Things to do in Tbilisi
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Tbilisi
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring sweet spot, 18 to 28C, terraces open, the gorge greens and the Kazbegi road is reliably open.
Hot at 30 to 38C in the gorge. Sightsee mornings and evenings and escape to Kazbegi or the lakes.
The connoisseur window, 15 to 25C, clearest Kazbegi views and the Kakheti grape harvest.
Cold at 0 to 6C with short days, but baths at their best, empty museums, low prices and Gudauri skiing.
What's on
- Tbilisi Open Air June
Georgia's biggest open-air music festival, worth timing a trip around for music groups.
- Art-Gene Festival July
Folk music and crafts in the Open-Air Museum of Ethnography grounds.
- Rtveli late September to October
The Kakheti grape harvest, when visitors pick, tread and feast at family cellars. Book harvest tours weeks ahead.
- Tbilisoba usually early October
Tbilisi's city festival of street food, wine, concerts and fireworks across the Old Town and Rike Park.
- Orthodox Christmas 7 January
Festivities follow the New Year period in the winter season.
Best things to do in Tbilisi
Narikala Fortress
Walk the Old Town lanes first, then ride the cable car to the fortress walls and the best panorama of the gorge.
Chreli-Abano
The ornate mosaic tiled sulphur bath and the photogenic pick for a private hot pool room and kisa scrub.
Gulo's Bath
An Abanotubani bathhouse guides repeat for a private sulphur pool room, cold plunge and vigorous scrub.
Queen's Bath
One of the Abanotubani bathhouses guides repeat for a private sulphur room away from the basic public halls.
Mtatsminda Park
Ride the 1905 funicular up before dark for the Ferris wheel, terrace cafes and the whole city lighting up below.
Sameba (Holy Trinity Cathedral)
A vast gold domed cathedral on Elia Hill, free to enter and visible from almost everywhere in the city.
Georgian National Museum
Come for the dazzling prehistoric gold treasury, then the sobering Museum of Soviet Occupation upstairs.
Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre
A Moorish revival jewel on Rustaveli Avenue where opera and ballet tickets cost a fraction of Western prices.
Where to stay in Tbilisi
Old Town / Abanotubani (Kala)
first trip, short stays
The baths, fortress walk and Meidan restaurants are on your doorstep, with steep cobbles and the priciest rooms.
Sololaki
all-round base, locals' favourite
Grand Art Nouveau houses, wine bars and quiet boutique hotels, still a 10 minute walk to the Old Town.
Mtatsminda / Rustaveli Avenue
culture trips
The museum and opera avenue with grand hotels and metro links, stately rather than cosy, so eat in Sololaki or Vera.
Vera
food, cafes and a lived-in stay
Leafy and residential west of Rustaveli, with the city's cafe scene and a 15 minute walk to Freedom Square.
Vake
longer and upscale residential stays
Polished and calm by Vake Park and Turtle Lake cable car, but a Bolt ride from the Old Town every time.
Chughureti / Marjanishvili
creative and value base
Fabrika and the restored Aghmashenebeli Avenue, with cheaper design hotels and a bridge to the Old Town.
Think twice about
- Station Square / Didube
Transport hub bustle, the seediest late night feel in the centre and taxi and tour touts. Visit the bazaar, do not base beside it.
- Gldani, Varketili, Samgori and other far Soviet housing districts
Distant slab block sprawl with a metro end or long Bolt ride before your day starts and few restaurants you would choose.
- Shardeni Street / Bambis Rigi immediate strip
Safe and central but bar tout territory until late, with drink bill scam risk. Light sleepers should sleep a street or two away.
- Upper Betlemi / steepest Sololaki lanes
Beautiful historic stair streets that punish anyone with mobility limits or big luggage. Check the exact map pin before booking.
Best restaurants in Tbilisi
Barbarestan
A family restaurant cooking refined historic Georgian dishes from Barbare Jorjadze's 19th century cookbook.
Café Littera
Modern Georgian cooking by Tekuna Gachechiladze in the leafy courtyard of the historic Writers' House in Sololaki.
Keto & Kote
A romantic Vera mansion restaurant for polished modern traditional cooking, pkhali and its famous walnut salad.
Shavi Lomi
The Vera house that launched modern Georgian cooking, with benchmark Imeruli khachapuri and pkhali assortments.
Kakhelebi
Farm sourced Kakhetian cooking in a tavern style room where locals feast on khinkali and mtsvadi, closing around 9pm.
Shemomechama
A bright busy room famous for fried and classic khinkali and cheese laden khachapuri and a young local crowd.
DADI Wine Bar & Shop
A small candlelit Old Town bar pouring natural wines from small Georgian makers, with staff who build your flight.
Sakhachapure №1
The dedicated khachapuri house baking every regional style to order at cafe prices near Rustaveli Avenue.
Outdoor things to do in Tbilisi
Gergeti Trinity Church
The climax of the Georgian Military Highway day, a church at 2,170 metres under Mount Kazbek reached by 4x4.
Sighnaghi
A walled hill town above the Alazani Valley and the base for Bodbe Monastery and qvevri cellar tastings in Kakheti.
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
The UNESCO listed cathedral in Georgia's ancient capital, burial place of kings and 25 minutes from Tbilisi.
Jvari Church
A 6th century cliff church where two rivers meet, and the single most famous view in the country.
Uplistsikhe
A rock hewn cave city older than Rome, climbed over on a full day with Mtskheta and Stalin's Gori.
Tbilisi Hills
Georgia's only 18 hole championship course, a par 72 over dramatic elevation changes south of the Old Town.
Paragraph Tabori
A 9 hole par 36 course on Mount Tabori reached by cable car, with lake and city views.
Gudauri
The activity hub on the Kazbegi road for tandem paragliding, Aragvi rafting, horse riding and winter skiing.
Best hotels in Tbilisi
Paragraph Freedom Square, a Luxury Collection Hotel
The city's flagship new luxury stay by Freedom Square, with a huge spa and panoramic pool at the Old Town's edge.
Stamba Hotel
A Soviet publishing house in Vera turned design hotel with a vast atrium, huge rooms, brass tubs and a chocolaterie.
Rooms Hotel Tbilisi
Stamba's older warehouse chic sibling on Kostava Street, with the garden restaurant everyone books.
Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace
The big hotel luxury option on the left bank in Avlabari, with river and Old Town views.
Folk Boutique Hotel
A small Georgian designed boutique hotel in a quiet street in the historic Old Town centre.
Margot Old Tbilisi
The value with style left bank pick in Avlabari, cheaper than Old Town equivalents without losing design.
Sandali Metekhi Boutique Hotel
A boutique hotel in Avlabari with views over the river to Narikala Fortress.
Ibis Styles Tbilisi Center
A reliable chain mid range stay with predictable rooms and a central pin in Tbilisi.
Is Tbilisi expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | GEL 95 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | GEL 190 a person |
| Splurge | GEL 450 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Chreli-Abano: a few days ahead
- Gulo's Bath: a few days ahead
- Queen's Bath: a few days ahead
- Gergeti Trinity Church: a few days ahead
- Sighnaghi: a few days ahead
- Uplistsikhe: a few days ahead
- Tbilisi Hills: a few days ahead
- Gudauri: a few days ahead
- Private sulphur bath rooms on Friday to Sunday, booked 1 to 3 days ahead, and inspect the room on arrival.
- Barbarestan, Cafe Littera and Keto & Kote need reservations 2 to 5 days ahead, a week in September and October.
- Kazbegi and Kakheti small group tours sell out in May, June, September and October.
- Tbilisi Hills tee times at weekends, and Paragraph Tabori golf in season.
- Bassiani and Khidi entry is via online registration and door selection, so sort it before the night.
- Travel insurance is mandatory for visitors from January 2026, so carry proof.
Is Tbilisi safe?
- Tbilisi feels safe and solo travellers including women routinely walk the centre late, with scams a bigger risk than crime.
- Protests gather around Parliament on Rustaveli and can turn tense, so admire from a distance and route around.
- Church etiquette: modest dress and head coverings for women in Orthodox churches, and no flash photography in services.
- Leave sleeping stray dogs alone and you will have no story to tell.
- Chacha poured in hospitality is 50 percent plus and the hangover is a genuine trip risk.
- Emergency number is 112.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
Tbilisi travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Airport street taxis are the signature rip off. Order Bolt to the official pickup for around GEL 25 to 30 or pre-book a transfer.
- Shardeni and Bambis Rigi tourist bars inflate bills, so agree prices first and pay as you go.
- Shardeni and Meidan restaurants with hosts and photo menus charge double Vera prices for half the cooking.
- Sulphur bath upsells: agree scrub, massage, tea and photo prices before you undress and view the room first.
- Dry Bridge antiques: assume reproduction until proven otherwise and haggle hard.
- Never put a winter Kazbegi day trip on your last day, since pass closures happen.
Getting around Tbilisi: public transport and more
- Walk the centre but respect the gorge, since Old Town to Vera is a hill and cobbles punish thin shoes.
- Metro and buses cost 1 GEL per 90 minutes on a MetroMoney or Travel Card.
- Use Bolt or Yango for everything else, with upfront fares of a few lari across the centre.
- Marshrutkas from Didube serve Mtskheta and the Kazbegi road for DIY travellers.
- Do not drive yourself in the city, and look both ways twice at crossings since drivers may not stop.
Who Tbilisi suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Tbilisi your trip
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