Didube Bus Station Guide 2026: Vans, Fares, Timetables

Metro

1 GEL

Kazbegi van

20 GEL

Routes below

16

Arrive early

30-40 min

How the yard works

Didube sits by the river north of the centre, 8 km and about 20 minutes by car from Freedom Square, directly beside Didube metro station on the red line. It is not one bus station. It is a complex of car parks, roads and low buildings shared with a busy bazaar, and inside it several separate bus companies run their own desks and their own patch of tarmac: the main part of the yard by the metro, where the Mtskheta, Kazbegi, Gudauri and Shatili vans stand; Avtostation Didube, for Gori; the Nige and Okriba stations, which between them handle Kutaisi, Chiatura, Batumi, Borjomi, Bakuriani, Akhaltsikhe, Vardzia, Zugdidi, Martvili and the coast; and the Passengers station for the Oni van. Signs are mostly in Georgian, with the popular destinations also marked in English. Not every driver or desk speaks English, but if you can show where you are going you will be pointed to the right van.

Three rules cover most of what goes wrong. Most of the big routes sell a paper ticket at a designated cash desk before you board, and the shorter ones take cash from the driver; ask at the first desk you reach. Departure times are fixed, but a van that fills up leaves early, which is why you arrive 30 to 40 minutes before the time you want. And some routes are seasonal: fewer vans, or none, in the winter low season, and the Oni and Shatili vans only run in summer. Fares rose on several routes in May 2026 when fuel prices climbed, so anything quoting 10 GEL to Kazbegi is out of date; the table below is what was posted at the station and by the operators in late September 2026, and the honest instruction is still to confirm the time locally the day before if the trip matters.

Getting to Didube

Routes, fares and times from Didube

Direct vans only. Where a destination is served by more than one company the fare is a range. Vans drop you anywhere along the route for the same fare if you tell the driver when you board; on journeys of two hours or more the driver makes a rest stop, not always at a shop, so carry water and a snack. Read on 2 October 2026 from the station survey of 26 September 2026 and the operators' pages it cites; cross-checked against our marshrutka and bus-stations guides.

The Kazbegi morning

The Kazbegi vans are the busiest thing in the yard and the one most first-time visitors are here for. They stand in the main part of the yard near the metro, with their own ticket desk, the toilets on the edge of their car park and the unofficial baggage room on the side of the market directly opposite. The 08:00 to 11:00 departures fill first, especially on Saturdays and in July and August; by the afternoon in the off season the frequency drops. Buy the ticket, keep it, then find the van and claim a seat with your bag; the driver may ask 5 GEL for a suitcase. Our Kazbegi day trip guide works out what the 08:00 van gives you against a tour or a driver. The road is the Georgian Military Highway over the 2,379 m Jvari Pass, 3 to 3.5 hours with a stop, and in winter the Roads Department closes the Gudauri to Kobi section in avalanche weather, so check georoad.ge before you ride out on a snowy morning. The stops and the drive are in our Military Highway guide; the Kazbegi guide covers the town and the walk to Gergeti.

What does not leave from Didube

Our Tbilisi bus stations guide covers Samgori, Ortachala and Station Square in the same detail.

When to skip the yard

Didube is cheap and it works, and there are mornings when it is the wrong tool: four people with luggage, a child, a plan that includes stops at Ananuri and the Gudauri viewpoint, a late start, or a mountain route in snow. A GoTrip driver is a fixed price per car for up to a few passengers, booked in advance with the stops written in, and picks you up at your door rather than at a yard. Split four ways the Kazbegi car costs about 53 GEL a head against 20 on the van, and you leave when you like. Beside you in the yard, drivers offering a "taxi" seat at a higher fare are the shared taxis that run to many of the same towns; they leave when their seats are sold and are fine for the short routes, but agree the price before you get in.

Mistakes

Keep planning

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