An hour in the Tbilisi sulfur baths costs between 5₾ and 300₾, and the water is identical at both ends of that range. What the money buys is the room around it: whether the door locks, how old the grouting is, whether anyone at the desk speaks English.
That is why quotes for Tbilisi sulfur bath prices swing so wildly online, and why this page is organised by price band rather than by bathhouse. For what happens once you are inside — undressing, etiquette, what to bring — read our Tbilisi sulfur baths guide. This one stays on the money.
One rule first. Public halls charge per head; private rooms charge for the room, by the hour, however many of you walk in. Four friends in a 40₾ cabin pay 10₾ each.
Band one: public halls, 5–10₾ a head
The cheapest ticket in Abanotubani is a bargain, not a compromise. Queen’s Bath charges 5₾ a person. The communal side of Bathhouse No. 5 asks 10₾ for men and 6₾ for women, which is not a misprint — the men’s hall is bigger and much busier. Out at Lisi, the smarter public rooms run 20–22₾, checked in August 2026 against Wander-Lush’s February 2026 price table.
For that: a tiled hall shared with strangers of your own sex, a hook for your clothes, water at 37–42°C. Nothing else. No towel, no slippers, no tea, no English past numbers and pointing. Bring a towel or pay 2–5₾ at the desk, in cash.
Band two: plain private cabins, 15–40₾ an hour
This is the band Tbilisi residents actually book, and the one visitors skip because it photographs badly. The small houses on the lanes off Abano Street let a whole room for 15–25₾ an hour; Gulripshi sits near 20–35₾, Baraka near 25–40₾.
The extra twenty-odd lari over a public hall buys a door that locks, your own sulfur plunge pool and a shower. It does not buy new tiling: cabins at this price show every one of their decades in the joints.
- Towels are extra here — 2–5₾, and some desks have run out by evening.
- No online booking. You walk in, or you phone and someone answers in Georgian.
- Cash only at several of the smaller houses. Ask before you undress.
Band three: the named baths, 60–130₾
Chreli-Abano, the blue-mosaic bathhouse also called Orbeliani, is the one on every postcard. Its entry-level rooms open around 60–70₾ an hour, a figure the Georgia Spirit bath guide still quotes. The caveat nobody puts in the headline: those cheap rooms are small and rarely free at the hours tourists want one. Wander-Lush’s 2026 figures put the working range at 130–200₾ and up, and on a Saturday evening the desk offers from the top of it. Kyiv Sulfur Spa, Soviet fittings and 2₾ towels, holds at 90–120₾.
What the jump buys: mosaic instead of plain tile, a pool big enough to move in, English at reception, a card terminal, and a slot you can reserve. Chreli-Abano runs the only real online booking system in Abanotubani, worth money by itself on a weekend.
Band four: spa houses, 150–300₾
Up here you pay for renovation and service, not minerals. Gulo’s Thermal Spa runs 150–300₾, includes the tea, rents towels at 5₾ and charges 20₾ for the scrub; you book it by messaging their Facebook page. The Royal Bath House asks 150–290₾ with 2₾ towels and a 15₾ scrub. King Erekle’s Bath, the most polished, goes 200–400₾. The line between this band and the last has blurred, since Chreli-Abano’s better rooms now overlap the spa houses. Treat every figure here as a bracket, not a tariff.
The extras nobody quotes you
So what does the number on the door cover? The room, the water, sixty minutes. Anything a human being does to you is billed separately, usually in cash, sometimes to a different person entirely.
- Kisa scrub: 10–30₾ a person, plus a 5–10₾ tip, handed to the mekise — the attendant who does the scrubbing, and often not whoever took your room payment.
- The mitt: Chreli-Abano charges 30₾ for the scrub, and some rooms want you to buy the glove too, another 10–20₾.
- Towels and slippers: 2–5₾ and about 4₾, though plastic slippers are free at many houses.
- Tea: 3–5₾, except at Gulo’s where it comes with the room.
The two ways people overpay
Our advice: do not book a royal room for a first visit. You spend most of that hour in water with your eyes shut, ten minutes face down being scrubbed, five getting dressed. A 250₾ suite delivers about the same forty minutes of soaking as a 30₾ cabin. Pay up on a second visit, once you know you like the thing.
The other one costs less and stings more. The mekise names her price when you are already undressed and lying down, the worst negotiating position going, and the spread between 10₾ and 30₾ for identical ten minutes is real. Ask at the desk on the way in and get a number.
Smaller trap: at bookable houses the hour starts when the room is handed over, not when you get into the pool. Arrive fifteen minutes late and you have bought forty-five minutes.
The best value in Abanotubani
Our pick is band two, split two or three ways. A 30₾ cabin, two scrubs at 15₾, 10₾ in tips, 6₾ of towels: 76₾ all in, 38₾ each, about $14. The same evening at Chreli-Abano — 160₾ room, two 30₾ scrubs, tips — lands near 240₾, or 120₾ a head. The extra 82₾ per person buys tiling and a booking form.
One case for paying up, and it is arithmetic rather than taste: four people in a 200₾ room pay 50₾ each, band-two money for a genuinely lovely room. Below three, the sums never work up there.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a private sulfur bath room in Tbilisi per hour?
Between 15₾ and 400₾, charged for the room rather than per person. Plain side-street cabins sit at 15–40₾, Chreli-Abano’s smallest rooms open near 60–70₾ while its usual stock runs 130–200₾, and spa houses take everything above 150₾.
Do you pay per person or per room at the Tbilisi sulfur baths?
Private cabins are billed by the room, so the cost per head drops with each extra body. Communal halls charge every bather individually, 5–10₾ each. Scrubs and towels are per person either way.
How much should a kisa scrub cost?
Ten to thirty lari, cash, straight to the attendant, plus a 5–10₾ tip. Budget houses sit at the low end; Chreli-Abano charges 30₾. Settle it at reception first, because being quoted while face down on hot marble is how people pay triple.
Do the Tbilisi sulfur baths take cards?
The bigger names do, and Chreli-Abano lets you pay online in advance. Small cabins on Abano Street often do not, and no attendant anywhere takes a card for the scrub. Our money in Tbilisi guide covers where to get lari at a fair rate.
Whatever band you land on, walk in carrying small notes. The room may take a card, the mekise will not, and the nearest ATM means dressing again and climbing back up into the Old Town with wet hair.
Featured image: Marcin Konsek (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons.
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