The short answer: December is a quiet, cold, festive month in Georgia. Tbilisi averages highs of about 8 °C and is mostly dry, the city switches on its New Year lights in mid-December, Kakheti's cellars are pouring the new wine, and the ski resorts of Bakuriani and Gudauri usually open in the second half of the month. The high mountains are another matter: Tusheti and Khevsureti are cut off, and the road to Kazbegi can close after snow. Here is what to expect and where to go.
Weather in December
- Tbilisi and the east: average highs of about 8 °C and lows of about 1 °C, with only around 21 mm of rain over four or five days [1]. Expect grey days, crisp sunny ones and the occasional light snowfall that rarely lasts.
- Kakheti: much like Tbilisi. The vines are bare and the valley is quiet, but the cellars carry on.
- Kazbegi (Stepantsminda, 1,740 m): average highs around 0 °C and lows of about −8.5 °C [2]. Snow is normal from now until spring.
- Batumi and the coast: mild compared with the rest of the country, but very wet, with close to 280 mm of rain in an average December [3]. It is not a beach month.
Days are short: it is dark by late afternoon, so long day trips need an early start and a plan that puts the last stop in daylight.
Low season: what it means for you
- Fewer visitors at Jvari, Svetitskhoveli, Sighnaghi and Narikala, at least until the holiday rush at the very end of the month.
- Quiet hotels in the first half of the month; from about Christmas week the ski resorts and central Tbilisi fill up, so book those dates early.
- Some places shut. Seasonal mountain guesthouses close, and summer activities such as valley hikes and rafting are finished for the year.
Festive Tbilisi
Tbilisi decorates properly for New Year. In 2025 the lights were switched on on 12 December, with the big display around the St George column in Freedom Square and lights running down Rustaveli Avenue; Orbeliani Square and the streets of Vera and Vake were lit too [4]. The City Hall's New Year market ran at First Republic Square from 12 December to 14 January, with wooden stalls selling food, mulled wine, crafts and gifts [4]. The 2026 dates and venues are announced nearer the time, so check before you plan around them.
It is a good month for the city itself: walking the Old Town on a cold, clear morning, a long lunch, the museums in the afternoon, and a private room at the sulphur baths in the evening. See our guide to Tbilisi's sulphur baths.
New Year's Eve, and Christmas that comes later
The big night in Georgia is 31 December: a long family supper at home and fireworks over Tbilisi at midnight. The official public holidays are 1–2 January, and Georgian Orthodox Christmas follows on 7 January, because the Church keeps the Julian calendar [5]. So December itself is the build-up rather than the feast: markets, lights, the smell of gozinaki (walnuts in honey) in the bakeries and the dried-branch chichilaki "trees" on sale. For the customs, the Alilo processions and what closes on the holidays, read Christmas and New Year in Georgia.
The ski season opens
Snow decides the opening dates, which are announced in December. In the 2025/26 season Bakuriani opened on 20 December and Gudauri on 27 December [6][7]. Early-season snow can be thin, so if skiing is the point of the trip, the second half of the month is the safer bet, and January safer still. Remember that Gudauri's off-piste has no avalanche control. For a comparison of the two resorts, see Gudauri or Bakuriani.
What's closed or unreliable
- Tusheti: the Abano Pass road is closed until next summer.
- Khevsureti (Shatili and Mutso): the Datvisjvari pass is shut for the winter.
- Svaneti: Mestia is reachable by the main road with winter tyres, but the Zagari pass from Ushguli to Lentekhi is closed and the Mestia–Ushguli road can close in heavy snow.
- Kazbegi: the road stays open in principle, but the Jvari Pass (2,379 m) can close for a few hours, or for 1–3 days, after heavy snow. The road up to Gergeti Trinity Church (2,170 m) needs a 4x4 in snow and is sometimes impassable. Read how winter closures work.
- Vardzia: part of the path has been closed since the 27 May 2026 rockfall, and with short daylight the long day from Tbilisi is hard in December anyway.
Where to go in December
Tbilisi
The obvious base. Old Town, Narikala by cable car, the National Museum, the Dry Bridge market and the wine bars all work in the cold. Allow two or three days.
Kakheti
Wine is made in autumn but tasted all winter. By December the new wine is resting in its qvevri (UNESCO Intangible Heritage since 2013), and family winemakers will pour it alongside older vintages. Sighnaghi and Bodbe are about 2 hours from Tbilisi; when the Gombori pass is icy, drivers take the lower Sagarejo road.
Low-level day trips
Mtskheta, 30–40 minutes from Tbilisi, and Uplistsikhe and Gori, 1.25–1.5 hours west, are low enough not to depend on mountain weather. The Lavra monastery at David Gareja is open; the Udabno monastery on the ridge above is closed or unpredictable.
Kazbegi, with a spare day
Gergeti under snow with Mt Kazbek (5,054 m) behind it, and almost nobody else there, is a fine sight. Put it early in your trip on a flexible day, never the day before your flight, and have a Plan B.
Practical tips
- Pack a warm coat, hat and gloves; Tbilisi evenings are cold, and Kazbegi is properly wintry.
- Winter tyres are compulsory on the Military Highway in winter; snow chains are sometimes required.
- Book flights and hotels early for the last week of December, when many Georgians living abroad come home.
- Travel insurance with at least 30,000 GEL of cover has been mandatory for visitors since 1 January 2026; check it covers skiing if you plan to ski.
For the rest of the cold season, month by month, see Georgia in winter.
Seeing Georgia in December with us
All our trips are private: your own car and English-speaking driver-guide, for 1–8 travellers. The Georgia in Winter, 6-day private tour runs in January and February, and in December on request, combining Tbilisi, a night in Kakheti's wine country and two nights at Gudauri, with Kazbegi only if the pass is open. In the city, the private Tbilisi Old Town walk covers Metekhi, Narikala by cable car, the baths and Sioni in about five hours. For the new wine, the private Kakheti wine day trip visits Bodbe, Sighnaghi, Tsinandali and a family qvevri cellar, with two tastings included. See each tour page for the current price, or build your own December trip and we send you a plan and a price. Nothing to pay now.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Tbilisi" (climate normals 1991–2020): en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Stepantsminda" (climate table): en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Batumi" (climate table): en.wikipedia.org
- Wander-Lush, "Christmas in Tbilisi 2025: markets, lights and New Year traditions": wander-lush.org
- Wikipedia, "Public holidays in Georgia": en.wikipedia.org
- Friendly.ge, "Bakuriani ski resort guide": friendly.ge
- Friendly.ge, "Gudauri ski resort guide 2025/26": friendly.ge
Last checked: September 2026. Festive market dates, ski opening dates and winter road closures are announced each season; check them before you travel.
