Top 10 Things to Do in Borjomi, Georgia for Every Traveler

💰 Click here to see Georgia Budget Breakdown

💰 Prices updated: June, 2026. Budget figures are estimates — always verify before travel.

Exchange Rate: $1 USD = ₾2.68

Daily Budget (per person)

Shoestring: ₾80.00 – ₾135.00 ($29.85 – $50.37)

Mid-range: ₾134.00 – ₾300.00 ($50.00 – $111.94)

Comfortable: ₾300.00 – ₾600.00 ($111.94 – $223.88)

Accommodation (per night)

Hostel/guesthouse: ₾16.00 – ₾40.00 ($5.97 – $14.93)

Mid-range hotel: ₾145.00 – ₾200.00 ($54.10 – $74.63)

Food (per meal)

Budget meal: ₾20.00 ($7.46)

Mid-range meal: ₾60.00 ($22.39)

Upscale meal: ₾120.00 ($44.78)

Transport

Single metro/bus trip: ₾1.00 ($0.37)

Monthly transport pass: ₾50.00 ($18.66)

Borjomi in 2026: More Visitors, Same Wild Beauty — Here’s How to Make the Most of It

Borjomi has always drawn Georgians for its mineral water and mountain air, but 2026 has brought a new wave of international visitors — partly because the Tbilisi–Batumi railway now stops more conveniently, and partly because word has spread about how much this small spa town packs in. The downside? Summer weekends are busier than they used to be, especially in the central park. The upside? The infrastructure has genuinely improved — better trail signage in the national park, a refreshed cable car station, and more accommodation options across all budgets. Plan mid-week or shoulder season if you can, and you’ll have one of Georgia’s most rewarding towns almost to yourself.

Drink the Mineral Water Straight from the Source

This sounds like a tourist cliché until you actually do it. In Borjomi Central Park, natural mineral water flows from ornate stone spouts — you fill your cup, drink it warm and slightly sulphurous, and understand immediately why this town exists. The taste is unmistakably mineral: fizzy, faintly salty, with a metallic edge that’s more interesting than unpleasant. Standing there with locals who’ve been making the same pilgrimage for decades feels like stepping into a Soviet-era health ritual that never quite went away.

The springs in the park are free to access. You’ll want to bring your own cup or buy a small ceramic one from the vendors near the entrance for around 10–15 GEL. The water is best drunk fresh at the source — bottled Borjomi from a shop is fine, but it doesn’t carry the same warmth or experience.

Hike the Trails of Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park

One of the largest national parks in the Caucasus, Borjomi-Kharagauli covers roughly 85,000 hectares of dense forest, alpine meadow, and mountain ridge. In 2026, the trail network has improved markedly — the Visitor Centre on the edge of town has updated maps (available free), and the main trails now have consistent red-and-white waymarking that was notably patchy before 2024.

For a half-day hike, the trail to the Plateau of Gomarduli takes you through thick oak and pine forest with views opening out over the valley around the two-hour mark. It’s moderately strenuous — expect some steep sections on loose stone — but doesn’t require specialist gear. Sturdy trainers are fine in dry conditions; proper hiking boots are better if it’s rained recently.

For a full-day commitment, the route toward Likani Falls rewards with solitude and dramatic scenery. Very few international tourists make it past the first hour of trail, so the further you go, the more the park feels genuinely wild.

• Park entry fee (2026): 5 GEL for the day
• Visitor Centre: Opens at 9am, guides available for hire from around 80–120 GEL for a half-day
• Best months: May–June and September–October for clear skies and manageable temperatures
• What to bring: Water (at least 1.5 litres per person), sunscreen, and a layer — the altitude means temperature drops fast after midday clouds roll in

Soak in the Thermal Mineral Baths

Drinking the water is one thing; bathing in it is something else. Several bathhouses in and around Borjomi offer private mineral water pools where the water comes directly from the same underground source as the famous springs. The warmth — usually around 37–39°C — has a genuine loosening effect on tight muscles after a day of hiking, and the faint sulphur smell fades quickly once you’re in.

The most accessible options are the small bath complexes on the road between the central park and Likani. Private rooms with a pool for two cost roughly 40–60 GEL per hour. Larger spa hotels on the outskirts offer more polished facilities, including massage, for proportionally higher prices. For the local experience rather than the hotel spa version, the independent bath operators near the park entrance are the right choice.

One thing that has changed since 2024: several of the older, Soviet-era bathhouses that were in a semi-derelict state have been either renovated or permanently closed. The ones still operating are cleaner and better managed than they were a few years ago.

Walk Through Borjomi Central Park and the Romanov Summer Palace Grounds

The park stretching from the town centre up into the wooded hills was developed in the 19th century when the Romanov royal family chose Borjomi as a summer retreat. The Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich built a palace here, and while the main palace structure is not open to the general public, the grounds and the smaller buildings within the park are accessible and worth exploring.

The park itself is the social heart of Borjomi. Locals stroll here in the evenings, children run along the paths beside the small river, and the combination of ornate 19th-century architecture and dense tree cover gives it a faintly melancholic, beautiful atmosphere — especially in autumn when the leaves turn and the light comes through the canopy in long gold shafts late in the afternoon.

Beyond the palace area, the upper section of the park becomes wilder and quieter, eventually connecting with the national park trail network. You can walk in from the lower park entrance near the mineral springs and keep going uphill for as long as your legs allow.

Take the Cable Car Above the Valley

The cable car rising from near the central park entrance to the forested ridge above town is one of Borjomi’s most enjoyable quick experiences. The ride takes about five minutes and deposits you at a terrace with a sweeping view over the valley, the river, and the town’s mix of Soviet sanatoriums and newer buildings spread below. In 2026, the cable car station at the top was renovated — there’s now a small café and a viewing platform with a railing that actually inspires confidence.

Cost is 3 GEL each way. It runs from around 10am to 8pm in summer, shorter hours in winter. The view at dusk, when the light turns orange over the Caucasus ridgeline in the distance, is the best the town offers without breaking a sweat.

Day Trip to Rabati Castle and Akhaltsikhe

Akhaltsikhe is 50 kilometres southwest of Borjomi — about an hour by marshrutka (6–8 GEL) or 40 minutes by car. The town is home to Rabati Castle, a fortress complex that has been extensively restored and now contains a mosque, a church, a synagogue, a citadel, and museum spaces within its walls. The restoration has been controversial among historians but the complex itself is visually striking and genuinely interesting to walk through.

Marshrutkas run from Borjomi’s central bus area several times daily. The first usually leaves around 9am. You can easily spend three to four hours at the castle and still be back in Borjomi by early evening. Combine this with a stop at the small local market in Akhaltsikhe town for churchkhela, local honey, and dried fruit before the return journey.

From Akhaltsikhe, Vardzia Cave Monastery is another 70 kilometres south — doable as an extension of this day trip if you hire a car or negotiate with a local driver, but too much to add if you’re relying on public transport alone.

Visit the Borjomi History and Nature Museum

Small but genuinely well-curated, the History and Nature Museum in the centre of town covers the geology of the mineral springs, the history of the Romanov connection, and the natural environment of the national park with displays in Georgian, Russian, and English. It’s not a landmark destination on its own, but it provides useful context that makes the rest of your time in Borjomi more interesting — especially the geological section explaining why the water here has its distinctive chemical composition.

Entry is 5 GEL. Plan for about 45 minutes to an hour. The staff are helpful and some speak English well enough to answer questions. The museum is housed in an attractive older building near the central park, which is worth a look on its own.

Eat and Drink Around Borjomi Town

Borjomi’s eating scene is compact but reliable. The main concentration of restaurants and cafés runs along the pedestrian strip near the park entrance and along the road parallel to the river. For lunch, the simple Georgian restaurants here serve standard plates of khinkali, lobiani, and grilled meats at honest prices — 20–35 GEL covers a full meal with a drink at most of them.

For something more specific:

• The small market near the bus station is the best place for fresh produce, churchkhela, and local pickles. Morning is the right time to go — by early afternoon many stalls are packing up.
• Café and bakery options near the park entrance serve fresh-baked bread, pastries, and coffee from early morning — useful if you’re heading out on a hike and need something before the trail.
• Evening dining is best done at the restaurants with outdoor seating along the river road — the sound of the Mtkvari River and the cooler evening air make sitting outside genuinely pleasant from May through September.

Borjomi is not a place for adventurous eating — it’s a place for honest, well-executed Georgian food eaten in good surroundings. That’s enough.

Ride the Scenic Train from Tbilisi

Getting to Borjomi by train from Tbilisi is itself one of the experiences worth doing. The journey takes roughly three hours on the regional service from Tbilisi Central Station, passing through the Mtkvari River valley with views that shift from urban sprawl to deep forested gorge. The train is slow by design — the line follows the river closely and the curves mean speed is never the point.

In 2026, Georgian Railway updated the schedule on the Tbilisi–Borjomi line, adding an early morning departure that gets you into Borjomi by 9am — perfect for a long day trip or an arrival with the full day ahead. Tickets cost 9–14 GEL depending on class. Book online via the Georgian Railway website or the mobile app a day ahead in summer; the trains fill up on weekends.

The journey from the window — watching the gorge narrow, the river run green and fast beside the track, small villages appearing and disappearing behind stands of pine — is the kind of slow travel that’s increasingly rare and genuinely worth the extra time compared to driving.

Explore Likani and the Presidential Palace Area

A short walk or quick taxi ride west of Borjomi centre brings you to Likani, a quieter neighbourhood where the pace drops and the architecture gets more interesting. The Presidential Palace here — used as an official summer residence — sits behind gates and isn’t accessible, but the surrounding area with its old villas, mature trees, and the river path running alongside is worth an hour of wandering.

Likani also has the better mineral bath facilities of the two main areas (the other being near the central park), and some of the quieter guesthouses that make a good base if you want to avoid the foot traffic of the town centre. The neighbourhood feels like Borjomi as it was 20 years ago — unhurried and slightly overgrown in the best possible way.

2026 Budget Breakdown: What to Expect to Spend in Borjomi

Borjomi remains one of the more affordable destinations in Georgia, though prices have moved up since 2023 as visitor numbers have grown. Here’s a realistic daily spend for 2026:

Budget Traveller (hostel, self-catering, free activities)

• Accommodation: 35–55 GEL per night (hostel dorm or basic guesthouse)
• Food: 25–40 GEL per day (market meals, simple restaurants)
• Activities: 10–20 GEL (park entry, cable car, museum)
• Daily total: approximately 70–115 GEL

Mid-Range Traveller (private guesthouse room, restaurant meals, guided hike)

• Accommodation: 100–180 GEL per night
• Food: 60–90 GEL per day
• Activities: 30–80 GEL (mineral baths, guided trail, cable car)
• Daily total: approximately 190–350 GEL

Comfortable Traveller (hotel with spa, taxis, all activities)

• Accommodation: 250–500 GEL per night
• Food: 100–150 GEL per day
• Activities: 80–150 GEL (spa treatments, private guide, day trips by car)
• Daily total: approximately 430–800 GEL

Day trip transport from Tbilisi by train adds 18–28 GEL return. Hiring a local driver for a full-day excursion to Akhaltsikhe and Vardzia costs roughly 150–200 GEL depending on negotiation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get from Tbilisi to Borjomi?

The most enjoyable option is the regional train from Tbilisi Central Station — about three hours, 9–14 GEL, with updated 2026 schedules including an early morning departure. Marshrutkas from Didube bus station are faster (around 2.5 hours) and cost 10–12 GEL. Private taxis or hired cars take about two hours and cost 120–180 GEL one-way.

Is Borjomi worth visiting for just one day?

Yes, but two days is better. In one day you can cover the central park and mineral springs, the cable car, the museum, and a mineral bath — that’s a full and satisfying day. A second day opens up the national park trails and a comfortable day trip to Akhaltsikhe. Most visitors who come for one day wish they’d stayed longer.

When is the best time to visit Borjomi?

Late May through June and September through October are the sweet spots — warm enough for hiking and outdoor activities, cool enough to be comfortable, and noticeably quieter than July and August. Winter (December–February) is cold but atmospheric, particularly if there’s snow in the park, though some facilities operate on reduced hours.

Is Borjomi safe for solo travellers?

Borjomi is a very safe destination by any measure. Petty crime is rare, locals are generally welcoming toward visitors, and the town is small enough that orientation is easy. Solo hikers should tell their guesthouse where they’re going before heading into the national park, and carry a fully charged phone — mobile signal is patchy on the upper trails.

Can you drink the mineral water straight from the spring in Borjomi Park?

Yes, and it’s completely safe. The mineral springs in Borjomi Central Park have been flowing and tested for over 150 years. The water is naturally carbonated with a distinctive sulphurous mineral taste — some people find it takes getting used to. Bring or buy a small cup; the water is free. It’s consumed warm, directly from the spout.

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📷 Featured image by Vasily Ledovsky on Unsplash.