Bakuriani ski season in Georgia: dates, meaning and how to experience it

By Mariam Lomidze, GTour desk · Fact-checked against the sources listed · Last checked 25 October 2026 · Editorial policy

What it is

The Bakuriani ski season is not a feast day fixed on the church calendar but a recurring seasonal institution: the months each winter when the resort town of Bakuriani, on a pine-forested plateau in the Trialeti Range in Samtskhe-Javakheti, opens its lifts, slopes and ski schools to the public. The Georgian phrase most often used for it, sat’khilamuro sezoni (სათხილამურო სეზონი), simply means “ski season,” built from tkhilamuri, the Georgian word for a ski. The town’s own name is traditionally explained as deriving from the personal name Bakur — borne by several early rulers of the kingdom of Iberia (Kartli) in medieval Georgian chronicles — combined with the suffix “-iani,” meaning “belonging to” or “place of,” so that Bakuriani reads roughly as “the place of Bakur.”

The season is celebrated, in a loose but real sense, by Georgian families on school winter holidays, by ski clubs and youth sports schools that have trained on this plateau for generations, and by a growing number of foreign visitors who treat Bakuriani as a gentler, more affordable counterpart to Gudauri in the main Caucasus range. It is a civic and commercial season rather than a religious one, but it overlaps closely with Georgia’s genuinely sacred midwinter calendar — New Year, Orthodox Christmas and Epiphany — so that the resort’s busiest weeks are also the country’s most festive.

Historical background

• Late 19th century — Bakuriani’s cool pine forests and dry mountain air attract the attention of the Russian imperial elite and Tbilisi’s nobility, who begin building villas and sanatoria on the plateau, following the pattern already set at nearby Borjomi.
• 1901–1902 — a narrow-gauge railway is built linking Borjomi to Bakuriani, opening the plateau to year-round travel and timber transport; the line is still operated seasonally today by Georgian Railway.
• 1920s–1930s — under Soviet rule, Bakuriani is designated a winter sports centre; the plateau’s first marked ski descents and ski-jumping hills are built, and the town becomes a training base for alpine and Nordic skiing.
• 1960s–1970s — chairlifts and tow-lifts are added on Mount Kokhta above the town; Bakuriani hosts national-level Soviet skiing competitions and becomes a standard stop in the Soviet athlete-training calendar.
• 1991 — Georgian independence is followed by a decade of economic crisis and civil conflict, during which investment in the resort’s lift infrastructure stalls and much of it falls into disrepair.
• From 2008 — renewed state and private investment rebuilds and expands the lift network, including new lines on Kokhta and the development of the Didveli ski area on the resort’s southern slope with modern chairlifts and gondolas.
• 2010s — Didveli emerges as Bakuriani’s principal beginner and family zone, complementing Kokhta’s older, steeper, more wooded runs, and the town’s hotel and guesthouse stock expands rapidly.
• Today — Bakuriani operates each winter alongside Gudauri and Goderdzi as one of Georgia’s three principal ski resorts, promoted nationally through the Georgian National Tourism Administration.

Bakuriani’s modern identity as a ski town is, in effect, a layering of three distinct histories. It began as a climatic health resort in the imperial period, valued less for sport than for its forests and altitude, in the manner of a Caucasian hill station. The Soviet period reoriented the plateau toward competitive winter sport, building the jumping hills and training infrastructure that gave Georgian and wider Soviet athletes a reliable high-altitude base. The post-Soviet decades then saw the near-collapse and subsequent rebuilding of that infrastructure, this time oriented toward mass tourism rather than elite training alone.

What survives from each era is visible on the ground: the narrow-gauge railway and the old dacha-style wooden villas recall the resort’s imperial origins; the plateau’s ski-jump and biathlon facilities near Mitarbi recall its Soviet sporting role; and the gondolas and groomed pistes of Didveli represent its most recent, visitor-oriented phase. Few Georgian resorts show this layering as clearly, which is part of why Bakuriani, though smaller and lower than Gudauri, remains central to the country’s winter identity.

Meaning and traditions

For Georgian families, the Bakuriani season is tied less to religious observance than to the school calendar: children are on their saakhalts’lo ardadegebi (საახალწლო არდადეგები), the “New Year holidays,” which run from the last days of December into the first half of January, and many families travel to the mountains for some of that break. Skiing and snowboarding are the obvious draws, but sledding, snowball play among small children, and simple walks through the pine forest are just as much a part of a family visit as time on the lifts.

Food on the plateau follows the wider Georgian mountain repertoire rather than anything unique to skiing: khinkali (meat-filled dumplings), mtsvadi (grilled skewered meat), hot mulled wine or chacha in the evenings, and churchkhela, the strung-walnut-and-grape-juice sweet, sold as a portable trailside snack. Evenings in town often end with live music in guesthouses and small restaurants, a tradition shared with Georgia’s other mountain resorts rather than specific to Bakuriani alone.

Regional comparison is instructive: Gudauri, in Mtskheta-Mtianeti on the Georgian Military Road, sits higher and is favoured by more experienced skiers and freeriders; Goderdzi, above Adjara’s Khulo, is smaller and more backcountry in character; Bakuriani, lower and more forested, is consistently described by Georgians as the resort for beginners, children and families, and this reputation shapes who travels there and when.

When it happens

There is no fixed opening date. The season begins whenever sufficient natural and machine-made snow has accumulated on the Kokhta and Didveli slopes, typically in the second half of December, and ends when spring thaw makes skiing impractical, typically in late March or early April. Lift operators and the local tourism administration confirm exact opening and closing dates each year once conditions are assessed, so published dates should always be treated as provisional until close to the season.

For the 2026–2027 winter, the season is expected to run approximately from 20 December 2026 to 31 March 2027, to be confirmed by resort operators nearer the time. The following season, 2027–2028, is expected to follow the same general pattern — opening in the second half of December and closing in late March — subject to the same yearly confirmation.

The ski season itself is not a public holiday, but it brackets several that are: New Year (1–2 January), Orthodox Christmas (7 January) and Epiphany (19 January) are all official non-working days under Georgian law, listed with other public holidays on the Legislative Herald of Georgia. Government offices and many businesses in Tbilisi and elsewhere close on those exact dates, while in Bakuriani itself lifts, hotels and restaurants generally remain open and operate at peak capacity through the whole holiday period.

Where to experience it

The Kokhta cable car rises directly from the centre of Bakuriani town, giving quick access to older, more wooded runs and wide views over the plateau; it suits visitors who want a short, scenic ascent as much as skiers. The Didveli base station, a short transfer from the town centre, is the newer and larger of the two areas, with gentler, longer beginner runs served by modern chairlifts and a cluster of ski schools and rental shops at the base. Both areas are busiest in the late morning and early afternoon and noticeably quieter at first lift and in the last hour before closing.

The old narrow-gauge railway station in Bakuriani, terminus of the historic line from Borjomi, is worth a stop even for non-skiers, as is a walk along the town’s main street past the surviving wooden villas from the resort’s imperial period. A small Orthodox church near the centre of town draws visitors before and after a day on the slopes; as in any Georgian church, modest dress is expected, women generally cover their heads, and ski helmets, sunglasses and hats should be removed on entering.

Did you know

• The narrow-gauge railway between Borjomi and Bakuriani, opened in the early 1900s, is one of the oldest mountain railways in the Caucasus and still carries seasonal passenger services.
• Bakuriani’s name is traditionally traced to “Bakur,” a name borne by several rulers of the ancient kingdom of Iberia (Kartli) recorded in medieval Georgian chronicles.
• The plateau around Bakuriani, including the area near Mitarbi, served as a Soviet-era training and competition base for alpine, Nordic and ski-jumping disciplines.
• Bakuriani sits at roughly 1,700 metres above sea level, markedly lower and more forested than Gudauri, which accounts for its reputation as Georgia’s family-oriented resort.
• Samtskhe-Javakheti, the region around Bakuriani, is also home to the spa town of Borjomi and the cave monastery complex of Vardzia, making it one of Georgia’s most historically layered regions.

Practical tips for visitors

Bakuriani is roughly two and a half to three hours by road from Tbilisi via Khashuri, reachable by private transfer, shared minibus (marshrutka) from Tbilisi’s Didube station, or by combining a train or road journey to Borjomi with the narrow-gauge line onward, operated by Georgian Railway. During the New Year and Orthodox Christmas period, accommodation and ski-equipment rental should be booked well in advance, as this is the resort’s busiest stretch. Mountain weather changes quickly even within a single day, so layered clothing, sun protection and waterproof outerwear are advisable regardless of how clear the morning looks; current resort and lift information is published by the Georgian National Tourism Administration and Georgia Travel.

Combine it with

Bakuriani sits within easy reach of the spa town of Borjomi and the wider Samtskhe-Javakheti region, home to the Vardzia cave monastery. The route from Tbilisi passes through Kartli, with its ancient cave city of Uplistsikhe, making it easy to combine a winter trip with lowland historical sites. Visitors wanting a second, higher-altitude ski experience often pair Bakuriani with Kazbegi, reached via the Georgian Military Road, though the two destinations lie on opposite sides of the main Caucasus range and require separate journeys.

Questions travellers ask

Is Bakuriani suitable for beginners and children?

Yes. The Didveli area in particular was developed with gentle, well-groomed beginner slopes, ski schools and rental shops close to the base station, which is why Bakuriani is widely regarded as Georgia’s most family-friendly resort.

How far is Bakuriani from Tbilisi?

Around two and a half to three hours by road, depending on traffic through Khashuri, with options including private transfer, shared minibus, or a rail-and-road combination via Borjomi.

Do I need to bring my own ski equipment?

Most visitors rent skis, boots, snowboards and helmets locally at the base stations of Kokhta and Didveli; bringing personal boots is common among more frequent skiers but is not necessary for a short visit.

What is the difference between Kokhta and Didveli?

Kokhta, reached by cable car from the town centre, has older, steeper, more wooded terrain, while Didveli is the newer area with longer, gentler runs and modern lift infrastructure aimed at families and beginners.

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