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30 best things to do in Tbilisi
The sights, walks, markets, food and views we would tell a friend about — numbered, with how to get there.
By Mikheil Papava · Updated From the fortress above the sulphur baths to a flea market of Soviet medals, these are the things we would tell a friend to do in Tbilisi — in rough order of priority, with how to get there by metro and a local tip for each.
Old Tbilisi and the river
1.Narikala Fortress
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈750 m
The fortress on the ridge is where Tbilisi began, and the walk along its walls gives the best panorama of the old town, the domes of the baths and the river bend. Come in the last hour of daylight, when the city lights up beneath you.
Local tip: The fortress interior has been closed for restoration since 2024; the ridge, viewpoints and cable car are open.
2.Cable car to Narikala
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈450 m
The aerial tramway lifts you from Rike Park across the Mtkvari to Narikala in a couple of minutes — the quickest way up, with the Bridge of Peace and the old town directly below. Ride up, then walk back down through the lanes.
Local tip: Pay by bank card at the gate; queues build up around sunset.
3.Private sulphur bath
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈600 m
Tbilisi takes its name from the warm springs (tbili means “warm”) that still feed the brick-domed bathhouses of Abanotubani. Book a private room, add a traditional kisi scrub and you will understand why locals have done this for centuries.
Local tip: Evening slots fill up — book a private room a day ahead.
4.Chreli Abano (Orbeliani Baths)
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈650 m
The “colourful bath” has the most photographed façade in the city: blue and turquoise tiles and a pointed Persian-style portal at the end of the bath district. Even if you bathe elsewhere, stop here for the doorway.
5.Leghvtakhevi Waterfall
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈800 m
A few steps behind the baths, a narrow gorge with wooden walkways leads to a small waterfall — a cool, green surprise in the middle of the old town and an easy way to walk up towards the Botanical Garden.
6.National Botanical Garden
Nearest metro: Liberty Square · ≈1000 m
Behind the fortress hides a whole wooded gorge with a waterfall, little bridges and old trees. It is the quietest place in central Tbilisi and pairs perfectly with a visit to Narikala.
7.Sololaki Ridge & Kartlis Deda
Nearest metro: Liberty Square · ≈900 m
The 20-metre Mother of Georgia has stood on the ridge since 1958, a bowl of wine in one hand for friends and a sword in the other for enemies — the city’s character in one statue. The ridge path from Narikala passes right beneath her.
8.Gabriadze Clock Tower
Nearest metro: Liberty Square · ≈550 m
Puppeteer Rezo Gabriadze built this leaning, fairy-tale tower next to his marionette theatre. Every hour a little angel strikes the bell, and at noon and 7 pm a tiny puppet show plays out the circle of life.
9.Bridge of Peace
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈600 m
The glass-and-steel pedestrian bridge, designed by Italian architect Michele De Lucchi and opened in 2010, links the old town with Rike Park. Cross it after dark, when thousands of LEDs light up the canopy.
10.Metekhi Church
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈400 m
A 13th-century church on a cliff above the river, guarded by the equestrian statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali, the city’s legendary founder. The terrace in front is one of the classic views of the old town and Narikala.
11.Holy Trinity Cathedral (Sameba)
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈550 m
Completed in 2004 on Elia hill, the Holy Trinity Cathedral is one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world. Its gilded dome is visible from almost everywhere in the city; inside, it is calm, dim and full of icons.
Local tip: Shoulders and knees covered; women usually cover their hair (scarves are often available at the entrance).
12.Old Town self-guided walk
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈700 m
The best free thing to do: start at Liberty Square and wander down past the clock tower, Sioni Cathedral and the Bridge of Peace to the baths and Narikala. In three unhurried hours you see how the city fits together.
13.Lights of the old city
Nearest metro: Avlabari · ≈400 m
Tbilisi is at its most beautiful at dusk. Cross the Bridge of Peace, climb to Metekhi and watch the fortress walls, the churches and the bridges light up one by one across the river.
Culture, art and markets
14.Rustaveli Avenue
Nearest metro: Liberty Square · ≈450 m
The city’s grand boulevard runs from Liberty Square past the parliament, the opera house, the Rustaveli Theatre and the Georgian National Museum. Walk it end to end, then duck into the side streets of Sololaki for coffee.
15.National Gallery
Nearest metro: Liberty Square · ≈100 m
Home of the naïve, deeply loved paintings of Niko Pirosmani — feasts, animals and the people of old Tbilisi — alongside 20th-century Georgian art. An hour here explains a lot about how Georgians see themselves.
16.Marjanishvili Theatre
Nearest metro: Marjanishvili · ≈450 m
One of the city’s leading drama theatres, on the left bank of the river. Georgian theatre is visual and physical enough to enjoy without the language — check the afisha for what is on this week.
17.Dry Bridge Market
Nearest metro: Liberty Square · ≈750 m
An open-air flea market of Soviet medals, old cameras, enamel, paintings, carpets and family silver, spread along the Dry Bridge and the park beside it. Even if you buy nothing, it is a museum of 20th-century Georgian life.
Local tip: Busiest at weekends; haggling politely is expected.
18.Dezerter Bazaar
Nearest metro: Station Square · ≈200 m
Tbilisi’s biggest food market — named, the story goes, after deserting soldiers who sold their kit here in the 1920s. Taste sulguni and other cheeses, spices, churchkhela and sour tklapi fruit leather straight from the vendors.
Local tip: Go in the morning, when it is busiest and freshest.
19.Fabrika
Nearest metro: Marjanishvili · ≈450 m
A Soviet sewing factory turned into a courtyard of bars, cafés, studios and a hostel, its walls covered in murals. It is the easiest place to feel the city’s young, creative side — and to start a night out in Chugureti.
20.Open Air Museum of Ethnography
An open-air museum of traditional wooden houses, wine cellars and mountain dwellings brought from different regions of Georgia, spread across a wooded hillside. Great with children and a lovely half-day walk.
Food and wine
21.Eat khinkali and khachapuri
No trip is complete without khinkali — hold the knot, bite, sip the broth, eat, and leave the knot on the plate — and a boat-shaped Adjarian khachapuri with egg and butter. Add badrijani with walnut and pkhali, and share everything.
22.Natural wine tasting
Nearest metro: Liberty Square · ≈400 m
Georgia has made wine for around 8,000 years, and fermenting it in clay qvevri is on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage. Taste amber, red and white qvevri wines side by side in a wine bar and let the staff tell you about the grapes.
23.Georgian cooking class
Nearest metro: Liberty Square · ≈200 m
Learn to pleat khinkali (a good cook makes at least 18 folds) and shape khachapuri, then eat what you made with a glass of wine. The best souvenir is a recipe you can repeat at home.
Views, parks and nature
24.Mtatsminda Park
Nearest metro: Rustaveli · ≈1050 m
The funicular climbs to the highest point above the city: an amusement park with a Ferris wheel, the TV tower and the widest view over Tbilisi. On a clear day you can see the Caucasus ridge on the horizon.
25.Chronicles of Georgia
Zurab Tsereteli’s monument is a ring of bronze pillars more than 30 metres tall, carved with scenes from Georgian history, on a hill above the Tbilisi Sea. Come at sunset, when there are very few people and the view is enormous.
Local tip: It is out of the centre — use the journey planner or an app taxi.
26.Tbilisi Sea
A large reservoir on the city’s northern edge where locals swim, picnic and sunbathe in summer. Combine it with the Chronicles of Georgia on the hill above.
27.Turtle Lake
A small lake in the hills above Vake with walking trails, cafés and city views. The easiest way up is the cable car from the upper end of Vake Park.
28.Vake Park
A long green park in the leafy Vake district, where the city goes for an evening walk. At the top stands the memorial to the Unknown Soldier, and the cable car to Turtle Lake leaves nearby.
Beyond the city
30.Day trip to Mtskheta
Georgia’s ancient capital, 20 minutes from Tbilisi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the 6th-century Jvari Monastery on its hilltop and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in the town below, where the two rivers meet.
Local tip: Minibuses leave from Didube metro station.
