Quick answer
Tbilisi to Batumi is 372 km and about 5 h 40 min of driving on the E60 now that the Rikoti expressway is complete. Do it in three days: Mtskheta, Gori and Uplistsikhe on day one with a night in Kutaisi, the Kutaisi caves and canyons on day two, the coast on day three. A no-deposit compact from Localrent starts around $27 a day, fuel for the whole route is roughly 100 GEL, and the main tickets add up to about 150 GEL per person. If you only want to reach Batumi, the double-decker train does it in 4 hours for 36 GEL.
- Distance
- 372 km
- Direct drive
- 5 h 40 min
- Best length
- 3 days
- Train instead
- 36 GEL
Two things changed this year. The Rikoti expressway, the tunnel-and-viaduct road between Khashuri and Zestafoni that replaced the old pass, was officially finished in December 2025 along with new bypasses on the coast, and the crossing that used to be the slow, dusty heart of this drive is now the fastest part of it. And Georgian Railway's Batumi train dropped to four hours, which makes the case for driving purely about the stops. This page is written for the stops. If you just want the beach, read our train guide and go.
Two routes
| Route | What it is |
|---|---|
| The highway (E60) | Tbilisi, Gori, Khashuri, the Rikoti tunnels, Zestafoni, Kutaisi, Samtredia, the coast road to Batumi. 372 km, 5 h 40 min direct. Open all year. The route every rental agency expects, and the one this guide follows. |
| The southern loop | Tbilisi, Gori, Khashuri, then south to Borjomi and Akhaltsikhe and over the Goderdzi Pass (2,027 m) to the coast at Batumi. Longer, emptier and higher, and the Goderdzi section is a summer-only mountain road that Localrent's contract terms forbid in a rental car. Drive it only in your own vehicle, or use it as far as Borjomi and Akhaltsikhe and come back to the highway. |
Day 1: Tbilisi to Kutaisi, 231 km
Leave by 09:00. The distances below are GoTrip's route lengths, which follow the same roads you will.
Mtskheta, 27 km. The old capital sits where the Aragvi meets the Mtkvari, 40 minutes from the centre. Jvari monastery on the hill above has the view you've seen in every brochure, and Svetitskhoveli in the town is the cathedral where Georgians hold that Christ's robe is buried. Both are free; a headscarf and covered knees get you in. Ninety minutes is enough. Our Mtskheta guide has the detail.
Gori, 85 km from Tbilisi. Stalin's birthplace, and the museum is the strangest hour of the trip: a 1957 memorial complex that has barely changed its tone since. The full visit with a guide (halls, the birth house under its marble canopy, the personal railway carriage) is 15 GEL, the halls and house alone 10 GEL, the carriage 5 GEL, on the museum's own price list. Our Gori guide covers the town and the fortress.
Uplistsikhe, 15 km east of Gori. A rock-cut town on a bluff above the Mtkvari, occupied from the first millennium BC, with a throne hall, wine cellars and a tunnel down to the river. Entry is 15 GEL (children under six free; the price sometimes drops to 7 GEL in winter), open daily including Mondays: 10:00 to 19:00 from mid-April to the end of September, to 18:00 in October, to 17:00 in winter. Allow 90 minutes and take water; there's no shade on the rock. The Uplistsikhe guide explains what you're looking at.
The Rikoti crossing. After Khashuri the expressway dives into the hills. This was the slow part for six years of construction; now it's tunnel after tunnel, viaduct after viaduct, and the two-hour crawl over the pass is gone. If you want the old road, the pass itself is still there above the tunnels, forested and winding at about 1,000 m, and it adds an hour. Fill up in Gori or Khashuri rather than counting on the expressway.
Kutaisi by late afternoon, 231 km from Tbilisi. Georgia's second city has cleaned up its centre in the last few years and has enough restaurants for the evening. Walk the White Bridge over the Rioni, climb to Bagrati cathedral for the view over the city, and sleep here. Our Kutaisi guide makes the case for a second night.
Day 2: Kutaisi's monasteries, caves and canyons
The best day of the trip, and the reason to drive rather than take the train. Prices are from the Agency of Protected Areas' ticket seller and the operators, checked for our canyons guide in September 2026 and re-read today.
Day-two tickets around Kutaisi
| Site | Ticket | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gelati Monastery | no ticket | East of the city. UNESCO-listed, founded 1106; the mosaic and frescoes are the finest church interior in western Georgia. Under restoration and reported open on Saturdays and Sundays only (April 2026); dress rules apply |
| Prometheus Cave | 40 GEL | Plus 30 GEL for the underground boat. A 1.4 km trail in an 11 km cave system near Tskaltubo, 20 km north-west; park guide included. Prices rose April 2026 |
| Sataplia | 30 GEL | A smaller cave, dinosaur footprints and a glass-floored viewpoint. Pick this or Prometheus, not both |
| Martvili Canyon | 40 GEL | Plus 20 GEL for the boat, the part worth paying for. Opens 10:00. About 50 km north-west |
| Okatse Canyon | 30 GEL | Plus 12 GEL for the jeep to the walkway. 10:00 to 18:00, closed in rain or fog. Combos: with Kinchkha waterfall 40 GEL, both canyons and Kinchkha 80 GEL |
Prices checked September 2026. Ranges reflect season and operator.
A realistic day is Gelati in the morning (at a weekend, while the restoration lasts; Motsameta nearby is open daily), Prometheus or Sataplia before lunch, then Martvili for the boat in the afternoon; add Okatse only if you start early and it's dry. Book the Prometheus and canyon tickets online the night before in July and August, when the queues form by mid-morning.
Day 3: Kutaisi to Batumi, 148 km
About 2 h 40 min, and the landscape changes more in this stretch than in the rest of the trip: the Rioni plain, Samtredia's railway junction, then tea terraces, hazelnut groves and the humid air of Guria before the sea appears. The new coastal bypasses take you past the resort towns; leave them for the old shore road if you want to stop.
Ureki and Shekvetili. Dark, magnetic sand and a shallow shelf you can wade out on, the family end of the coast. Kobuleti. The long sandy beach and the Soviet mosaics; the beach is better than Batumi's own. Batumi Botanical Garden. On the cape just north of the city, 25 GEL, and worth two hours on the way in. Our beaches guide rates every stretch of this coast and has the bus fares for anyone continuing without the car.
Batumi. The glass towers announce it from a long way out. Park at the hotel and leave the car there; the centre is walkable and the driving is the worst in the country. For the coast south of the city, Gonio's Roman fortress (15 GEL) and the clear water at Kvariati and Sarpi are 15 to 20 minutes' drive. The Batumi guide takes over from here.
The road in 2026
| Section | Distance and what to expect |
|---|---|
| Tbilisi to Gori | 85 km, 1 h 15 min. Dual carriageway, fast, speed cameras. Cows on the verges after Kaspi. |
| Gori to Kutaisi | 150 km, 2 h 20 min. Two lanes to Khashuri, then the expressway tunnels to Zestafoni and a good road into the city. Fuel in Gori or Khashuri. |
| Kutaisi to Batumi | 148 km, 2 h 40 min. Flat and quick to the coast on the E60 and E692, then the shore road with its towns and tunnels into Batumi, where traffic builds from the railway station inwards. |
| Tbilisi to Borjomi | 161 km, 2 h 15 min. Off the highway at Khashuri into the wooded gorge. A fine road and a fine detour. |
| Borjomi to Akhaltsikhe | 48 km, 50 min. Good mountain road. Beyond Akhaltsikhe the Goderdzi road is summer-only and off-limits in a rental. |
Driving here
- Lane discipline is loose outside Tbilisi: overtaking on bends, trucks straddling lanes, the hard shoulder used as a passing lane. Drive defensively and don't take it personally.
- Alcohol. The legal limit is 0.03 percent, which in practice means none at all. Police checkpoints sit on the highway out of Tbilisi and around Kutaisi.
- Fuel. Gulf, Socar and Wissol stations line the route. On 14 September 2026 Gulf listed Euro Regular at 3.85 GEL a litre, Premium 4.05, Super 4.49 and diesel 4.55. A compact burning about 7 litres per 100 km uses roughly 26 litres for the direct route, so budget about 100 GEL, more with the detours.
- Cameras. Fixed speed cameras are common between Tbilisi and Gori and around Kutaisi; the rental agency passes fines on with an admin fee.
- Navigation. Google Maps handles the route; download the offline area, because signal drops in the tunnels and the gorges.
- Livestock. Cows on the carriageway are routine between Khashuri and Zestafoni and on every village stretch. Slow down through villages even where the road is wide.
- Winter. The expressway stays open all year. Winter tyres are compulsory on the mountain roads from December, and the Goderdzi road closes.
Where to sleep
Kutaisi is the overnight on the highway route and Batumi the end; both have more beds than they can fill outside July and August. Prices below are per room for two on a Friday and Saturday in early October 2026, read on booking.com on 14 September 2026 (539 properties in Kutaisi, 1,055 in Batumi). In Batumi, the boulevard end of the old town keeps you out of the car for the whole stay; our where to stay in Batumi page compares it with the towers and the beach villages.
What three days cost
Two people, three days, highway route
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Car, three days | 215-280 GEL | A no-deposit compact at $27 to $35 a day on Localrent; a one-way drop in Batumi is quoted by the agency on top |
| Fuel | about 100 GEL | Our estimate for 372 km in a compact at 3.85 GEL a litre; add 30 to 40 GEL for the Kutaisi detours |
| Two nights | 320-380 GEL | A Kutaisi guesthouse or small hotel plus a Batumi hotel at the prices above |
| Tickets | 140-200 GEL | For two: Stalin Museum 30, Uplistsikhe 30, Prometheus with boat 140 or Sataplia 60, Martvili with boat 120 are the big ones; choose |
| Driver instead of a car | 342 GEL | GoTrip Tbilisi to Batumi per car, 372 km, one way, with stops; the sidebar has the link |
Prices checked September 2026. Ranges reflect season and operator.
Call it 800 to 1,000 GEL (about $300 to $380) for two before food, against 144 GEL for two second-class train tickets there and back. The trip budget calculator adds the meals.
Drive or train
The train wins on everything except the stops: two to four double-decker departures a day by season, 4 hours, 36 GEL in second class or 76 in first, calling at Kutaisi Airport, Ureki and Kobuleti, no Georgian driving and a window seat along the shore into Batumi. Drive only if Gori, Uplistsikhe and the Kutaisi day are the trip. A good compromise: drive west with the stops, drop the car in Batumi and take the train or the 45-minute Georgian Airways flight back. Our Tbilisi to Batumi transport page lines up the train, the coaches, the vans, a driver and the flight with this month's times and fares.
Mistakes to avoid
- Driving it in a day. Five hours and forty minutes of highway with nothing seen. The train does the same for 36 GEL.
- Skipping Kutaisi. Gelati, Prometheus and Martvili are the best day of the route, and the city is a better night than Gori.
- Planning the Goderdzi Pass in a rental. It's excluded by the rental terms and snowed in from autumn to late spring. The Borjomi valley is fine; the pass is not.
- Leaving Tbilisi after lunch. Mtskheta, Gori and Uplistsikhe need the morning if you want Kutaisi in daylight.
- Driving in central Batumi. Park at the hotel on arrival and walk.
- Trusting old advice about Rikoti. The construction zones, flagmen and 30-minute waits are gone since December 2025; guides that still warn about them are out of date.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to drive from Tbilisi to Batumi?
Is the Rikoti highway finished?
Do I need a 4x4 to drive from Tbilisi to Batumi?
Can I drop a rental car in Batumi and not drive back?
What does the trip cost?
When is the best time for the drive?
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