Airport Transfer

Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli International Airport (TBS) is located 17 km southeast of Tbilisi and is served by taxis, buses and trains.

BUS
Municipality bus N37 serves passengers from Tbilisi International Airport  to the Freedom Square and after Central Train Station. It’s the cheapest transportation and one way costs only 0.50 GEL. The journey takes about 30 - 40 minutes and they run every 20-30 minutes. Bus stop is located right in front of the Departure Hall and buses serve 24/7. 

TAXI
Taxi service at Tbilisi International Airport is available outside the terminal. The journey time to the city center takes 20-30 minutes depending on the traffic. Taxis in Tbilisi are not metered, so you must negotiate before you get in the car. Expect to pay around 35 - 40 GEL.More info for the white taxis in front of the arrivals : Toyoto Taxi and Shuttle

Alternatively you can use Taxify application from your mobile phone.

TRAIN
There is a new train station serving Tbilisi Airport and conveniently dropping you at the main train station. The frequency, however, is disappointing, since it basically serves airport staff going to and returning from work.

Train Schedule Airport-Tbilisi: 8:35 am & 17:40 pm.

(The Georgian Railway train timetable can be found here. Do check train times before you travel as they may be subject to change.)

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Metromoney Card

"Metromoney” card is a general way to pay in municipal transport (metro, bus,
minibus) Turtle Lake and Rike-Narikala cable cars.

Owners of “Metromoney” cards automatically get discounts in municipal transport
(metro, bus); they can also pay a fare in minibuses in Tbilisi using these cards.

Purchasing “Metromoney” card is possible at any payment office of metro stations
and Rike-Narikala cable car station. It costs 2 GEL. No document is required to
purchase the card.

If you pay by card in buses or metro you can travel for free within the next 1.5 hours.

Metromoney Card allows to pay for metro, buses, microbuses and rope ways in Tbilisi.

An Express Pay machine at a bus stop where you can top up your Metromoney card.

You can put credit on the card with cash at metro-station ticket offices or in ubiquitous orange Express Pay machines. To charge the card at a Express Pay machine, just switch to English and choose the “Transport Card Top Up” option. You will find it in the upper left corner. And follow the instructions.

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City Bus

Buses run at fixed times from 7 am till 12 pm.The buses travel around the entire city and cost 50 Tetri. You can buy a ticket at the ticket machine in the bus or pay by “Metromoney”. The ticket machine doesn’t give change so the fare should be paid exactly. 

Around 200 inspectors of Passenger Monitoring Service are on patrol daily to minimise existence of passengers without tickets. Persons without a valid ticket are penalized with 5 Lari fine which must be paid within 30 days.

Bus stop LED board: Bus number, final destination, and minutes til arrival at this stop. In English.

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Taxi

All taxis are white and they are not metered.It is very important to agree upon the price before getting into the taxi to avoid any unpleasant situations. Most of the drivers don’t speak English so be prepared to show/say clearly the address you want to get to. If you know a bit of Russian – it will help too.

The rate from close areas to the center will be no more than 5 GEL. For late hours private taxis may offer higher rate, still the price will be lower than in any other European city. The trip from the airport to the city center will cost about 30 GEL.

You may use one of the mobile applications for hailing a cab. Bolt is one of the best choices. It works quite well. Yandex Taxi is another option.

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Tbilisi Metro

The Tbilisi Metro has two lines that cover a total of 26.4 km. It serves a total of 24 stations. Working hours of Tbilisi metro are from 06:00 to 23:00. Time intervals between trains vary from 2.5 minutes at rush hours to 10 minutes at off-peak times. All public announcements as well as direction signs are in Georgian and English.. The basic cost for one ticket is 50 tetri per journey. Tickets are good for 90 minutes after their initial validation.

Tbilisi Metro is run by Tbilisi Transport Company which is owned by the Tbilisi City Hall : http://ttc.com.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=1

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Marshrutka

Minibuses

They are yellow and  have numbers on the front glass. Each number is assigned to a specific route. You can catch a Marshutka simply by waving your hand. As they have no fixed stops, you may ask the driver to drop you off at any place you desire.

To get off the marshrutka tell the driver to stop by calling ; გააჩერეთ (gaacheret–stop) or გამიჩერეთ (gamicheret–stop for me).   If your Georgian is good enough ; გაჩერებაზე (gacherebaze–at the bus stop), სადმე გამიჩერეთ (sadme gamicheret–stop for me somewhere/anywhere) 

You are supposed to pay the driver of the minibus when you get off the vehicle. Minibuses accept the “Metromoney” (მეტრომანი) prepaid card, Express Card and cash. Typical fares are 30 tetri to 1 GEL for a minibus ride. 

Tbilisi Minibus Company has a very useful web site. You can find  the routes in the Route Scheme or you can plan your route on the map as you wish.

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