Car rental in Georgia

Do you need a car in Georgia?

Not everyone does. If you are spending a week in Tbilisi exploring the Old Town, a car will mostly sit in a paid car park, and the centre is easier on foot. The same goes for Batumi if all you want is the beach and the boulevard.

A car earns its keep once you want to go beyond the cities: Mtskheta, Kazbegi, the wineries of Kakheti, the canyons around Kutaisi, the mountains of Adjara. Buses do not reach many of these places. And for drivers there is a bonus: Georgia has, in effect, no toll roads or vignettes.

How much does car hire in Georgia cost?

Cars start from $22 a day. That is the lowest price across the country; on average a day costs $33–43 depending on the month. A crossover is usually only a little dearer than a saloon, a large SUV or people carrier noticeably more, and premium cars and convertibles roughly twice the price of economy.

Season matters less here than on the Mediterranean: winter hire is roughly a quarter cheaper than summer, not half price. January to March is cheapest, July and August the most expensive. The spread between cities is wider: Tbilisi from $22, Kutaisi from $27, Stepantsminda from $28, Batumi from $29 and Kobuleti from $33. Prices were checked in October 2026; the exact amount for your dates is calculated by the rental company.

Where can you pick up a hire car?

The most popular pick-up points are the three airports: Tbilisi (TBS), Kutaisi (KUT) and Batumi (BUS). In Tbilisi someone from the rental company meets you at the terminal. Natakhtari, the domestic airfield, is not a pick-up point.

In town you can collect a car from the company’s office or have it delivered to your hotel — within the city limits, with the address added in the booking comment. One-way hire is possible too: the price then includes bringing the car back from a place where the company has no office. Out-of-hours pick-up costs extra, and the amount is shown in advance.

Most people drive to Stepantsminda from Tbilisi, while in Kobuleti, which has no airport, the car is brought to your hotel.

What do you need to hire a car and enter Georgia?

Your passport, your original national driving licence with details in Latin script, and the booking voucher. Copies and digital licences are not accepted, and the licence must be valid for the whole rental. The minimum age depends on the car: some are available from 18 with a year of driving, the full choice from 23 with three years. The minimum rental is 24 hours — even a few hours count as a full day.

Many cars have no deposit or one of up to $100, and it is rarely more than $200–300. Most cars need no credit card. Basic insurance excludes wheels, the underbody, glass and the interior — check the terms for your car; after an accident a police report is compulsory, and without one the insurance is void. Hire cars may not leave Georgia — not for Turkey, Armenia or Azerbaijan.

For entry: EU citizens need no visa and can stay for up to a year; whatever your passport, check the current rules before you travel. Since 2026 you also need medical insurance for the whole trip with at least 30,000 lari of cover, and border police check it. EU ‘roam like at home’ does not cover Georgia, so plan on a local SIM: Magti and Silknet have desks at Tbilisi airport, and you need your passport to buy one.

Roads, parking and fuel

The main roads — Tbilisi–Kutaisi and Tbilisi–Batumi — are in good condition, and the new road over the Rikoti Pass has cut journey times to the west. In the mountains the roads are narrow hairpins, with landslides in spring and autumn. Speed limits are 60 km/h in towns, 90 km/h outside built-up areas and 110 km/h on motorways; there are plenty of cameras, so it is best not to speed at all. The legal alcohol limit is 0.3 per mille (0.03%), but zero is safer: driving after drinking means losing your licence. Outside towns, keep dipped headlights on during the day. The emergency number is 112.

From 1 December to 1 March, winter tyres are compulsory on the mountain sections designated by the government: snowflake symbol, at least 3 mm of tread, and police can require chains. The fine is 100 lari and 5 penalty points. For a winter booking, ask for winter tyres.

Parking in central Tbilisi costs 1–3 lari an hour, with the first 15 minutes free; in Batumi almost everything near the sea and in the Old Town is paid; outside the big cities, parking is free unless signs say otherwise. In autumn 2026 petrol costs around 4 lari a litre (about €1.35), and diesel more, at 4–4.6 lari. At most filling stations an attendant fills up for you, many are open 24 hours, and you can pay by card or in lari. Prices were checked in October 2026.

Where to go by car in Georgia

North of Tbilisi runs the Georgian Military Road: Ananuri on the Zhinvali reservoir, Gudauri, the Jvari Pass and Stepantsminda beneath Mount Kazbek — 145–155 km, 2.5–3 hours. To the east lies Kakheti and its wineries, to the south David Gareja on the Azerbaijani border, and to the west the cave town of Uplistsikhe.

Around Kutaisi are Gelati monastery, Sataplia, Prometheus Cave and the Okatse and Martvili canyons. On the coast: Batumi, Gonio, the Chakvi tea plantations and Makhuntseti waterfall. Tbilisi to Batumi is 350–370 km, 4.5–6 hours, and only via Kutaisi: the route over the Goderdzi Pass is closed to hire cars.

For the mountains, choose a car with an engine of 1.6 litres or more. You can see almost all of Georgia in an ordinary car; what is off limits are the unpaved mountain roads — Tusheti, Shatili, Truso, Juta, the Goderdzi Pass. People go there with local drivers in 4x4s.

What can go wrong with a hire car in Georgia?

The biggest risk is a forbidden route. A hire car may only be driven on paved public roads: on unpaved tracks the insurance does not apply, you pay for any damage, and the rental company can fine you. The cars carry GPS trackers, and a car can be immobilised if it enters a restricted area. Between Akhaltsikhe and Batumi, sat-navs often suggest the Goderdzi Pass — say no and go via Kutaisi. The Mestia–Ushguli–Lentekhi stretch is open only with a special add-on and only from May to September.

The second is camera fines. Foreign visitors cannot pay them online, and an unpaid fine can stop you leaving the country. A day or two before returning the car, ask the rental company whether anything has come in.

The third is local driving. People overtake often, including on bends, use the horn for everything, do not always stop for pedestrians at crossings, and in villages there may be livestock on the road. Keep right, take your time and expect a cow round the next corner. For a step-by-step walk-through of booking in the catalogue, see our guide to booking a hire car online — it works the same way in every country.

Car or public transport?

If your route is Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi and you walk everywhere in the cities, you can manage without a car: there is public transport between the big cities. But it often does not reach the monasteries, canyons and mountain villages — and that is where a car pays for itself.

A good compromise is to hire a car for the days you are out of town rather than the whole trip: in Tbilisi, have it delivered to your hotel on the day you leave for Kazbegi; in Kutaisi, take it for the surrounding sights. For the places a hire car may not go — Tusheti, Shatili, the remote valleys — travel with a local driver in a 4x4. If you have already driven in Montenegro, there is one big difference: here the borders are closed to hire cars.