- New Year in Gudauri means a full resort: late December to mid-January is the busiest stretch of the year, and hotels hold New Year's Eve dinners with live music.
- Lifts opened between 20 and 27 December in each of the last three winters, so every recent New Year's Eve had skiing. The 2026/27 opening day was not announced on 22 October 2026.
- Georgia's tourism administration advises booking New Year at least two months ahead and expecting the season's highest prices.
- The 120 km drive up from Tbilisi stays south of the Jvari Pass. Official notices from the last five winters show no closure for cars on 31 December, 1 or 2 January, even on the pass beyond the resort.
New Year in Gudauri is a ski holiday and a party in one. If the season has begun, you ski until the lifts stop at 17:00 and rest for an hour. Then comes a long hotel dinner with music and toasts, and at midnight most of the resort steps out into the frost to watch the rockets. It is Gudauri's busiest week, so two questions come first: will the lifts be open, and can you still find a room?
This guide answers both for 2026/27. It covers the night itself, recent opening dates and forecasts, late-December snow, booking and prices. For the drive on 31 December and 1 January we read five winters of official road notices. Then come what is open on the holidays, adding Tbilisi, other resorts, safety and a five-day plan. For the runs and lifts, see our guide to skiing in Gudauri.
New Year in Gudauri 2026/27: the dates that matter
New Year's Eve falls on a Thursday this winter. The two public holidays after it are Friday 1 January 2027 and Saturday 2 January. Georgia does not move a holiday that lands on a weekend. Orthodox Christmas follows on Thursday 7 January, and the resort stays busy until about mid-month.
| Date | In Gudauri | Your plan |
|---|---|---|
| Wed 30 Dec 2026 | Most holiday guests arrive | Drive up in daylight; collect skis and passes |
| Thu 31 Dec | A ski day, then hotel dinners and rockets at midnight | Book the dinner with the room |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | Public holiday; most people sleep late | Ski the afternoon or take a lesson |
| Sat 2 Jan | Public holiday (Bedoba, the day of luck) | The Kobi side or a Kazbegi day |
| Thu 7 Jan | Orthodox Christmas, a public holiday | Crowds ease from about mid-January |
What New Year's Eve in Gudauri is like
There is no official countdown. On 22 October 2026 neither the lift operator nor the national tourism administration had posted a New Year programme for the resort. The night belongs to the hotels and restaurants. Many hotels sell a gala dinner on 31 December, often inside a New Year package. Expect a long Georgian table, live music and a tamada, the toastmaster who leads the toasts.
A few minutes before twelve, people leave the dining rooms and gather on the snow. Rockets go up all around the resort, and the bangs roll back off the slopes. Then the party drifts between hotel bars and the cafes of New Gudauri, which stay open late. The crowd mixes Georgian families with visitors from abroad.
Dress for real cold. A December night in the village averages about -8°C, and wind makes it feel colder. Wear boots with a good grip, as paths between hotels turn to ice. Since 2025 only licensed shops may sell fireworks in Georgia, but stand well back when rockets are lit all the same.
- Ask what the gala price covers: dinner and wine only, or a band and late drinks too, and what children pay.
- Ask whether the dinner is part of the room rate. Some New Year packages include it.
- Staying in an apartment? Reserve a table early, and do not count on walking in on the night.
The customs behind the night, from the chichilaki tree to the lucky first guest, are in our guide to New Year in Georgia.
Gudauri in December: will the lifts be open by 31 December?
Probably, but no one can promise it yet. The state lift operator, the Mountain Trails Agency (MTA), opens Gudauri once the base is deep enough and names the day at short notice. On 22 October 2026 its news page showed nothing about the 2026/27 winter. The last three seasons look hopeful for a New Year trip.
| Season | First day of skiing | Ski days before 31 Dec | Notice given by MTA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 20 Dec 2023 | 11 | 14 days (posted 6 Dec) |
| 2024/25 | 21 Dec 2024 | 10 | 3 days (posted 18 Dec) |
| 2025/26 | 27 Dec 2025 | 4 | 10 days (posted 17 Dec) |
| 2026/27 | Not announced on 22 Oct 2026 | Unknown | Watch mta.ski from late November |
Outside forecasts disagree. Skiresort.com lists 19 December 2026 to 18 April 2027, and the tour firm Advantour expects full running by about 27 December. OnTheSnow and skiinfo.fr show 2 January to 11 April 2027, which would mean no skiing on New Year's Eve. None of these dates comes from MTA.
Opening day is not the whole mountain. On 27 December 2025 MTA started six lifts: the Pirveli and Soliko chairs, a lift it simply called Gudauri, and the Kobi, Firni and Truso gondolas. Runs opened one by one as the snow allowed, and the high chairs to Kudebi and Sadzele were not on that first list. In a late year, New Year skiing may mean the lower slopes only.
How reliable is the snow in late December?
By late December the resort is normally white, but the base is young. The village weather station, at 2,197 m, averages -4.4°C in December, and most of the month's precipitation falls as snow. The tourism administration says cover is most settled in January and February, at 1 to 2 m. In late December the lowest runs can still be thin.
Two things help. The same administration says the northern slopes hold the best snow and have the longest season, starting earlier and ending later. And in August 2026 the Prime Minister announced snowmaking along 7.5 km of slopes, due by December. MTA had not confirmed it by late October, so do not count on it yet.
If the snow is late, the trip still works: snowmobiles, skating, sledging and long spa afternoons fill the days. Stepantsminda and Gergeti Trinity Church are about 45 minutes away over the Jvari Pass. Monthly figures and live forecasts are on our Gudauri weather page.
Booking New Year week: timing and prices
This is the one week when waiting costs you. Georgia's tourism administration says Gudauri gets more visitors over New Year and early January than at any other time. It advises booking at least two months ahead and warns of much higher prices. Reading this in November? Book at once, and widen the search to Old Gudauri, Kvesheti or Stepantsminda.
| What to book | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Room or apartment | Two months or more ahead | Peak demand; a cancellable rate covers a late opening |
| New Year's Eve dinner | With the room, or by early December | The best-known tables sell out weeks ahead |
| Lessons or a guide | With the room | Instructors are booked out from about 28 December to mid-January |
| Transfers | As soon as flights are fixed | Drivers and taxis are scarce on 31 December and 1 January |
| Lift pass | Online, once sales open | Last winter online sales began on 23 December |
- Lift pass: last season's adult day pass, about 70 GEL (about $27) in 2026, is the best guide until MTA posts new prices. None had appeared by 22 October 2026.
- Hire: the tourism administration's 2026 figures are about 50 GEL (about $19) a day for skis with boots and poles, and about 70 GEL (about $27) for a snowboard set.
- Rooms: we found no reliable published New Year rates. Compare the total for your stay, and ask about a minimum number of nights.
Getting to Gudauri on 31 December and 1 January
From Tbilisi the drive is 120 km up the Georgian Military Road and takes two to two and a half hours. The road passes Ananuri and Pasanauri, then climbs the hairpins from Mleta to the resort. It does not cross the Jvari Pass, which lies on the 14 km beyond Gudauri toward Kobi. That stretch takes most winter closures.
We read every Roads Department notice from 24 December to 6 January in the five winters from 2021/22 to 2025/26. No notice closed the pass to cars on 31 December, 1 January or 2 January. The holidays were not always calm, though:
- 24 December 2023: high avalanche danger shut both the Mleta hairpins and the pass. The climb from Tbilisi reopened before midnight, with no stopping allowed. The pass stayed shut to cars until 27 December.
- 2 to 4 January 2022: traffic through Mleta and over the pass moved in the same no-stopping mode, through the avalanche galleries, under patrol police control.
- 6 January 2025: avalanche danger closed the pass from just after midnight until mid-afternoon.
- Vehicles with trailers were barred on many holiday days, among them 28 December 2024 and several days from 26 to 30 December 2025. Cars could still pass.
From 1 December to 1 March, Georgian law requires winter tyres on mountain sections named in a government decree. Tyres need the snowflake mark and 3 mm of tread, and police can order chains. Breaking the rule costs 100 GEL (about $38). We could not read the decree list, so fit winter tyres and carry chains here anyway.
- Arrive by 30 December. On the 31st, Tbilisi traffic crawls all afternoon and taxis are hard to find.
- Drive in daylight. The sun sets at about 17:40 at the turn of the year, and the hairpins freeze fast after dark.
- Never plan to drive down after the party. Book your ride for the afternoon of 1 January or later.
What is open in Gudauri on 1 and 2 January
Banks and offices close across Georgia on both days, but a ski resort lives for these dates. If the season has started, the lifts turn as usual: MTA's 2025/26 notice gave 10:00 to 17:00 for every day, with no holiday changes. Ski schools and hire shops work flat out. The resort has supermarkets, banks with cash machines and pharmacies, and a medical station serves the slopes. On the 1st, expect late breakfasts and a slow start in the cafes.
Last winter the night runs were lit on Fridays and Saturdays between 20:00 and 22:00. In 2027, 1 and 2 January are a Friday and a Saturday, so the year could start with two evenings under the lights. For what closes in Tbilisi and the rest of the country, see our guide to New Year in Georgia.
Tbilisi at midnight, Gudauri for the snow: doing both
Gudauri is close enough to the capital to do both, in either order. Option one: see the year in from Narikala or Mtatsminda, where rockets rise from every district below. Last New Year the city ran free metro and buses from midnight until 03:00. Sleep late, drive north after lunch on the 1st, and ski on the 2nd and 3rd.
Option two: ski through New Year and come down on 2 or 3 January for a sulphur bath and a slow day in the old town. Stay until 7 January for Orthodox Christmas, with the night service at Sameba Cathedral and the Alilo walk in the afternoon.
Where else to ski at New Year: Bakuriani, Goderdzi and Tetnuldi
If Gudauri is full or late, three other state resorts take the same lift card.
- Bakuriani: ~180 to 190 km from Tbilisi, 3 to 3.5 hours. Lower and gentler, with forest runs and snow cannons, so it suits families. It opened on 7 December 2024 and 20 December 2025, and last winter it had night skiing every evening.
- Goderdzi: in the Adjara mountains, ~110 km and 3 to 4 hours from Batumi, so it pairs well with New Year by the sea. It gets Georgia's deepest snow but has only a few lifts.
- Tetnuldi: above Mestia in Svaneti, with five lifts to ~3,160 m and a main run of ~9.5 km. Lifts open in stages from late December, with gentle Hatsvali as the back-up. Mestia is a long day's drive from Tbilisi, 8 to 9 hours.
To weigh them against Gudauri run by run, see how we rate the ski resorts in Georgia.
Staying safe in the holiday rush: avalanches, crowds and insurance
- Off-piste: early-season snow is shallow, hides rocks and can hold weak layers after cold, dry spells. Read the avalanche.ge forecast for the Gudauri area, which starts in December, and leave the marked runs only with a qualified guide and full kit.
- On the piste: take the first lifts, before the crowds build, and wear a helmet. The tourism administration lists helmets among the resort's safety rules.
- On 1 January: a short night and icy slopes are a poor mix. Make the first run a slow one.
- In an emergency: call 112. Patrols and rescuers have watched over the marked runs since 2016.
- Insurance: foreign visitors must hold travel health insurance in Georgia. Check that your policy covers skiing, guided off-piste if you plan it, and mountain rescue.
A 5-day New Year ski trip to Gudauri
- Wed 30 December: Tbilisi to Gudauri
Drive 120 km north, stopping at Ananuri fortress above the Zhinvali reservoir. Check in, collect skis and passes, and sleep early. - Thu 31 December: ski, rest, celebrate
Ski from 10:00 while the runs are fresh, then take a sauna and a nap. Dinner starts late, and midnight is spent outside under the rockets. - Fri 1 January: a slow start
Sleep in, then ski the afternoon or book a two-hour lesson. Floodlit runs may open in the evening if last winter's timetable returns. - Sat 2 January: the Kobi side or Kazbegi
Ride the gondolas over the ridge to the long runs above Kobi. Or, if the pass is open, drive to Stepantsminda and take a 4x4 up to Gergeti Trinity Church. - Sun 3 January: last runs and Tbilisi
Ski the morning and drive down after lunch. Finish with a private soak in the sulphur baths of Abanotubani, then fly home or stay for Christmas.
Our Ski Week in Gudauri follows a similar shape over six days, and we can set it around New Year. Like all our tours it is private: any date, any group size. We arrange the hotel, transfers, passes, lessons or a guide, and the skis and clothing, and a guide in your language can join you. The tour page lists what is included.
New Year in Gudauri: FAQ
Is Gudauri open on New Year's Eve?
Usually, yes. In each of the last three winters the first lifts turned between 20 and 27 December, in time for New Year's Eve. MTA had not given the 2026/27 date by 22 October 2026 and usually does so in mid-December.
Is there snow in Gudauri in December?
Usually, but the base is still building. Most December precipitation falls as snow, and the deepest, most settled cover comes in January and February. The bottom runs may be patchy before the New Year.
How far ahead should I book New Year in Gudauri?
At least two months, the national tourism administration advises, so ideally by late October. Book the room, the New Year's Eve dinner, lessons and the transfer together, with free cancellation in case the snow is late.
What is New Year's Eve like in Gudauri?
Lively and hotel-based. Hotels and restaurants hold gala dinners with Georgian food, live music and a toastmaster. At midnight guests go out onto the snow for the rockets. There is no official resort-wide show.
Is the road from Tbilisi to Gudauri open on 1 January?
It normally is. The 120 km route stays below the Jvari Pass. Over the five winters to 2025/26, the Roads Department never shut it, or even the pass beyond the resort, to cars over the New Year days. Fit winter tyres, which the law demands on the listed mountain roads from December until early March.
Where can I ski in Georgia over New Year?
Gudauri is the biggest resort and the easiest from Tbilisi. Bakuriani suits families and has snow cannons, Goderdzi pairs with New Year in Batumi, and Tetnuldi and Hatsvali suit a longer Svaneti trip. All four use the same lift card.
Can I spend New Year in Tbilisi and still ski in Gudauri?
Yes. See midnight in Tbilisi and drive up after lunch on 1 January, or celebrate in the mountains and go down to the capital on the 2nd or 3rd. Allow two to two and a half hours each way, and book the transfer early, because drivers are scarce on the holiday.
