Most vibrant city in the Caucasus region, a favorite hip spot for diehard expats.
Georgia is a mountainous country in the Caucasus region, right between southern Europe and the Middle East. Such a distinct culture (with their own cool-looking alphabet), amazing food and a really nice vibe.
Although Tbilisi itself is pretty flat. I do recommend you do at least a few day tours out of the city to get a feel for the amazing mountain terrain. Georgia is so much more than Tbilisi! I really enjoyed wandering around town with local friends and also meeting other foreigners. I met many Russians, Ukrainians and Kazahk people here.
Stay 3-5 days to visit the main sights, neighborhoods, food, and nearby daytrips. But you could also stay longer to soak in the vibe. It’s cheap here! You can get a huge apartment for very little, cheap food, cheap massages, etc.
Where to stay:
- Saarbrucken Bridge – the areas north of here are nice and cool. Lots of shops and places to eat, and you’re still near the bridge and easily cross over to the other side.
- Vake – nice posh area (with many commercial stores/buildings) stretching the length of Zakaria Paliashvili Street. You can stay more west to be by the park, or more east to be closer to the city center. I love the fanciness of Vake but hate that it’s a little farther from the city center. For tourist things and meeting up with people around town, you’re always 20 mins drive through traffic to everything and it’s annoying. Whereas if you stayed closer to the Saarbrucken Bridge area, you can walk to nearly everything in 10-15 minutes (and drive time even less).
- City Center (Old Town, Liberty Square) – this is the busiest area and where most tourist things start from and also good selection of late night food. But it’s not really a requirement to be here, IMO. Other areas can be nicer and cheaper, and also still be close and walkable to everything.
- Fabrika area – nightlife, bars, vibrant energy at night. Perhaps can be noisy and crazy.
- Sololaki – nice hilly area with hilltop cafes, restaurants, and bars. Touristy in the lower parts and great views up top, and also different vibe. Charmy architecture. Has a bit of that Istanbul vibe here. Can also find a nice sulfur bath house here.
Remember not to be shy about staying what seems “farther away” on the map. Tbilisi is small and you can get anywhere in 10mins by taxi easily, or metro. You can really be anywhere in Tbilisi and enjoy it. All neighborhoods seemed pretty vibrant and lively to me, and very connected to the Tbilisi energy. It’s not like in other cities where being in the wrong neighborhood can have you feeling like you left the city completely.
Hostels:
- Fabrika Hostel – I didn’t try any but this is the hostel to try if you want to meet people and have young friends to party with.
Neighborhoods & Walking areas:
- Old town area – your tourist walking tours will take you right by here. Has everything.
- Liberty Square (considered city center) – stores, shops, business district, late night food, etc.
- Rike Park – big green park to hang around. Is kind of like an amusement park as well with carnival games and hot air balloons, and other things for family entertainment.
- Sololaki District – the hilly area of Tbilisi. Nice restaurants, bathhouses, shops, tourist stuff. Climb further up the hill for better views of the city below.
Activities to do:
- Buildings & architecture:
- Chronicle of Georgia** – looks like a really cool historic monument but was actually built super recently in 1985. Actually still super cool. Walk around and take incredible photos. You can also enjoy nice panoramic landscape views from here as well. Make sure you be like me and not tell anyone where it is when they see your photos and beg OMG, WHERE IS THIS?!
- Parks, gardens, green spaces –
- Beaches, bridges, water-points –
- Bridge of Peace** – is the cool modern design bridge you’ve seen in Georgia tourism commercials. Walk across it just so you can say you’ve been to Tbilisi (or even Georgia).
- Saarbrucken Bridge – is the one you’ll probably walk past most as a tourist or even local resident.
- Markets, shopping:
- Russian market – visit the Saarbrucken bridge and check out the vendors around the bridge as well as right next to it at 9 March Park. Tons of random stuff, arts, and crafts.
- Arts & museums –
- Georgian Museum of Fine Arts – cool building architecture from outside, interesting art works by Georgian artists inside. Mostly paintings, some pastels, some drawings, and sculptures. Then they have visiting exhibitions as well.
- Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets:
- Sololaki Street & Narikala Fortress** – is probably the common panoramic viewpoint of the city. Ride the cable car up from Rike Park, or walk or take car up to the Narikala Fortress yourself.
- Tours:
- Classic walking tour:
- Highly recommended to learn basic things about Georgian culture and history, and walk past interesting things in old town.
- You can also do the tour yourself. I did it twice. Start at Orbeliani Square, walk out to Pushkin St and past the city walls towards the water. Turn into the narrow Iane Shavteli St and go past clock tower and the church. Turn left when you reach the main street by Erekle II Square, and cross the Bridge of Peace. On other side, you can walk around Rike Park for more city views and Bridge of Peace. Take cable car up to the hill of Sololaki Street. Walk around the street up there, enjoying views, also climbing into the Narikala Fortress walls. Then walk down to the street from fortress entrance and enjoy Sololaki District. If you’re too tired to do all in one day…then do the cable car and Sololaki District on another day.
- Classic walking tour:
- Relaxation:
- Massage – maybe you’ll want to try one since things are cheaper in Georgia.
- Sulfur bath house – come for a relaxing day at the spa, and also get scrubbed down by a bath house lady. Then relax in the room.
Restaurants & Cafes:
- RadioCafe – awesome cafe with great food and drinks, right across from the beautiful Leonidze Park. Also a live pianist during the day. Great place to eat before doing a walking tour of Tbilisi.
- Zodiaqo – considered one of the best food places in Tbilisi. Food was good, but we did experience frustratingly poor service here.
- Chveni – nice restaurant with great food, perfect for lunch.
- Lolita – classic
- Bernard – classic late night 24/7 place. Everybody goes here for food after a night out.
- Caravanserai Bakery – the oldest bakery in Tbilisi. One of our walking tours took us by here to watch the process. I could’ve cared less and swore it was a tourist trap (with the tour guide getting commission). But some of my friends bought it and actually, the bread was pretty damn good. So yeah, I’d highly recommend it.
There is so much nice food everywhere. Even average 3.5 star restaurants can be pretty good.
Bars & Clubs:
- Qandara – cool hillside bar with amazing terrace views over the city. Lovely setting at night.
- Makerspace – cool bar/club in the hill area.
- L’ado by Valiko – another nice club in the hill area.
The nightlife area is mostly southwest of the Kura River (north of the Metekhi Bridge). Then places get nicer and more fancy as you go further uphill. Do check places to be current before you invest time and taxi climbing the hill, as we had many instances where a place we thought would be open ended up being closed.
Miscellaneous tips:
- Traffic – Tbilisi is full of street traffic. Keep this in mind when planning daytime trips to the airport or bus/train station.
- Dangerous drivers – be careful of driving or standing around on the streets of Tbilisi. The drivers here are especially dangerous and reckless. I’m warning you to take this seriously. You could easily be hit by a speeding car. Georgia & Armenia are easily the worst (and most dangerous) drivers I’ve ever seen in the world. I’ve also seen many street dogs barking at cars…you figure maybe one of their friends was killed by one. :/
- Stray Dog Barbershop – great shop here and speaks good English.
Nearby towns:
Other helpful guides: