Tbilisi

Getting around

Bus & tram

Bus & marshrutka

Buses (0.40 GEL) and marshrutkas (0.50 GEL) provide an effective above-ground complement to the metro, though their route boards are in Georgian only.

While buses only stop at predetermined stops, you can get on and off marshrutkas anywhere along their route. Pay when you get off. To get the driver to stop, yell out ‘gaacheret!’ (‘stop!’).

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Local transport

Metro

The deep, dank Tbilisi metro is the standard fast, efficient Soviet system seen all over the ex-USSR.

It operates from 6am to midnight with a flat fare of 0.40 GEL, and the two lines connect you to most important parts of the city, meeting at Vagzlis Moedani station. A third line appears on the official maps, but a shortage of funds makes its construction highly improbable for now.

The stations of most use to visitors are Tavisuplebis Moedani (Freedom Sq, for the Old Town), Rustaveli (city centre), Marjanishvili, Vagzlis Moedani (main train station) and Didube (main bus station).

Signs are only in Georgian but the station name is announced at each stop, and just before the doors shut the name of the next station is also announced.

Taxi

Taxis are plentiful and almost always unmetered. Agree on the fare before getting in unless you are so familiar with the city that you know what your ride will cost. A shortish ride of a couple of kilometres in central areas costs 2 to 3 GEL; longer rides may be up to 10 GEL.

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