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Is Georgia Cheap to Visit? What a Day Really Costs, Away from Tbilisi
Georgia is one of the cheapest places in or near Europe to spend a day, as long as you travel the way Georgians do: marshrutka minibuses, family guesthouses and half board. Here is what that costs in the mountains, on the country's great walk and at two of its monasteries, with the months that work.
Photo: Image by <a href=" https://pixabay.com/users/peterw1950-631321/?utm_source=li, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Text added by Trip Under.
Short answer
Yes. Once you are in Georgia, a day in the mountains of Svaneti costs about ₹1,500 on a shoestring and ₹2,100 mid-range, per person, including your bed, food, local transport and fees. That is less than 9 of the 9 places in Europe we cover. The four-day Mestia–Ushguli trek costs about ₹7,000 with beds and dinners, and an overnight trip to Gergeti Trinity Church about ₹3,150. Flights to Tbilisi (TBS) are not included.
Most first trips to Georgia run Tbilisi, Kazbegi, Batumi and home. Go to Svaneti instead of Kazbegi: it is the cheaper and wilder choice, with stone defence towers, a glacier walk from town, and a road to Ushguli that closes with the first snow.
What a day in Georgia costs
Prices in the Georgian mountains are set by family guesthouses and shared minibuses, not hotels and tours. In Svaneti a dorm bed is about ₹800, a Mestia guesthouse ₹1,400, and an Ushguli guesthouse with dinner and breakfast ₹1,800. A marshrutka ride is about ₹400. Food is cheap and filling: kubdari, the Svan meat bread, is about ₹350; khachapuri and salad in a Mestia café ₹250; tashmijabi, mashed potato with melted cheese, ₹150.
Infographic · cost per day, mid-range
Georgia and Armenia against Europe, per person per day
Mid-range: a private room, sit-down meals, local transport and fees. From Trip Under place data. Flights not included.
Infographic · where the money goes
A week in Svaneti, one person, shoestring: ₹15,500
Every line is from the Svaneti record. Prices are planning figures; check before you go.
Svaneti: Mestia and Ushguli
Svaneti is the part of Georgia that most people who 'did Georgia' never saw, because the standard week runs Tbilisi–Kazbegi–Batumi and stops. Mestia is the regional town and has flights, ATMs and guesthouses. Ushguli is four hours further on an unsurfaced road, is Europe's highest permanently inhabited village, and is the reason to come. Two nights minimum — a day trip wastes the drive.
- Getting there: marshrutkas leave Tbilisi's Didube station early in the morning for the nine-hour road to Mestia, or take the overnight sleeper to Zugdidi and a three-hour minibus. Either costs about ₹900. There are small domestic flights to Mestia, often cancelled by weather.
- Mestia to Ushguli: a shared 4WD, about ₹1,800 a seat, four hours, leaving around 9 am. Find three others at the Mestia hostel and you fill the vehicle.
- Free days: the Chalaadi glacier walk (4 hours) and the Koruldi lakes (7 hours, steep) cost nothing. The chairlift up to the ridge is about ₹600 return.
- Money: Mestia has several. Ushguli has none. Ushguli has no ATM. Bring lari from Mestia.
Season matters more than budget here. Late May to early October. Outside that the Ushguli road is closed or 4WD-only, most guesthouses shut, and the passes are impassable. July and August are warmest and busiest; September is the quiet month with the best light.
The Mestia–Ushguli trek: four days, no tent
Four days between villages with a bed and a hot dinner at the end of each, and a glacier crossing at Adishi in the middle. No guide, no camping gear, no bureaucracy. The walk climbs to about 2,700 m. Permits: None. This is one of Europe's great permit-free walks. Gear: No tent needed — you sleep in village guesthouses. Boots, rain shell, and cash for four nights.
At about ₹7,000 for the four days, it is one of the cheapest multi-day walks in Europe: you pay village guesthouses for a bed and a hot dinner each night. Walk it between Jun–Sep. The road out of Ushguli back to Mestia is the shared 4WD.
Two monasteries: Gergeti Trinity and Davit Gareja
Gergeti Trinity Church
A 14th-century Georgian Orthodox church dedicated to the Holy Trinity (Tsminda Sameba), standing alone on a ridge at about 2,170-2,200 m above the village of Stepantsminda, with Mount Kazbek (5,047 m) behind it. It is still a working church with a bell tower, served by the Georgian Orthodox Church. During invasions in the Middle Ages it sheltered priests and villagers, and the Cross of St Nino was hidden here before it went to Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi. The marshrutka from Tbilisi's Didube station takes about three hours over the Jvari Pass and costs about ₹500. From the village it is a 1.5 to 2 hour walk up, about 500 m of climbing. Guesthouses listed by Georgia's protected-areas agency start at about ₹500 a night without meals and about ₹1,660 with two meals. Our estimate for the two-day trip is about ₹3,150.
Dress: knees and shoulders covered; women also cover their hair. Entry is free according to visitor guides. Best: mid-May to mid-October; in winter the road up to the church closes. Start the hike early or go up for the last two hours before sunset: the light on Kazbek is best and the tour minivans from Tbilisi have gone.
Davit Gareja and Kakheti
A cave monastery cut into a ridge on the Azerbaijan border. Shared minibuses run from Tbilisi from April to October, about ₹800, two and a half hours each way. Instead of returning on the tour bus, carry on to Sighnaghi (marshrutka about ₹700) and Bodbe Monastery (about ₹100 by taxi, or walk 3 km). Sighnaghi guesthouses with breakfast run ₹1,200 to ₹2,500 a night, and a home-cooked meal ₹400 to ₹700. Our estimate for the two days is about ₹7,000.
Before you go: carry your passport, since border guards sometimes check ID near the Udabno caves. The frescoed Udabno caves have been closed on and off since 2019, most recently from January 2024; ask locally whether they are open.
Getting around, and on to Armenia
Fly into Tbilisi (TBS); flights are not included in any cost here. Inside Georgia the marshrutka network goes everywhere, leaves when full and costs very little. Leave the country by the same system: the Tbilisi–Yerevan marshrutka is about ₹1,000 and 6 h 30 m, and from Yerevan another (2 h / 5 h, about ₹500) runs to Dilijan, a forested national park with two of the Caucasus's finest monasteries. A day there costs about ₹1,400 on a shoestring and ₹1,950 mid-range, best May–Jun, Sep–Oct.
Borders: do not try to enter Azerbaijan overland from Armenia; route via Georgia. The UK Foreign Office advises against travel to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The road past Gergeti continues to the Russian border at Upper Lars, which you should not cross. Visa rules depend on your passport: check before you go.
The best months
Infographic · month by month
Svaneti, month by month
Month-by-month as text
Jan: Avoid · Feb: Avoid · Mar: Avoid · Apr: Passable · May: Good · Jun: Best · Jul: Best · Aug: Best · Sep: Best · Oct: Good · Nov: Avoid · Dec: Avoid
The Ushguli road closes with the first snow, usually in October, and reopens in May.
| Place | Best time |
|---|---|
| Svaneti | Jun–Sep; September is quietest |
| Mestia–Ushguli trek | Jun–Sep |
| Gergeti Trinity | Mid-May to mid-October |
| Davit Gareja and Kakheti | May, June, September and October |
| Dilijan, Armenia | May–Jun, Sep–Oct |
Three ways to spend less: Take the Zugdidi sleeper instead of the nine-hour road. Same price, you sleep through it, and you arrive fresh. Find three others at the Mestia hostel and the Ushguli 4WD costs a quarter each. September: the guesthouses are open, the crowds are gone, the light is at its best and prices drop.
Frequently asked questions
Is Georgia a cheap country to visit?
Yes, once you are there. A day in Svaneti costs about ₹1,500 on a shoestring and ₹2,100 mid-range per person, cheaper than 9 of the 9 European places Trip Under covers. Flights are extra.
How much is the Mestia to Ushguli trek?
About ₹7,000 for four days, sleeping and eating dinner in village guesthouses. No permit, no tent and no guide are needed. Walk it Jun–Sep.
How do you get from Tbilisi to Svaneti?
By marshrutka from Didube station (about nine hours) or the overnight sleeper to Zugdidi and a three-hour minibus, about ₹900 either way.
When is the best time to visit Svaneti?
Jun–Sep. September is quietest, with the best light. Outside late May to early October the Ushguli road is closed or 4WD-only and most guesthouses shut.
Can I combine Georgia and Armenia?
Yes. The Tbilisi–Yerevan marshrutka costs about ₹1,000 and takes 6 h 30 m; Dilijan is two hours on from Yerevan.
Sources and how we priced this
- Daily costs, stays, food, routes and months: Trip Under's Svaneti, Dilijan, Mestia–Ushguli trek, Gergeti Trinity and Davit Gareja pages, built on our cost method.
- Gergeti: Georgian National Tourism Administration; guesthouse prices from the Agency of Protected Areas (undated); marshrutka fare and hike time from travel guides.
- Safety: UK FCDO, Georgia (updated 15 September 2026). Check your own government's advice too.
Keep reading
Plan Svaneti day by day
Set your dates, group and travel style and see beds, food, the 4WD and fees add up in your own currency.
Open the Svaneti plan →Costs come from Trip Under's place data and our cost model (see methodology). They are indicative ballparks for budget travel and move with season and demand. Check live bus, train and room prices before you book. Trip Under is reader-planned, not an agency, and takes no commission on any booking.