Driving a truck, bus or motorhome in Georgia: hard roads, overnight parking and insurance

Georgia, the country in the South Caucasus between the Black Sea, Türkiye, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, is one of the most rewarding road-trip countries in the region. It is also a country where the size of your vehicle changes the trip. A mountain road that is an easy afternoon in a hatchback can be a slow, tiring day in a loaded truck, a tour bus or a seven-metre motorhome.

This guide is for drivers of trucks, buses, motorhomes and campervans, cars towing trailers, and special machinery entering Georgia on foreign plates. As of October 2026, it covers what makes driving a big vehicle in Georgia difficult, which roads to avoid, where you can actually stop for the night when a hotel is not the answer, and the compulsory Georgian insurance every foreign-registered vehicle needs.

Which vehicles this guide is about

On the road, "big" means anything longer, taller or heavier than an ordinary car: lorries and tractor units, coaches and minibuses, motorhomes, vans with trailers, caravans, and self-propelled machinery such as tractors or cranes.

For Georgian compulsory car insurance, the categories are fixed by law:

• Truck: goods vehicles and tractor units
• Bus: minibuses and coaches
• Trailer: trailers and semi-trailers with their own registration
• Special vehicle: agricultural or specialised self-propelled machinery
• Passenger car: ordinary cars, and most van-based campervans

A motorhome is insured in the category written in its registration document. Van-based campers are usually registered as passenger cars, while heavier motorhomes are sometimes registered as trucks. If you are not sure which category yours is, ask our 24/7 support before you buy.

Why driving a big vehicle in Georgia is harder

Mountain passes and sudden closures

The main east–west road, Tbilisi – Kutaisi – Batumi/Poti, crosses the Rikoti Pass. The new four-lane motorway with long tunnels has made it far easier than the old serpentine, but landslides have closed this corridor before, sometimes with different rules for trucks and for cars while it reopened.

The Georgian Military Road from Tbilisi to Stepantsminda and the Upper Lars border with Russia crosses the Jvari Pass at about 2,400 metres. In winter it closes repeatedly for snow and avalanche risk, and heavy vehicles are often stopped first while cars are still let through. During one closure in early February 2026, more than 1,400 trucks were reported waiting at Upper Lars.

Check the road status on the day you drive, not the day before. The Roads Department of Georgia publishes closures and restrictions.

Roads that are not for big vehicles

• Abano Pass to Tusheti: unpaved, narrow, with sheer drops. It is a 4x4 road open only in the warmer months. Do not take a bus, motorhome or trailer there.
• Svaneti: the road to Mestia is paved but long, narrow and exposed to rockfall. Beyond Mestia toward Ushguli, ask locally about the current state before taking anything bigger than a van.
• Goderdzi Pass between Adjara and Samtskhe-Javakheti: high, around 2,000 metres, closed for long periods in winter and partly under reconstruction. Check before planning a big vehicle through it.
• Gombori Pass, the short cut from Tbilisi to Telavi: narrow and twisting through forest. With a big vehicle, the longer road via Sagarejo and Gurjaani is the easier way into Kakheti.
• Old Tbilisi, Sighnaghi and village centres: steep, narrow, sometimes cobbled streets with tight corners. Park outside and walk or take a taxi.

Local driving habits

• Overtaking on blind bends is common, including oncoming cars partly in your lane. Keep right and leave space in front of you.
• Cows, sheep and dogs walk on the roads, including the main highway, and they are hard to see after dark.
• Secondary roads have potholes and soft or missing shoulders. A heavy vehicle that pulls onto an unpaved verge can sink or tip.
• Avoid driving in the mountains at night.
• Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes have lower speed limits than cars, and some highway sections are signed with separate limits for certain categories. Follow the signs for your category. Speed cameras are common, and camera fines reach foreign plates too: you can check fines by plate number.

Borders take longer for trucks

Freight vehicles, empty or loaded, heading for the Sarpi, Kazbegi (Upper Lars), Red Bridge, Sadakhlo, Lagodekhi, Guguti, Ninotsminda, Vale and Kartsakhi checkpoints must first enter the parking area next to the checkpoint before they go to the border. Plan for this to take hours, not minutes, and keep food, water and a charged phone in the cab.

Fuel, AdBlue and weather

• Diesel is easy to find along the main roads. Fill up before mountain sections, where stations are fewer.
• AdBlue is sold at the larger stations on the main highways. Do not count on it in mountain villages, and carry a spare can.
• From November to April, carry snow chains. On high passes, vehicles without them can be turned back.
• On long descents such as the Jvari Pass, use the engine brake and lower gears. Overheated brakes are a real risk with a heavy vehicle.

Where to stop for the night without a hotel

Trucks

1. Parking areas next to the borders. There are 35 licensed truck parks near the nine customs checkpoints listed above. They are guarded and paid, and you pass through them anyway.
2. Truck lots on the main highway. There are truck lots along the Tbilisi – Kutaisi road, especially between Tbilisi and Khashuri. Some are free and open 24 hours. Confirm a lot is still open before you rely on it.
3. Large fuel stations. Many have space for trucks. Ask the staff before you sleep there, buy fuel or food, and never block the pumps.
4. Roadside cafés. Along the main road, many cafés that serve drivers have large gravel lots. Ask the owner, and you will usually get a meal and a quiet spot.

Do not sleep on the hard shoulder of the highway, near tunnel entrances, in mountain lay-bys under unstable slopes, or on residential streets in towns.

Buses

Agree coach parking with your accommodation before you arrive. Most big sights, such as Mtskheta, Ananuri and Uplistsikhe, have parking for coaches near the entrance. In mountain areas the last stretch is often done on foot or by local minibus.

Motorhomes and campervans

• Wild camping is legal and widely tolerated in Georgia. Leave no rubbish, do not light fires where they are dangerous, and ask before you stop on land that is clearly private. The Georgian National Tourism Administration recommends the leave-no-trace approach.
• Campsites are still few but growing, mostly in tourist regions such as Kazbegi, Kakheti and the Black Sea coast. More of them now offer electricity, water and showers.
• Wineries and guesthouses, especially in Kakheti, often let campers park overnight, usually free if you eat there or buy wine. Ask first.
• Monastery and viewpoint car parks can work for one quiet night. Ask, keep the noise down, and leave early.
• In Tbilisi and Batumi, use paid guarded parking rather than sleeping on the street.
• Apps such as park4night and iOverlander list spots other travellers have used. Read the recent reviews, not just the old ones.

Wherever you stop, avoid riverbeds and gravel bars, which flood fast after rain in the mountains, and slopes where rockfall is possible.

Compulsory Georgian insurance for big vehicles

Every vehicle on foreign plates needs Georgian compulsory third-party liability insurance for each day it is in Georgia. That includes trucks, buses, trailers, motorhomes and special machinery. Your home-country policy does not replace it; see whether foreign car insurance is valid in Georgia.

The premium depends on the vehicle category and the length of the policy. These are the statutory premiums published by the Compulsory Insurance Centre (TPL.GE):

A trailer or semi-trailer with its own registration is a separate category in that table, so it is insured separately from the vehicle towing it.

Georgian APPA's price is higher because it includes our service. You buy online before the border, in seven languages, with 24/7 support. Choose your vehicle type in the form below to see the price for your dates.

The compulsory policy pays third parties up to GEL 30,000 per injured person and GEL 300,000 per event for injury, and up to GEL 25,000 per affected party and GEL 50,000 per event for property damage. A loaded truck or a bus can cause more damage than that, so check what your company's own insurance covers in Georgia. Driving without the compulsory policy is fined: read about Georgian insurance fines for foreign drivers.

For trucks and other heavy vehicles, there is more detail on our truck insurance page.

Do not forget medical insurance for the people on board

Since January 1, 2026, every foreign visitor entering Georgia needs travel medical insurance with a sum insured of at least GEL 30,000. That includes professional truck and bus drivers and every passenger. It is separate from the car insurance above. Read more about medical insurance for Georgia.

Checklist before you drive into Georgia

• Vehicle registration documents and a driving licence for your vehicle category
• Georgian compulsory car insurance for the right category and exact dates, including any trailer
• Medical insurance for the driver and every passenger
• For freight: your carrier documents, and hours of waiting time planned at the border parking area
• The status of the Jvari Pass, Upper Lars and Rikoti checked on the day of travel
• Snow chains from November to April, spare AdBlue, and a full tank before the mountains
• A plan for every night: border truck park, highway truck lot, campsite or guesthouse

Bottom line

Driving a big vehicle in Georgia is very doable, but it needs more planning than a car trip. Stay on the main corridors, treat high passes and narrow mountain roads with respect, know before sunset where you will park for the night, and arrange your Georgian compulsory insurance before you reach the border. Do that, and the hardest part of the trip will be choosing which view to stop for.