Quick answer
Tap a contactless bank card, a phone wallet or a Metromoney card once when you enter the metro or board a bus; there is no tap-off. One ride is 1 GEL (about $0.40, roughly 1.50 GEL on a foreign card) and includes 90 minutes of free transfers between metro and buses when paid by Metromoney or bank card. The metro runs 06:00 to midnight. Buy a Metromoney card (2 GEL, refundable) at any metro cashier if you are staying more than a couple of days; otherwise just tap your own card. Google Maps has the live buses.
- Metro, bus, minibus
- 1 GEL
- Metro hours
- 06:00-24:00
- Free transfers
- 90 min
- Rike cable car
- 2.50 GEL
Tbilisi's public transport is cheap, better than it looks and occasionally baffling. A metro ride costs less than a bottle of water, the buses are new and air-conditioned, and the cable car over the river is the best two and a half lari you will spend in the city. What nobody explains is how the cards work, why your bank card costs more than a local's, and which of the two cards on sale is the one you want. We use the system daily; this is the working version.
Fares, hours and card rules below are from the Tbilisi Transport Company's fare page and the airport's timetable, checked on 6 September 2026, with the cable car and funicular details confirmed against a reputable guide updated in August 2026. USD conversions use the National Bank of Georgia rate on 5 September 2026 (1 USD = 2.61 GEL).
Fares and how to pay
Every municipal service (metro, buses, the city minibuses and the Turtle Lake cable car) charges one flat fare of 1 GEL, and the transport company's rule is that one payment buys 90 minutes of unlimited travel across metro and buses, as long as you paid with a Metromoney card or a bank card. Pay through a mobile app or in cash (a few buses still have a cash machine) and the transfer window does not apply. You tap once on entry and never on exit.
| How you pay | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Metromoney card | 1 GEL a ride, 90-minute free transfers, works on the Rike cable car too. Card 2 GEL, refundable within 30 days with the receipt. One card can pay for up to three people |
| Georgian bank card or wallet | 1 GEL a ride with the 90-minute transfers |
| Foreign bank card or wallet | About 1.50 GEL a ride, transfers included. Fine for a short stay; Visa and Mastercard work |
| Travel Card (blue) | Unlimited passes: 1 day 3 GEL, 1 week 20 GEL, 1 month 40 GEL. Card 2 GEL. No transfer logic needed; one person per card; not valid on the Rike cable car |
| Cash | Only where a bus has a cash machine, and no transfers. Avoid |
Inspectors work the bus stops with handheld readers; travelling without a valid tap costs 20 GEL, paid at a bank branch or paybox. The rule is not enforced with any drama, but it is enforced.
The metro
Tbilisi's metro opened in 1966, has two lines and 23 stations, and very deep platforms: at the central stations the escalator alone takes about a minute. Trains run from 06:00 to midnight every day, every few minutes at peak and roughly every ten off-peak. It is faster than any car across the centre between 08:00 and 20:00.
Akhmeteli-Varketili line (red)
16 stations running north to south-east through the centre. Visitors use Station Square, Marjanishvili, Rustaveli, Liberty Square, Avlabari, Isani, Samgori and Didube.
Saburtalo line (green)
7 stations branching west from Station Square towards Vake and Saburtalo. Visitors use Technical University for Vake and State University at the far end.
| Station | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Liberty Square | Old town, Sololaki, the start of Rustaveli Avenue, the National Museum. Red line |
| Avlabari | Sameba cathedral, Rike Park, the Narikala cable car, the bath district on foot. Red line; bus 337 from the airport stops here |
| Marjanishvili | Left-bank restaurants, Fabrika, the Dry Bridge market and Dedaena Park. Red line |
| Rustaveli | Parliament, the Opera, the Rustaveli to Mtatsminda cable car. Red line |
| Station Square | The railway station, both lines meet here, bus 337 terminates here. The market outside is the city's largest |
| Didube | The marshrutka yard for Kazbegi, Mtskheta, Gori, Borjomi, Kutaisi and Batumi. Red line |
| Samgori | The Navtlughi terminal for Kakheti vans (Sighnaghi, Telavi). Red line |
| Technical University | Vake Park, Chavchavadze Avenue cafes, the Turtle Lake cable car by bus or on foot. Green line |
A few things that trip people up. Rush hour (08:30-10:00 and 17:30-19:30) is genuinely packed, so avoid it with luggage. Station names are announced and signed in Georgian and English. Phone signal works in stations and drops in tunnels, so load your map first. The escalators move fast: stand right, walk left. There are no toilets in the stations.
Buses and city minibuses
The bus fleet was replaced over the past few years and the buses are now modern, low-floor and air-conditioned, with screens showing the next stop in Georgian and English. They start between 06:00 and 07:00 and run until about midnight, every 10 to 40 minutes depending on the route. Board by the middle or back door and tap on the reader; the driver does not handle payment. The route that every visitor uses is 337, the airport bus: Station Square, Rustaveli, Freedom Square, Avlabari, Isani and out along Kakheti Highway to the terminal, 1 GEL, from 06:59 to 22:59, with Rustaveli Avenue itself closed for rebuilding from July to November 2026 and the bus diverted around it.
Smaller white-and-black minibuses run the routes buses cannot, at the same 1 GEL fare, tapped on the same readers. The new minibuses to Rustavi, the industrial city south of Tbilisi, are the exception: they can be used within Tbilisi but charge a higher flat fare of 2 to 2.50 GEL. The intercity marshrutkas that leave from the Didube and Navtlughi yards are a different system altogether, cash to the driver; our marshrutka guide covers them.
Cable cars
Tbilisi has four ropeways and a funicular, and they use three different payment systems, which is where most confusion starts.
Cable cars and the funicular, September 2026
| Line | Fare | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rike Park to Narikala fortress | 2.50 GEL | Metromoney or bank card at the turnstile. About 10:00 to midnight in summer. Walk from Avlabari metro across Rike Park |
| Vake Park to Turtle Lake | 1 GEL | Metromoney or bank card. Municipal line, 10:00 to 22:00 daily. Bicycles carried for 1 GEL |
| Rustaveli Avenue to Mtatsminda | 12 GEL | Mtatsminda Park Card only (2 GEL, sold at the stations). Reopened October 2024, 845 m, about four minutes. Lower station behind the Academy of Sciences |
| Mtatsminda funicular | 12 GEL | Mtatsminda Park Card only. From Chonkadze Street to the park and viewing terrace |
Prices checked September 2026. Ranges reflect season and operator.
The Rike to Narikala car is the one to ride: two and a half minutes over the river with the old town, the bath domes and the fortress in front of you, for 2.50 GEL. Go up half an hour before sunset on a weekday, then walk down through the old town. The Rustaveli to Mtatsminda car is a tourist attraction more than transport; its 1958 lower station, with a double-helix staircase, is worth the ticket on its own. Neither the Metromoney card nor a bank card works on the Mtatsminda car or the funicular: you need the park's own card from the ticket desk at either end.
When to take a Bolt instead
Bolt is so cheap that it competes with the bus. A short central ride is 4-7 GEL (about $2-3), a cross-city ride 8-15 GEL, the airport 15-25 GEL by day and 30-40 GEL with surge or after midnight. Uber does not exist here; Yandex Go and Maxim are the fallbacks with fewer drivers. The trade-off is time: in daytime traffic the metro crosses the centre faster than any car, and the bus wins on the Rustaveli axis once you factor in the walk to a pickup point. Bolt earns its fare on the hills (Sololaki, Mtatsminda, Vera), in rain, after midnight when the metro has closed, and for anyone with luggage. The Bolt guide has fares and pickup quirks; the airport guide compares all four ways in from the terminal.
Leaving the city
| Going to | How |
|---|---|
| The airport | Bus 337 from Station Square, Freedom Square or Avlabari, 1 GEL, 06:59 to 22:59, 50-70 min. Bolt 15-40 GEL. Pre-booked driver 54 GEL |
| Mtskheta, Gori, Kazbegi, Kutaisi, Batumi | Marshrutkas from the Didube yard, beside Didube metro: Mtskheta 2 GEL, Kazbegi 20 GEL, Kutaisi 25 GEL |
| Sighnaghi, Telavi and Kakheti | Marshrutkas from the Navtlughi terminal beside Samgori metro, not from Didube and not from Ortachala: Sighnaghi 15 GEL |
| Batumi by train | From Station Square, four fast double-decker trains a day, 4 h 01 min, 36 GEL second class, 76 GEL first; they also stop at Kutaisi Airport. Book on tkt.ge |
| Yerevan and Baku | International coaches from Ortachala bus station (no metro; Bolt or a bus from Avlabari or Isani) |
The whole country's transport, from marshrutka fares to rental cars and the Mestia flight, is in our getting around Georgia guide, and the yards are mapped in the bus stations guide.
Walking
The centre is compact: the old town, Sololaki, Vera, Rustaveli and Marjanishvili are all within half an hour of each other on foot, and walking is how you find the courtyards and balconies that make the city. Pavements are uneven, drivers do not stop at unmarked crossings, and the hills are steeper than they look on the map, which is where the metro, the cable cars and a 5 GEL Bolt come in. Bike lanes exist along the river and through Rike Park and not much else; treat cycling on roads as something for confident riders only.
What a day costs
A visitor riding the metro or bus three or four times a day pays 3-4 GEL with a Metromoney card (the transfers cut it further), 2.50 GEL for the Narikala cable car and 4-7 GEL for one Bolt up a hill: roughly 8-12 GEL a day, about $3-5, plus the 2 GEL card. A week of unlimited rides on the Travel Card is 20 GEL. A single metro ticket in most European capitals costs more than a full day here.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Tbilisi metro in 2026?
Can I pay for Tbilisi buses and the metro with my credit card?
Where do I buy a Metromoney card and how do I top it up?
Does the Metromoney card work on the cable cars?
Which bus goes from Tbilisi Airport to the city?
Is Uber available in Tbilisi?
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