Overview
This 6 day Georgia New Year tour is built around one night and what follows it. Tbilisi at the end of December is a city fully lit: a large tree on Freedom Square, stalls in Rike Park, streets that fill before midnight and stay awake until dawn, and fireworks sent up from more than one point above the river, visible from the Mtkvari embankment and from Narikala above. We spend two nights in the capital so that you are in it on the night itself, then climb to Gudauri for three snow nights that make up the second half of the trip. The first day of the year in Georgia is genuinely quiet: most shops and museums are shut and people stay home, so we have made it the transfer day to the mountains rather than a sightseeing day. The programme suits families and couples; if you only want skiing read Georgia Snow Tour 5 Days - Gudauri, and for what each month brings see Best Time to Visit Georgia. An Arabic-speaking driver matters most on this particular night: the centre closes to cars for hours and a taxi after midnight is close to impossible, while your driver knows where to wait and when. More seasonal programmes in Georgia Winter and Snow Packages.
الباقة تشمل
- ✔ Private car with an Arabic-speaking driver for all six days, on winter tyres
- ✔ Pick-up from and drop-off at Tbilisi International Airport
- ✔ Two nights in Tbilisi covering New Year's Eve itself and three nights in Gudauri
- ✔ A dedicated plan for the night of the 31st: an agreed drop-off point and meeting point before the streets close
- ✔ A walk through the temporary holiday markets in Rike Park and around Freedom Square and the city tree
- ✔ The Georgian Military Highway with stops at Ananuri fortress and the Friendship Monument
- ✔ Two days in Gudauri across the slopes, the gondolas and the tubing lane for non-skiers
- ✔ Full flexibility on timings the day after New Year's Eve, because everyone sleeps late
- ✔ Booking on WhatsApp https://wa.me/995550000663 with a company officially registered in Georgia
Trip Itinerary
اليوم 1: Day One | Arrival in Tbilisi with the city in its lights
You are met at Tbilisi International Airport and taken to a hotel in the centre, which matters more in this programme than in any other, because tomorrow night is spent walking rather than driving. After a rest we go out in the evening to see the city lit: Rike Park with its temporary wooden stalls, the glass Bridge of Peace, then the cable car up to Narikala fortress to look down on the lights. A warm Georgian dinner starting with khinkali, and at the end of the evening we agree on the drop-off point and the meeting point for New Year's Eve.
اليوم 2: Day Two | The last day of the year, then the night itself
A deliberately light daytime because the night is long: a walk through the Old Town and Kote Abkhazi street, then the holiday markets selling chichilaki, a Georgian New Year tree shaved from a hazelnut branch into white curls, and gozinaki, the honey and walnut sweet eaten at midnight. Back to the hotel for an afternoon rest. In the evening an early dinner, then out towards Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue where the crowds gather, and at midnight the fireworks go up over the river.
اليوم 3: Day Three | The first day of the year and the climb to Gudauri
Nothing before noon. The first day of the year in Georgia is a closed day: most shops and museums do not open, the streets are nearly empty, and trying to schedule visits into it wastes the day. So we leave after a late lunch, north on the Georgian Military Highway: one hundred and twenty kilometres with a stop at Ananuri fortress above the Zhinvali reservoir, then up the Aragvi valley until snow appears on both sides. We reach Gudauri in the evening and check in, with a quiet dinner in the resort and an early night to make up for the last one.
اليوم 4: Day Four | The first full snow day in Gudauri
The first mountain day. Anyone who wants to ski starts with an instructor on the base slopes at around 2,200 metres, while experienced skiers go up into the Kudebi sector with its long blue runs. Children and non-skiers have their own track: the short tubing lane at the base, the gondola up and back for the view, and snowmobiles on the nearby plateaus. Lunch in a mountain hut and back to the hotel after the lifts close. Evenings in Gudauri are short and cold, and most people eat in their hotels.
اليوم 5: Day Five | The Friendship Monument and a second day on the slopes
In the morning we call at the Friendship Monument above the resort, a round structure from 1983 covered in a coloured mural, standing on the lip of the Jvari valley; early morning is the best time, before the coaches arrive. Then a second mountain day, this time going up to the Sadzele sector at 3,279 metres for anyone who grew confident yesterday, while the others stay on the easy runs. The afternoon is free in the resort, and the last mountain evening comes before the descent tomorrow.
اليوم 6: Day Six | Down to Tbilisi and departure
We come down after breakfast on the same road, about two and a half hours to Tbilisi, with the valley opening ahead at every bend. If there is time before the flight we stop at a mall or the Dry Bridge market for gifts, or at the sulphur baths in Abanotubani for a warm hour. For anyone extending their stay: Orthodox Christmas in Georgia falls on 7 January and is marked by the Alilo procession through the streets of Tbilisi, a sight worth staying for. Transfer to Tbilisi International Airport with a comfortable margin.