Things to do in Gudauri
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Gudauri
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Ski season runs roughly late December to April; the 2025-26 season was scheduled to open on 27 December.
Peak snow and peak prices: New Year and Orthodox Christmas crowds in January, the most reliable cover in February.
March brings longer days and softer snow; April is spring skiing on a closing mountain.
Shoulder season: much of the resort shuts, restaurants and hotels included, and highway weather turns wintry in autumn.
Summer is the quiet green alternative: hiking, paragliding, Truso and Lomisa walks, lower prices, reduced lift hours.
What's on
- New Year and Orthodox Christmas peak late December to 7 January
The resort's busiest fortnight, with Georgian and Russian New Year holidays and Orthodox Christmas on 7 January filling hotels.
Best things to do in Gudauri
Russia-Georgia Friendship Monument
A huge 1983 Soviet monument with a full tile mural, perched over the Devil's Valley between Gudauri and Jvari Pass.
Jvari Pass
The high point of the Military Highway at about 2,379 m, where the road crosses the main Caucasus ridge.
Gergeti Trinity Church
The 14th-century church under Mt Kazbek at about 2,170 m, the obvious non-ski day trip from a Gudauri base.
Ananuri Fortress
A 17th-century castle over the Zhinvali Reservoir on the drive up, worth 30 to 45 minutes rather than a photo.
Zhinvali Reservoir
Bright blue reservoir viewpoints beside the highway below Ananuri, a viewing stop on the way up, not a swim spot.
Where to stay in Gudauri
New Gudauri
first trip, walkable base
The Redco apartment blocks by the main gondola hold the densest choice of places to stay, eat, drink and rent gear.
Upper Gudauri
classic hotel stays, quieter nights
The older hotel cluster higher on the highway, near the Shino and Soliko lifts, more hotel-based and calmer.
Lower Gudauri
true ski-in ski-out at Pirveli
The original resort core at the first lift, with the Marco Polo's full services but few places to eat outside hotels.
Think twice about
- Larsi border crossing area
A transit freight crossing toward Russia with long truck queues, not a tourist stop; do not build sightseeing around it.
- South Ossetia and Abkhazia
Outside Georgian government control; do not travel there, and the Truso trail turns back near the boundary.
- Unguided off-piste terrain above the resort
The bowls off Kudebi, Sadzele, Bidara and Kobi are not avalanche controlled; go only with a local guide and full safety kit.
Best restaurants in Gudauri
Soliko Restaurant
The Marco Polo's signature restaurant, the resort's most formal dining room for European and Georgian dishes.
Montis Restaurant
The Carpe Diem hotel restaurant in Upper Gudauri, praised by guests for seasonal Georgian and European cooking.
Mtvrali Alubali - Drunk Cherry
Gudauri's one real apres-ski and nightlife spot, a big restaurant-bar with live music and dancing in New Gudauri.
Restaurant Platforma
A calm Georgian restaurant on the gondola road in the Loft 2 building, a solid default for apartment stays.
Haveli Indian Restaurant Gudauri
The best-supported Indian restaurant in Gudauri, with halal options on the gondola lift road in New Gudauri.
Restaurant Dariali
A simple Georgian restaurant and pub in Upper Gudauri where drivers and instructors eat at local prices.
Outdoor things to do in Gudauri
Gudauri Ski Resort
High, wide, treeless skiing from about 2,000 m to 3,279 m, with a 70 GEL day pass that undercuts the Alps.
Kobi-Gudauri Gondola
Three gondola sections over Kobi Pass linking the resort to the north side toward Stepantsminda, built in 2018.
Heliksir
The established Gudauri heliski operator, flying groups of four with certified guides into untracked Caucasus terrain.
SkyAtlantida Gudauri Adventure
The best-reviewed tandem paragliding operator in Gudauri, flying year-round from the slopes above the resort.
Truso Valley
A long flat summer valley walk past travertine terraces, mineral springs, abandoned villages and tower ruins.
Lomisa Monastery
A steep pilgrimage climb from Mleta village to a small ridge-top church, the best short hike at Gudauri's doorstep.
Best hotels in Gudauri
Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri
The resort's original grand hotel at the Pirveli lift, ski-in ski-out with pool, spa and pass sales on site.
Gudauri Lodge
A polished modern lodge in the gondola cluster, ski-in ski-out with an indoor pool and a sun terrace.
Hotel Carpe Diem Gudauri
A 52-room design hotel by the Soliko side of the resort, with restaurant, sauna and pool and a quieter setting.
Quadrum Ski & Yoga Resort
The shipping-container design hotel with pool and valley views; pick a room away from the highway for quiet.
White Shino Hostel
The established budget hostel near the Shino slope, for skiers spending money on lift days instead of rooms.
Rider's House
A budget hostel in the New Gudauri blocks, steps from the gondola, bars and restaurants, with a shared kitchen.
Is Gudauri expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | GEL 220 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | GEL 380 a person |
| Splurge | GEL 750 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Gergeti Trinity Church: a few days ahead
- Gudauri Ski Resort: a few days ahead
- Heliksir: weeks ahead
- SkyAtlantida Gudauri Adventure: a few days ahead
- Marco Polo Hotel Gudauri: weeks ahead
- Gudauri Lodge: weeks ahead
- Soliko Restaurant: a few days ahead
- New Year, Orthodox Christmas in early January and February fill the good hotels and New Gudauri apartments weeks out.
- Book heliskiing weeks ahead, and paragliding and private transfers days ahead in season, keeping a spare day for weather.
- Outside peak weeks, weekday rooms and lift passes are easy to arrange late.
Is Gudauri safe?
- Check Georgia Roads Department restrictions before travelling: the Gudauri to Kobi section over Jvari Pass can close for days for avalanche risk.
- The highway carries long truck queues toward Larsi, is unlit in stretches, and winter driving needs winter tyres, chains and experience.
- At 2,200 m in resort and 3,279 m at the top lifts, take the first day gently, hydrate, and go easy on alcohol and sun exposure.
- Off-piste is not avalanche controlled and avalanche information is limited; use a local guide and full safety kit.
- Emergency number in Georgia is 112.
Gudauri travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Hotel ski rental costs more than the shops by the lifts, a complaint repeated in visitor reviews.
- Listings that say ski-in ski-out but mean a several-hundred-metre walk or a shuttle; check the map, not the adjective.
- Tbilisi day trips that spend more time on the highway than on snow, and the Friendship Monument sold as a standalone excursion.
- Eating every meal in hotel restaurants when New Gudauri kitchens and a supermarket run would halve the food bill.
Getting around Gudauri: public transport and more
- Gudauri is about 120 km and 2 to 2.5 hours from Tbilisi on the S3 Georgian Military Highway, the only road there.
- Pre-booked SUV transfers are the sensible winter choice; marshrutkas from Tbilisi Didube toward Stepantsminda can drop you in Gudauri.
- Inside the resort, walk between clusters with care on icy roads and use hotel shuttles and gondola-side taxis for lifts.
- There is no train and no alternative road, so a highway closure means waiting it out in resort or in Tbilisi.
Who Gudauri suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Gudauri your trip
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