Rent a car in Georgia

Georgia is one of the few European-adjacent destinations where a week behind the wheel takes you through alpine mountains, Black Sea beaches, wine valleys and mediaeval architecture — without the paperwork. Most European passport holders enter visa-free for up to a year, which makes Georgia an unusually easy first-time drive abroad.

The people who come here are rarely package tourists — there is barely a package-tour industry in Georgia at all. These are independent travellers who booked their own flights and want to decide on the day where they drive next. Couples and solo travellers dominate; families with young children are the minority because mountain logistics and long drives don't always suit toddlers.

In Georgia there is almost no ready-made tourism. People who arrive here are the kind who want to pick their own route over breakfast. Without a car the country shrinks to central Tbilisi; with one, it opens all the way to remote mountain villages.

The average rental in Georgia lasts five to seven days, and nine out of ten travellers pick up the car straight at Tbilisi International Airport. Kutaisi is the second gateway, served by European low-cost carriers, and Batumi is the sea-and-mountains finale on the Black Sea coast. Between these three points, the country is genuinely accessible only by car.

A week is enough to see Kakheti's vineyards, the Caucasus ridge at Kazbegi and the Black Sea at Batumi — but only if you drive. Buses and trains cover the cities, not the bits in between that make Georgia worth the trip.

The unofficial national car of Georgia is the Subaru Forester. It is imported in volume from US auction sites, arrives by container at the port of Batumi and then prepared for resale locally. The Forester handles mountain switchbacks, rough tarmac and bad weather confidently, and it is one of the few countries where you can rent one easily — prices start from around $30 per day.

Petrol or diesel is the other question every renter asks. In Georgia, choose petrol. Diesel quality is noticeably poor compared to Western Europe and punishes older engines. Hybrid economy cars (Toyota Prius, Toyota Aqua) require 95-octane petrol only — using 92 will flag a dashboard error immediately.

Around ninety per cent of our fleet comes from American auctions. New cars exist in Georgia, but they are the exception. If you want a recent Camry or fresh Jeep, book a few weeks ahead rather than hoping to find one on arrival.

A quirk of the Georgian market: some Japanese imports arrived right-hand drive and were converted to left-hand drive locally. The conversion isn't factory work and you can spot one by the small mirror on the left-hand bumper — it belonged there when the steering wheel was on the right. Driveability is fine, but the detail is worth knowing.

Automatic gearboxes dominate the market, roughly seventy per cent of the fleet. For serious mountain routes — Kazbegi, the Military Road, Svaneti — an automatic is less tiring on long descents, and most renters choose it over manual even when the price difference is five dollars a day.

One of our suppliers keeps a fleet of fifty-plus vehicles, and almost every one of them is a Forester. That tells you everything about what works in Georgia: a reliable 4x4 in a landscape that changes from motorway to gravel in an hour.