4 Nights & 5 Days Guduari and Tbilisi: Tips and Guide for First Time Travelers

Posted by lheavenice 1 July 14, 2019

4 Nights & 5 Days Guduari and Tbilisi: Tips and Guide for First Time Travelers

Our plan to travel to Georgia started when we became official residents in UAE. With UAE being hot almost all year round, we wanted to experience winter and snow all at the same time. To be honest, Georgia was not quite known to be a travel destination back in the Philippines.

As frequent travelers, my husband and I always go for a DIY trip as it gives us ample time to explore the place, we have full control of our time to take pictures, or stop when we're tired, and eat when we're hungry. We also like to blend in with the locals, ride the metro, walk in subways and eat at local restaurants.

If you are traveling to Georgia any time soon or if you are planning to go, here are some tips that you might find helpful in planning your trip.

1. Purchase Vouchers for Airfare, Hotel and Transfers
I know I mentioned that this was a DIY trip but when we were comparing the prices for booking everything on our own, it was more pricey than getting the voucher that already includes the airfare, hotel and transfers good for a 4 night and 5 days stay in Georgia. The voucher we purchased was at AED 1,100 for a Snow Mountain Experience, a 3 star hotel that already included breakfast for a 2-night stay in Gudauri and 2-night stay in Tbilisi. You can find a lot of travel agencies online that offer these vouchers at a discounted price so watch out for them. We purchased ours from Holiday Factory.

2. Choosing Flights
We wanted to make most of our time while we were in Georgia so we opted for a morning flight to Georgia on December 4 and an afternoon flight back to Dubai on December 8.

Photo from Unsplash

However, since the first flight to Georgia is at 12 MN, we arrived in Tbilisi at 4am and arrived in Gudauri at 7am which meant we had to check-in early at the hotel. We have to pay for an early check-in based on a per hour rate which was alright because we were already too tired from the trip and it already included free breakfast.

3. Check the weather
Georgia has 4 seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn). Spring is in between March - May, Summer is between June - August, Autumn is between September - November and Winter is in between December - February.

Knowing the weather during your travel dates will help you determine what types of clothes you need to bring during your travel. Since we went there at the start of winter, we packed sweaters, warmers, thermals, bonnets, gloves and boots. It definitely helped us with the cold. The temperature could go as -1 when you're in the mountain areas of Gudauri.

4. Visa
If you're a Filipino and a resident of UAE, you don't need to apply for a visa online. You can obtain a visa on arrival and all you need to do is present your residence visa and/or Emirates ID. As for our case, we just presented our residence visa. As for our other nationalities, it would be best to check with Georgia's e-Visa Portal if you need to apply and how you can process your visa online.

Photo from Unsplash

5. Bring USD Currency
When traveling to Georgia, it is best to bring USD. You can have them exchanged at the currency exchange counters at the airport or in Tbilisi 's city proper. One thing to remember when choosing where to exchange your money is to ensure they have a 0% commission sign and to always ask first the total amount of the money you'll be getting after asking for the conversion rate.

Photo from Unsplash

As for our experience, we had all our USD money exchanged at the airport so we don't need to worry that we'd ran out of cash and spend time looking for a currency exchange.

6. Free SIM Cards at the Airport
SIM cards in Tbilisi are free. Yes it's free and all you need to purchase is the Internet data package or recharge for text and calls. You can select between Beeline, MagtiCom and Geocell. We chose MagtiCom as I read online that they have better data service in the mountain areas. We purchased the 15GEL data package with 5GB data and free domestic SMS/MMS good for 15 days.

Photo from Unsplash

7. Metromoney Card
Tbilisi's mode of public transport includes underground metro, buses and taxi's. If you're on a budget and want to experience how the locals commute on a daily basis, I advise that you take the metro. The metromoney card costs 2 GEL and you can top it up with any amount. Each trip cost 0.50 tetri and you can use one card for 2 persons. Aside from the metro, you can use this card to pay for the bus and the cable car ride to Narikala Fortress.

If you must take the taxi, negotiate the total cost of the trip first before getting in to the taxi to avoid getting scammed. They don't use meters for their taxi's.

8. Do a walking tour when you're in Tbilisi
If you have a day or two to spare for a whole day tour in Tbilisi, I suggest to take a DIY walking tour rather than availing for a guided trip. You'd be surprise how beautiful Tbilisi is by exploring it on foot, taking photos at the side and dining in Georgian Restaurants. You can find here our DIY walking tour in Tbilisi.

9. Try Georgian Food
Georgia has a lot to offer when it comes to their local food. Everything is just delicious, well at least for me. It's one of the things I miss about Georgia. Here's a list of Georgian food that you must try and where to try them.

10. Bring a Tripod and Remote for your camera and phone
If you're a photo junkie like me, then definitely a tripod is your best friend. We were shy to ask people to take our couple photos, so we got a tripod and a remote for both our DSLR camera and iPhone and took unlimited shots until we got the perfect one.

11. Beware of people asking to take their photo with you or a photo holding a pet
Because most likely and surely they will ask for a payment for having taken their picture. I experienced it first hand, an old guy all dressed up lured me to a photo spot and asked my husband to take our picture, lots of them. After taking the photos, he asked for 10 GEL. I told him I don't have cash, he was angry. To cut the story short, I gave him 4 GEL so we can move on to our next destination.

12. Relax and Enjoy the Journey
Even with a lot of detailed planning for your trip, there can be mishaps along the way. Be ready to improvise, have an open mind and just enjoy the journey. We learn and grow better as a person as we travel.