Usefulness for those who are going to Georgia

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Recently, Georgia has become a very popular destination for Russian tourists. Increasingly, I see posts on Instagram, advertisements, reviews - everything about this country.

Quite recently I myself went to Georgia, such a close, but in many ways unlike Russia, a country. In this article, I want to share some aspects of travel that will be useful for tourists. Especially for those who travel independently, without using the services of travel agencies.

Money

The national currency of Georgia is Lari. At the current exchange rate, 1 GEL equals approximately 27-28 rubles. For simplicity of calculations, I multiplied all local prices by 30.

Other currencies are not accepted in Georgia, so the money will have to be changed anyway. This can be done both in Russia and already on the spot, in Georgia. I advise you to change money already at the airport, immediately upon arrival. The exchange rate is approximately the same everywhere, so there is no particular difference in which exchange office you choose.

I must warn you right away that bank cards are not accepted everywhere in Georgia! And I'm not just talking about small towns. In the capital of the country, in Tbilisi, we almost everywhere had to pay in cash. In restaurants, cafes, subways, grocery stores. And in the city of Borjomi, even when checking into the hotel, they asked to pay for the room in cash.

In general, when preparing for your trip to Georgia, take the maximum amount of cash with you. You should not rely on a bank card here.

Prices

Everything in Georgia is much cheaper than in Russia. This applies to food, hotel accommodation, public transport, and entertainment.

Here are some examples. In the center of Tbilisi, you can dine together in a good restaurant for 25 GEL (that is, for about 700-750 rubles). One metro ride costs 0.5 GEL, that is, less than 15 rubles. Ferris wheel rides will cost about 5-10 GEL.

In general, the most expensive thing in a trip to Georgia is plane tickets. Although, if you try, you can find more or less profitable options. For example, it is better to book a flight in advance, two to three months before the trip, then the tickets will be cheaper. If you are ready to travel light, with a small bag in your carry-on luggage and no luggage, you can take a flight on some low-cost airline. For example, Pobeda Airlines have cheap tickets. Since I cannot travel without a suitcase, this option was dismissed for me. As a result, we flew in one direction with the Georgian airline Georgian airways, and in the other - with our Red Wings. The service of the airlines is quite acceptable, especially since it takes only two and a half hours to fly. But tickets are several times cheaper than, for example, Aeroflot.

Public transport

As I wrote above, I like to travel on my own, without resorting to the services of guides and tour operators. The most difficult, responsible and interesting thing is to think over the route. Which city to fly to, how to get to the hotel from the airport, how then to ride from it to other places in the country. This section of my article will be useful to those who also like to travel on their own.

So, Georgia is a relatively small country. If you are traveling for several days, especially for a week or more, I advise you not to sit in one place, but to ride around different towns in this country.

The first option that comes to mind is to rent a car and not take a steam bath. There are rental points here, so you can afford it. But, to be honest, I will not advise this way of traveling in Georgia. They drive very sloppy here. There are a lot of reckless drivers who even go uphill along the serpentine at a breakneck speed. Traffic rules are violated everywhere here. In general, it is worth renting a car only if you are a seasoned driver with extensive experience.

The second option, which, in fact, I used during my wanderings around Georgia is a minibus. Here it is the most popular type of budget travel between cities. Most settlements have so-called bus stations. Most often they are located in the local market area.

In particular, there are several such bus stations in Tbilisi, all of them are located at some distance from the city center. But they are located not far from metro stations, so there shouldn't be any problems with coming here. Be prepared for the fact that as soon as you exit the metro, you will be immediately surrounded by local taxi drivers (Georgian taxi drivers are a separate topic, I will write about this in more detail below). They will start asking where you want to go. And after your answer, they will start shouting that they will gladly take you there. No, you came to the bus station looking not for a taxi, but for a minibus! Don't get fooled. Taxis are expensive, especially if you are planning to travel to another city.

Finding the right minibus shouldn't be a problem. Ask everyone you meet, where is the bus to the city you need. Let not all, but someone will surely answer you.

So, what do you need to be mentally prepared for if you ventured to travel around Georgia by minibus:

Georgian markets are unpleasant places. Especially in Tbilisi. They reminded me of our markets, which were full in the 90s. Here you can find food, clothing, and electronics. Dirty, noisy, smells unpleasant. A stay in such places can hardly be called a pleasant pastime. You just need to remember that you are not here for long, just to get in your car and leave

The minibuses' timetable is rather vague. They run about once an hour. But the fact is that the drivers do not adhere to the exact departure time, but wait until the bus is completely filled with passengers. Thus, the minibus can leave the bus station a little earlier than the scheduled time. Or maybe, on the contrary, stay for 30-40 minutes. This is a very discouraging moment, which makes it difficult to plan your time. When we arrived at the Tbilisi bus station, in order to rush from there to the town of Sighnaghi, we had to wait for the minibus to depart for almost an hour. In general, arriving at the bus station by a certain time is, in my opinion, rather pointless. We arrived at random: as we arrive, we will arrive. Nothing depends on you and your punctuality

Minibuses are not a very comfortable form of transport. There is no such miracle of technology as air conditioning in Georgian minibuses. When traveling, passengers simply open their windows

Taxi drivers

There is a chance that you still need to use a taxi anyway. For example, I had this situation. We arrived in the town of Sighnaghi, which is about two hours' drive from Tbilisi. We arrived here by minibus, and in the same way were going to come back. We walked around the city, saw the sights, ate at a local cafe, took pictures and went back to the bus stop. But it turned out that the last bus left here at 18.00, and the time was already about 7 in the evening. We have a hotel in Tbilisi, all the things are in the same place, in any case it is necessary to return somehow. So I had to use the services of a local taxi driver.

As you know, a taxi is one of the most expensive ways of transportation.

There are no more or less profitable taxis: Uber, Gett-taxis and others. Only in Tbilisi there is Yandex-taxi, in other cities and through this application you cannot order a car.

Despite the fact that in general in the Georgian country everything is noticeably cheaper than in Russia, a taxi is still an expensive pleasure. Taxi drivers take especially big money from tourists at the airport.

Local drivers are very annoying and sometimes rude. They can almost snatch the suitcase out of their hands and shove it into the trunk of their car, so long as you use its services.

You can and should bargain with them. Despite the fact that I absolutely do not know how to do this, in Georgia I managed to bring down the price by 5-10, and once by all 20 GEL.

I noticed that the taxi driver at the beginning simply sets an exorbitant price. For example, asks for 40 GEL for a distance of 10-15 km. When you say that it is expensive, he begins to tell stories that no one else is cheaper, that they have very expensive gasoline, that if you lower the price, it will remain in the red. The best option then is to simply say, "Okay, we'll look for other options." Then the taxi driver says: "Okay, over 35". In general, the auction begins, you have the opportunity to bring down the price.

I am telling all this, because upon arrival in Georgia, I myself was very fucked up with a taxi driver. When I left the airport, a man immediately ran up, who, stopping his car in the middle of the road, ran up, took our suitcases, threw them in the trunk and said that he would take them where necessary. I asked: "How much?" “For 40 GEL,” he replied. When I was outraged by the high cost, he began to fill in something about expensive gasoline and everything else that I wrote about above. Since I just left the airport, I saw everything around for the first time, and no one told me about any subtleties, I believed. Then I realized that it was not worth it to follow the tales of the first taxi driver that came across. Yes, their gasoline is expensive, but not by that much. And there is always an opportunity to find a more accommodating taxi driver.

Little life hack. If you need to travel a decent distance by taxi, try to find fellow travelers who need to go in the same direction as you. This way you can split the fare in half.

Walking

On various travel sites, in travel guides, I often came across the phrase that the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, is a European city.

To be honest, I totally disagree with that. It is very beautiful here: delightful landscapes, interesting original architecture.

But I didn't notice anything European here.

The main difference, in my opinion, is the absolute lack of equipment for people with limited mobility. In the West, they began to strive for a long time to ensure that movement on the streets for people with disabilities was as comfortable as possible. I am very glad to see that more and more is being done in this direction in our country. But, unfortunately, this trend has not yet reached Georgia.

Both in Tbilisi and in other cities of Georgia, walks can be very difficult for people in wheelchairs, as well as for women who carry their children in a pram.

Firstly, there are almost no ramps anywhere. Neither curbs nor stairs; neither in the subway nor on the street. By the way, the Tbilisi hotel in which we stayed had neither an elevator nor even a ramp. At the same time, the stairs leading to the rooms were very high and steep. It was not easy to climb here with suitcases. At the same time, there were no warnings on this topic on the hotel's website. From which I concluded that this is in the order of things for them.

Secondly, in some places the sidewalks are very narrow, here it can be very problematic to miss a person walking towards you. At the same time, the quality of the road is discouraging - everywhere there are pits, cracks, potholes. This is especially true for the Tbilisi region, which is called the "Old City". It is very beautiful, picturesque, magical here. But I can hardly imagine how a person in a wheelchair or a girl with a small child can move around here.

Thirdly, Georgia is strikingly distinguished from Europe by the disrespect of drivers towards pedestrians. It is not customary to give way here even at pedestrian crossings. If you are walking in Georgian towns and streets, always try to cross the road either where there is a traffic light, or along an underground passage.

Food

Many of my acquaintances, having visited Georgia, returned with the words: "How delicious it is there!"

To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the local food. Of course, before my trip to Georgia, I was already a little familiar with traditional cuisine. There is no shortage of Georgian restaurants in Russia.

But, having arrived at the homeland of khinkali and chakhokhbili, I realized that my stomach was not ready for this hardened Caucasian food. Yes, it's all delicious. But, firstly, in the vast majority of places where we ate, everything was very salty. Secondly, many of the dishes were too fatty.

I experienced real delight only from two dishes: champignons baked with suluguni cheese, and from different types of khachapuri.

For those who are planning to travel to Tbilisi, I highly recommend visiting a place called "Khachapuri No. 1" (Sakhachapere No. 1). It is located at st. Chateau Rustaveli, house No. 5. It is really very tasty here, the khachapuri is simply excellent, while the prices do not bite at all.

And if you find yourself in the town of Borjomi, which is famous for its source of healing water, I highly recommend visiting the place called: "Dimitri's Wine Lane" (Dimitri's wine cellar).

It is located at the address: 9th April Street, house number 40. Near the entrance, it is written in large letters: "Wine tasting". This is not a diner, not a restaurant. It sells wine, ice cream and coffee. But everything is just excellent! Both in taste and in quality. The owner of the establishment is a very friendly man who speaks well both Russian and English. First, he invites you to taste the wine. Asks which species do you like: white, red, sweet, dry, etc. Brings some bottles. Then, from each of them, he pours a little into your glass. You taste and then either order a full glass of your favorite drink, or buy a whole bottle. I am far from a fan of this ancient drink, I drink it extremely rarely and most often without much pleasure. But here I got real pleasure from both the taste and the pleasant intoxicating state.

The coffee is also delicious here. I am a coffee lover, it is important for me that the drink is strong, real, with a bit of bitterness. In Georgia, I almost never experienced the pleasure of drinking coffee, almost everywhere it is either instant or weak. And here, in the Wine Cellar, I was finally able to enjoy my favorite drink! In general, if you come to the town of Borjomi, I highly recommend going to the Dimitri Wine Cellar. For example, in the morning to drink a cup of tart coffee. Or in the evening, after dinner, to enjoy real quality Georgian wine.

Language

In Georgia, not everyone speaks and understands Russian. The younger generation hardly knows him at all. The older generation of people, from 40 years of age and older, knows our language. But, first of all, not all. And secondly, most often just a few words and phrases.

In general, few people speak English tolerably well. Only the younger generation knows him more or less well. For adults, especially the elderly, trying to learn something in English is practically useless. To be honest, it surprised me a lot. Many travelers from European countries flock to this country, who clearly do not understand either Russian or Georgian.

In general, be prepared to sometimes face a language barrier, periodically communicate with the locals using gestures.

Georgian writing is very unusual, more like a ligature than the more familiar Cyrillic or Latin alphabet. Therefore, you should not rely on the fact that you will be able to intuitively make out some Georgian letters.

Fortunately, most of the inscriptions that tourists need are duplicated in English, and sometimes in Russian. All signs on roads and airports, menus in cafes and restaurants - everything is in English. In the Tbilisi metro (if I'm not mistaken, this type of public transport is available only in the capital of the country) the names of stations are announced not only in Georgian, but also in English.

Conclusion

Despite some negative nuances, I still highly recommend traveling to Georgia! She can give a huge amount of delight, joy, a sense of aesthetic pleasure.

At the same time, the trip will turn out to be much more budgetary than to any European country.