Georgia Travel Tips for Indians: Money, SIM, Food and Etiquette

Beyond the sights, a handful of practical details make the difference between a smooth Georgia trip and a frustrating one for a first-time Indian visitor.

Currency: the Georgian lari (GEL)

Georgia uses the Georgian lari, not the euro or dollar. Cards are widely accepted in Tbilisi and Batumi hotels, restaurants and larger shops, but carry cash in GEL for marshrutkas, rural entrance fees, small guesthouses and street food, where card machines are far less common. ATMs are readily available in cities for withdrawing lari directly.

SIM cards and connectivity

Georgia's main mobile networks are Magti, Geocell and Beeline. A local SIM or eSIM is straightforward to pick up at Tbilisi airport or in the city, and is the practical choice for navigation and translation apps once outside hotel wifi range, particularly on mountain drives to Kazbegi where signal can be patchy.

Getting around locally

Bolt is the taxi app widely used in Tbilisi and Batumi, and is generally more reliable and transparently priced than hailing a street taxi. A short ride across central Tbilisi runs 4-15 GEL, roughly Rs 130-480, and the airport to the centre runs 15-25 GEL, roughly Rs 480-800 (The Georgian Guide), prices most Indian travellers will find familiar from Ola or Uber at home. Marshrutka minibuses connect towns cheaply, most intercity routes run 10-25 GEL, roughly Rs 320-800, though they run on informal schedules rather than fixed timetables, so build in buffer time if relying on them for a day trip (Wander-Lush).

What to eat

Khachapuri (cheese-filled bread, with regional variations like the boat-shaped Adjaruli version topped with a raw egg) and khinkali (soup dumplings, eaten by hand, not with cutlery, holding the twisted top) are the two dishes to prioritise. A full local lunch with both plus a drink runs 15-25 GEL, roughly Rs 480-800, while a mid-range sit-down restaurant meal runs 45-80 GEL per person, roughly Rs 1,450-2,600 (TripRoadwayPlanner), comparable to a casual sit-down meal in an Indian metro. Georgian wine, especially wine made in the traditional buried clay qvevri method, is a genuine point of national pride worth seeking out over imported alternatives.

Church and monastery etiquette

Georgia's monasteries and churches are active places of worship, not museums. Women are generally expected to cover their heads and wear a skirt below the knee (a wrap-around scarf is commonly available at the entrance if you don't have one); men should wear long trousers, not shorts. This applies at Jvari Monastery, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Gelati Monastery and similar sites across the country.

The 2026 mandatory travel insurance

Since January 1, 2026, every tourist entering Georgia, visa or visa-free, must carry health and accident insurance with minimum 30,000 GEL cover, checked at the border. Sort this before you fly rather than on arrival.

Language

Georgian is the official language and uses its own unique script, unrelated to Latin, Cyrillic or Devanagari. English signage and menus are common in Tbilisi and Batumi's tourist areas, but far less so in villages; a translation app is genuinely useful outside the two main cities.

Tipping

Tipping isn't as deeply embedded as in some other travel destinations but is appreciated and increasingly expected in tourist-facing restaurants and for tour drivers/guides; 10% is a reasonable benchmark where a service charge isn't already included.

Souvenirs worth bringing home

Wine and chacha (a strong Georgian grape spirit) are the classic take-homes, alongside local handicrafts. Check India's duty-free alcohol allowance before buying in bulk, since Georgian wine bottles add up in weight and volume quickly across a group trip.

A quick etiquette summary

Packing essentials specific to Georgia

A universal power adapter (Georgia uses the European two-pin plug, Type C/F), a portable charger for long mountain drives, and a reusable water bottle for the tap water most travellers find acceptable in Tbilisi are the practical items most guides skip. If your trip includes any monastery visits, pack a lightweight scarf or shawl even if you plan to borrow one at the entrance, since availability at smaller, less-visited sites can be inconsistent.

Health and pharmacy basics

Pharmacies (marked with a green cross, similar to much of Europe) are common in Tbilisi and Batumi and stock standard over-the-counter medication; carry a basic travel medical kit for rural day trips to Kazbegi or Kakheti where the nearest pharmacy may be a genuine drive away. This pairs directly with the mandatory 2026 insurance requirement, since that policy is precisely what you'd rely on if something more serious came up away from a city.

Mobile payments and digital wallets

While cash and cards cover most situations, some Tbilisi cafes and shops have adopted QR-code and app-based payment options similar to what's common in India; these are a bonus rather than something to rely on; don't assume your Indian UPI apps will work, since they generally don't function outside India's own payment network. Carrying an international debit or credit card as the practical backup, alongside some GEL cash for the situations neither card nor app payment covers, remains the safest approach for the whole trip. None of this needs advance setup beyond what you'd normally carry for any international trip, which is itself part of what makes Georgia a relatively low-friction destination for a first-time Indian visitor.