Tbilisi East E60 Rikoti Expressway Gori East ~2h E60 East-West Highway Uplistsikhe (cave town) East ~2h E60 → Kvakhvreli Batumi (Black Sea) Coast E60 → S12 coastal Mestia (Svaneti) Mountains E60 → Zugdidi → Jvari–Mestia Ushguli (via Mestia) Mountains Mestia–Ushguli mountain road Stepantsminda / Kazbegi Mountains ~5h E60 → S3 Georgian Military Highway Bakuriani (ski resort) Mountains S8 mountain road Borjomi South ~2h E60 → Khashuri → S8 Vardzia (cave monastery) South S8 → Akhaltsikhe Tskaltubo Imereti Loop ~25 min Local paved Prometheus Cave Imereti Loop ~45 min Via Tskaltubo Martvili Canyon Imereti Loop ~1h Regional paved Okatse Canyon Imereti Loop ~1h Via Gordi m === 12 || m = 6 && m Home Drive Planner Kutaisi Airport Drive Planner The Kutaisi Airport Drive Planner maps your Georgian road trip before you collect the keys: pick a destination and it returns the driving distance, realistic 2026 drive time, an estimated fuel cost, whether you need a 4×4, and if the road is open in your travel month. Kutaisi International Airport (KUT) is Georgia's main low-cost hub, so most visitors fly in and drive out across the whole country. This tool turns that hub-and-spoke reality into concrete numbers — distance and time are sourced constants, while fuel is an editable estimate you can tune to your own car. Pair it with our Driving in Georgia rules guide and the longer road trips from Kutaisi itineraries. Destination Travel month Vehicle Petrol price (₾ / litre) One way Round trip Distance Drive time Fuel estimate Note: Okatse's final 2.5 km inside the park is a paid jeep shuttle (~15 GEL) — your rental stays at the visitor centre. Winter-tyre law applies in your selected month: tyres with the 3PMSF snowflake mark and ≥3 mm tread are mandatory 1 December–1 March on this corridor (₾100 fine + 5 licence points under Resolution №526). Distances and seasonal windows verified June 2026. Fuel is an estimate — adjust the price and vehicle to match your booking. How the planner works Choose your destination, set one-way or round-trip, pick a vehicle class, and select your travel month. Distances and drive times are fixed constants drawn from current 2026 road data, so they don't change. The fuel figure is a live estimate: it multiplies the distance by your vehicle's consumption and the petrol price you enter, adding 50% on mountain routes where constant climbing burns more. Every destination from Kutaisi Airport (KUT) Distances last verified June 2026. One-way figures from the airport. Destination Distance Drive time Season East: Tbilisi, Gori and Uplistsikhe Heading east from Kutaisi International Airport gives direct access to the capital and the country's historic core. The Rikoti Expressway, completed on 30 December 2025, has cut the KUT → Tbilisi drive to roughly 3–3.5 hours over 235 km on the four-lane E60. Gori (160 km, ~2h) and the rock-hewn cave town of Uplistsikhe (~171 km) sit right on the same corridor — all fully paved, sedan-friendly, and open year-round. Coast: Batumi on the Black Sea Batumi lies 120 km west via the E60 and the S12 coastal highway — typically 1h45 to 2h30, with summer beach traffic at the slower end. The route is entirely paved and needs no 4×4, open year-round. Because the airport sits west of Kutaisi city, you're already pointed toward the coast when you pull out of the rental lot. Western Georgia's paved corridors put the coast and the mountains within a half-day of KUT. Mountains: Svaneti, Kazbegi and Bakuriani Mestia in Svaneti is 210 km (4–4.5h) on the paved E60 → Zugdidi → Jvari–Mestia road — fine for a 2WD car in summer. The extension to Ushguli adds 47 km (258 km total) and genuinely needs a 4×4: the road was sealed in 2024 but is still broken by active 100–200 m landslide and rubble zones, and the high Zagari pass is only open from about early June to mid-October. Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) is 310 km (~5h) north on the S3 Georgian Military Highway over the 2,395 m Jvari Pass — paved to town, but the Gudauri–Kobi section closes for avalanches in winter. The Bakuriani ski resort (168 km, 2h20) is a winter-tyre route in season. On all of these, winter tyres are legally mandatory from 1 December to 1 March; checking the Roads Department of Georgia before a winter mountain run is essential. The Georgian Military Highway to Kazbegi is paved but seasonally avalanche-prone above Gudauri. South: Borjomi and Vardzia Heading south opens up spa towns and ancient monasteries. Borjomi, famous for its mineral water, is 144 km (~2h) via the E60 and S8. Further on, the cliff-carved Vardzia cave monastery is 196 km (3h30–4h) via Akhaltsikhe. Both routes are fully paved, need no 4×4, and stay open year-round — though the high Javakheti plateau toward Vardzia can be cold and windy mid-winter. The near-Kutaisi Imereti Loop If you only have a day, the Imereti Loop is the easy win — all paved, all year-round, no 4×4. Tskaltubo is 23 km (~25 min), Prometheus Cave 30 km (~45 min), and Martvili Canyon 50 km (~1h). Okatse Canyon (55 km, ~1h) is just as accessible, except for the final 2.5 km inside the park, which is a paid local jeep shuttle (~15 GEL) rather than a drive in your rental. These cluster neatly into a single full-day trip. Rental rules and roads to avoid Standard Georgian rental contracts forbid the hardest off-road tracks — Tusheti's Abano Pass, Shatili, Truso, Juta, Vashlovani, the Goderdzi Pass and the Zekari Pass. Driving them voids your CDW insurance, and many cars carry GPS trackers. Ushguli/Lentekhi is allowed only with a specific travel-authorization option, roughly May–September. Cross-border trips into Armenia or Turkey are usually prohibited. Always confirm route permissions in writing and check prohibited-route lists and live conditions on georoad.ge before any mountain drive. Frequently Asked Questions How does the planner calculate fuel cost? It multiplies the trip distance by your vehicle's consumption (≈6 L/100km for a compact, ≈7 L/100km for a crossover) and the petrol price you enter — defaulting to the June 2026 price of ₾3.77/L for 95-octane. Mountain routes add 50% for constant climbing. Diesel runs near ₾4.17/L, so adjust the price field if you book a diesel. Do I need a 4×4 for Svaneti and Ushguli? For Mestia (210 km) a 2WD car is fine on the paved road in summer. Ushguli is different: the extra 47 km (258 km total) genuinely needs a 4×4 because of active landslide and rubble zones, and the pass is only open from about early June to mid-October. Is the Georgian Military Highway to Kazbegi open in winter? Yes, the S3 to Stepantsminda (310 km, ~5h) stays open year-round and is paved to town. But the Gudauri–Kobi section over the 2,395 m Jvari Pass is avalanche-prone and can close for hours or even days in winter. Check georoad.ge before you leave and fit winter tyres. How long is the Kutaisi Airport to Tbilisi drive now? About 3 to 3.5 hours for 235 km. The Rikoti Expressway opened on 30 December 2025 — a 52 km four-lane road with 51 tunnels and 97 bridges — turning the old mountain bottleneck into a fast, fully paved corridor that needs no 4×4. Which destinations work as a day trip from Kutaisi? The Imereti Loop is ideal: Tskaltubo (23 km, ~25 min), Prometheus Cave (30 km, ~45 min), Martvili Canyon (50 km, ~1h) and Okatse Canyon (55 km, ~1h). Borjomi (144 km) and Gori (160 km) are comfortable day returns too; Svaneti and Kazbegi are better as overnighters. Do Georgia's winter-tyre rules apply to me? If you drive listed mountain roads — the Military Highway, Zugdidi–Jvari–Mestia or Borjomi–Bakuriani — between 1 December and 1 March, yes. Tyres must carry the 3PMSF snowflake mark with ≥3 mm tread. Non-compliance is a ₾100 fine plus 5 licence points under Resolution №526.