and date below was checked on 12 September 2026 against the operator, Mountain Trails Agency (MTA), its ticket resellers, GoTrip, Booking.com and the rental shops named; dollar figures use the National Bank of Georgia rate of 12 September 2026 (1 USD = 2.61 GEL).
The four resorts at a glance
All four are run by MTA, a state company, which means one price list, one Multicard, one set of rules and one season pass that works everywhere. It also means the season dates are announced together, in December. The figures for slope lengths and lift counts come from skiresort.info's resort pages, read today; MTA's own status site was down when we checked.
| Resort | What you get |
|---|---|
| Gudauri | 34.8 km of slopes, 17 lifts, 1,993 to 3,276 m, all above the treeline. Day pass 70 GEL. Lifts 27 Dec to 19 Apr in 2025-26. 122 km from Tbilisi. Best for: everyone who skis, freeride, the widest terrain |
| Bakuriani | 29 km across the Didveli, Kokhta and Mitarbi areas, 20 lifts, 1,641 to 2,702 m, forested. Day pass 55 GEL. 20 Dec to 29 Mar. 184 km from Tbilisi via Borjomi. Best for: families, beginners, a town to walk around |
| Mestia (Hatsvali and Tetnuldi) | 7 km at Hatsvali plus 13.7 km at Tetnuldi, 9 lifts in all, up to 3,160 m. Day pass 50 GEL for both. 27 Dec to 29 Mar (Hatsvali) and 9 Apr (Tetnuldi). 463 km from Tbilisi. Best for: scenery, empty pistes, Svaneti in winter |
| Goderdzi | 7.2 km of slopes, 3 lifts, 1,724 to 2,366 m, on the pass above Adjara. Day pass 30 GEL. 27 Dec to 29 Mar. 109 km from Batumi, the last 30 km unpaved. Best for: deep snow, nobody around, a 4x4 |
Gudauri, the big one
Gudauri sits at about 2,000 m on the Georgian Military Highway, just below the Jvari Pass, two hours from Tbilisi when the road is clear. It is the resort the numbers are about: 34.8 km of marked runs by skiresort.info's count (the 80 km figure in most guides includes the open bowls between them), 17 lifts including modern detachable chairs and gondolas, and a top station at 3,279 m. Nothing is in trees, so the light is flat on cloudy days and the wind bites, but on a clear morning you can see ridge after ridge of the Greater Caucasus and pick a line down open snowfields with nobody on them. The Freeride World Tour has held rounds in Georgia in each of the last three winters, by the operator's own press releases, which tells you what the terrain is like off the groomers.
The resort is a strip of hotels and apartment blocks along the highway rather than a village. Old Gudauri, lower down, has the original hotels and the first lifts; New Gudauri, above it, is where the newer apartment towers stand next to the main gondola. If you are choosing between the two, choose New Gudauri and ski to the lift from your door. Our Gudauri guide goes through the lifts, the freeride zones and the resort in detail; the essentials are here.
The catch. The Gudauri to Kobi section of the highway, just above the resort, closes whenever avalanche danger is high, sometimes for days, and the road from Tbilisi can close too in a big storm. The lifts run 10:00 to 17:00, with night skiing on Friday and Saturday evenings from 20:00 to 22:00 on a separate pass. Weekends bring Tbilisi up the road; weekdays in January and February are the sweet spot.
Bakuriani, families and a real town
Bakuriani is a real town at 1,700 m in the Lesser Caucasus, 30 km above Borjomi, with a park, restaurants, guesthouses that have been taking Georgian families for a century, and skiing spread across three areas: Didveli, the biggest and highest, with a gondola up to 2,702 m; Kokhta, the smaller area that opens first each season; and Mitarbi, the newest. A single MTA pass covers all three. The runs are in forest, so they hold up in wind and flat light, and the lower half of the resort is gentle enough that this is where Georgians learn to ski.
It is also where the winter season starts. Kokhta opened on 20 December in 2025-26, a week before the other resorts, and Didveli ran night skiing daily from 17:00 to 21:30 on a separate 40 GEL pass. Downsides: the top of Didveli is the only steep terrain, freeriders will be bored by day two, and the town sprawls, so you will want a car or a taxi between your bed, the lifts and dinner. The family-oriented Crystal resort on the edge of town runs its own private lifts and passes, separate from MTA's.
Mestia: Hatsvali and Tetnuldi
Mestia, the main town of Upper Svaneti, has two separate ski areas on one 50 GEL pass. Hatsvali is right above the town, 7 km of runs and four lifts between 1,868 and 2,348 m, reached by a cable car from the edge of Mestia. Tetnuldi is about 19 km from town by road, opened in 2016 on the flanks of the 4,858 m peak of the same name, and is the real skiing: 13.7 km of marked runs between 2,265 and 3,160 m, five lifts, and off-piste on every side. The views, with Ushba and Tetnuldi and the tower villages under snow, are the best of any resort in the country. And on a February weekday you can have a lift to yourself.
The price is distance. Mestia is 463 km from Tbilisi, a full day by road via Zugdidi, and the small Vanilla Sky planes from Natakhtari (90 GEL) and Kutaisi (50 GEL) fly less often in winter and cancel in bad weather. Tetnuldi's lifts run 10:00 to 16:00, an hour shorter than elsewhere, and you need a taxi or your own car from town to the base. Go for a week, not a weekend, and combine it with Mestia itself, which is quiet and cold and lovely in January.
Goderdzi, deep snow in Adjara
Goderdzi is the smallest and cheapest of the four: 7.2 km of groomed slopes, a gondola and a bubble chairlift between 1,724 and 2,366 m, and a 30 GEL day pass. What it has is snow. The resort sits on the Goderdzi Pass 109 km inland from Batumi, close enough to the Black Sea to catch the moisture, and the tourism agency of Adjara describes the first snow arriving in November and lying until April. The terrain is mostly easy and intermediate by skiresort.info's grading, so the draw is powder in the trees and beside the pistes, not steep runs.
Getting there is the adventure. The last 30 km from Khulo to the resort are unpaved, a 4x4 is strongly recommended and there is no direct public bus in winter: the Batumi van drops you at Danisparauli, 5 km short, where local drivers take you the rest of the way for 25 to 30 GEL each way. Lifts run 10:00 to 16:00 on weekdays and to 17:00 at weekends. If you are on the coast in winter anyway, it is a very good day out; we would not fly to Georgia for it alone.
Which resort for you
| You are | Go to |
|---|---|
| A confident skier or boarder on a week's trip | Gudauri. The most terrain, the longest season, two hours from the airport. Book New Gudauri |
| A family, or learning | Bakuriani. Gentle forest runs, a town with a park, night skiing, the cheapest beds in the mountains |
| After empty slopes and scenery | Mestia. Tetnuldi's runs under 4,000 m peaks, a week in Svaneti; accept the long trip and the weather |
| In Batumi with a 4x4 and a free day | Goderdzi. Deep snow, 30 GEL pass, a rough road |
| Here for one day from Tbilisi | Gudauri. Leave at 07:00, ski 10:00 to 16:00, back for dinner; a fixed-price driver splits well between three |
| A freerider | Gudauri, with a guide. Tetnuldi as the second choice. Insurance matters, see below |
Lift passes and the Multicard
MTA published one price list for the 2025-26 season, unchanged from the year before, and sells passes at the resort ticket offices, at the Marco Polo hotel in Gudauri and a few Smart supermarkets, and online through tkt.ge, skipass.ge, biletebi.ge and the Bank of Georgia SuperApp from about 23 December. Prices for 2026-27 will be published in December; until then, these are the numbers to budget with.
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gudauri, adult day pass | 70 GEL ($27) | Children 6 to 12 pay 35 GEL, under-6s ride free |
| Bakuriani, adult day pass | 55 GEL ($21) | Didveli, Kokhta and Mitarbi. 7-day pass 296 GEL. Night skiing 40 GEL |
| Mestia, adult day pass | 50 GEL ($19) | Hatsvali and Tetnuldi on one pass |
| Goderdzi, adult day pass | 30 GEL ($11) | The cheapest lift ticket in the country |
| Season pass, all four resorts | 650 GEL ($249) | Adult; children 325 GEL. Includes night skiing. 30 percent off online with a TBC Concept Visa card |
| Multicard | 5 GEL | Physical card every pass is loaded on; refunded when returned, reusable next season |
Prices checked September 2026 (2025-26 season list). Ranges reflect season and operator.
The discounts follow a pattern. In 2025-26 MTA ran 30 percent off the all-resort season pass from 23 December, off 7- and 10-day passes from 22 January, and off 1- to 6-day passes from 11 March, in each case only when paid online with a TBC Concept Visa card and limited to two passes per card. The deals mostly go to residents with a TBC card, so plan on list prices.
Season dates and the best weeks
The lifts did not open on 1 December, whatever a booking site tells you. In 2025-26 Bakuriani's Kokhta area opened on 20 December, Didveli followed on 22 December, and Gudauri, Mestia and Goderdzi all opened on 27 December, with runs opening gradually as the snow arrived. At the other end, Bakuriani, Goderdzi and Hatsvali closed on 29 March, Tetnuldi on 9 April and Gudauri on 19 April. MTA announced the opening dates on 18 December and the closing dates on 26 March. Expect the same pattern in 2026-27, and check mta.ski in mid-December before you commit to an early trip.
| Weeks | What to expect |
|---|---|
| 20 to 31 December | Lifts opening one by one, thin cover on the lower runs some years. New Year's Eve begins the busiest and most expensive fortnight |
| 1 to 19 January | Georgia's holiday season runs from New Year to Orthodox Christmas on 7 January and on to Epiphany on the 19th. Full resorts, top prices, better snow by the second week |
| 20 January to early March | The weeks we ski. Cold, reliable snow, weekdays quiet, beds at their cheapest outside the opening month |
| March | Longer days, softer afternoons, still full cover up high. Bakuriani and Mestia's Hatsvali close at the end of the month |
| April | Gudauri and Tetnuldi only. Spring snow, empty lifts, 30 percent pass discounts if you can get them |
Getting to the resorts
Gudauri is the only resort you can reach from Tbilisi in a morning. Bakuriani is a half-day, Mestia a full one or a flight, Goderdzi a Batumi trip. Winter tyres are compulsory on the designated mountain sections under a regulation in force since December 2023, and the police can require chains on the Jvari Pass. Our winter guide covers the road closures; the transport options are these.
| Resort | Options and prices |
|---|---|
| Gudauri | Marshrutka: 15 GEL on the Stepantsminda van from Didube, about 2.5 hours, awkward with skis. Driver: from 196 GEL per car (about $75), 122 km, about 2 hours; from the airport 205 GEL. Rental car: 2 hours when the road is clear |
| Bakuriani | Marshrutka: direct vans from Didube at 09:00, 10:00 and 11:00 for 20 GEL, or the hourly Borjomi van (15 GEL) then a 3 GEL van up the hill, 45 minutes. Driver: from 223 GEL per car, 184 km, under 3 hours. The Borjomi to Bakuriani railway is closed; the railway says it plans a restart around January 2027 |
| Mestia | Flight: Vanilla Sky from Natakhtari 90 GEL or Kutaisi 50 GEL, fewer winter departures, weather cancellations. Driver: from 592 GEL from Tbilisi (463 km, a full day) or 334 GEL from Kutaisi (236 km). Marshrutka: to Zugdidi, then a Mestia van that may not run in bad weather |
| Goderdzi | From Batumi: 109 km, 2.5 to 3 hours in a 4x4. Public bus to Danisparauli, then a local jeep for 25 to 30 GEL each way. No direct winter bus. The last 30 km from Khulo are unpaved |
Where to stay
Both big resorts are best done from a rented apartment rather than a hotel, and this is the one piece of advice we would push on anyone. In Gudauri book New Gudauri, where the apartment blocks stand beside the main gondola and you can ski to the lift; the old hotels lower down mean a shuttle or a walk along the highway. In Bakuriani location matters less because the town is spread out anyway, but you will want a car. We use Booking.com and Airbnb for both; Airbnb has the wider choice of apartments in New Gudauri. Mestia is guesthouses, many family-run; confirm that yours is open in January and heats the rooms before you book. Book December and the first half of January months ahead; from late January you can usually find something a week out.
Gear, lessons and what a day costs
Rental is easy at Gudauri and Bakuriani and adequate at Mestia; bring your own boots if you own them, because the boots are where rental fleets are weakest. Prices depend on the age of the kit. Carpe Diem, a hotel rental shop in Gudauri open 08:00 to 22:00, listed on 12 September 2026 a ski or snowboard set at 120 GEL a day for brand-new gear, 80 GEL for last year's, 70 GEL for four-year-old sets and 60 GEL for older ones, with a helmet, goggles, poles, jacket, trousers or gloves at 20 GEL each. The smaller shops in New Gudauri and in Bakuriani town come in under that for older kit; look at the edges and the boot liners before you pay.
Lessons are the other bargain. A Gudauri ski school we checked charges from 220 GEL for a two-hour private lesson for one person (330 GEL for two), 400 GEL for four hours and 620 GEL for a full day, with English-speaking instructors; book ahead for the holiday weeks. Group lessons and children's classes exist at both big resorts but are organised by the schools and hotels, not the operator, so ask where you are staying.
A day at Gudauri, one adult
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Day pass | 70 GEL | 2025-26 list price, plus a 5 GEL refundable Multicard on the first day |
| Ski or board set | 60-120 GEL | Carpe Diem price list; cheaper at the small shops for older kit |
| Helmet | 20 GEL | Same shop; goggles and clothing 20 GEL an item |
| Lunch on the mountain | 30-40 GEL | Our estimate for khachapuri, soup and tea at a lift-station cafe |
| Total with rental | 180-250 GEL | About $70-95. Without rental, 100-110 GEL |
Prices checked September 2026. Ranges reflect season and operator.
That total, with your own gear, is under 110 GEL (about $42) for a day's skiing and lunch. Add a New Gudauri apartment at 250 to 310 GEL a night in mid-January, split two ways, and a week on the snow comes to roughly 1,700 to 2,600 GEL a person ($650 to $1,000) before flights and dinner. The trip budget calculator handles the rest of the trip.
Mistakes to avoid
| Mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Booking the first week of December | The lifts opened between 20 and 27 December in 2025-26. Book from the second week of January unless you like waiting |
| Arriving with a QR code | Every pass needs the physical Multicard. Get it at the ticket office before you queue for the gondola |
| Skiing New Year's week to save money | It is the most expensive fortnight of the year for beds and the busiest on the lifts. Late January costs a fraction |
| Driving up in a summer-tyre rental | Winter tyres are compulsory on the mountain sections; ask the agency to confirm them in writing and take chains for the Jvari Pass |
| Flying to Mestia the day before an international flight | Winter flights cancel for weather. Leave a spare day, or go by road |
| Freeriding alone at Gudauri | The bowls avalanche. Hire a guide, carry a transceiver, and know that ordinary insurance stops at the piste markers |
Frequently asked questions
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