A Day in Tbilisi, Georgia

Hello my dear friend,

I am so excited you will be visiting me in Tbilisi! It's too bad it's just a 24-hour layover but I am happy to host you and show you the city I came to love so much. I promise to make this day enjoyable and educational for you.

After I pick you up at the airport from your 3 am flight, we will get to my apartment to drop your things off and prepare for the day. You will have a short break before public transport starts working at 7 am.

7:00-7:20 am – catch a bus to experience Tbilisi’s enjoyable highly modern public transport.

7:20-8:30 am – get off at Euromaidan – Old City main square.

We will see a part of the Berlin Wall gifted to Tbilisi and walk toward Metekhi Church with the nearby monument to Vakhtang Gorgasali, the founder of Tbilisi.

There’s a beautiful legend about founding of Tbilisi by King Gorgasali around 455. He was a fierce warrior, a literal giant chronicled to be around 2.4 m or 7’10” in height, strong and intimidating. One of the origin myths of the name “Georgian” comes from the Persian “gorg,” and “sal” which means “wolf-head,” as King Vakhtang was always wearing a custom-made wolf helmet on his head. Because he was always riding in front of his troops, the enemies thought that it was a whole army of “wolf warriors.”

So, a version of Tbilisi founding legend goes like this: once Vakhtang was hunting in a dense forest area not too far from the old Georgian capital and his seat of power – Mtskheta, and killed a pheasant with his arrow. When he came to the spot where the bird fell, it suddenly rose as if something resurrected it, and flew away. That’s how Vakhtang discovered the power of the healing sulfur hot springs that he points at directly. Because of the springs, Tbilisi got its name, which means “warm place” in Georgian.

Metekhi Church that we will be visiting is one of the oldest churches in the city, and its current stone version goes back to the 12th century, when it was completely rebuilt after the Mongolian destruction in 1235. It was founded as a house church for King Vakhtang Gorgasali and his family, and it has always been a part of the fortified palace that had been destroyed and rebuilt many times by various invaders and occupiers. You can still see some of the fortified walls that are now a part of the general city architecture. When we go into the church, I will tell you a little more about its traditional architecture and point out the St.George’s icon. Every Georgian church will have at least one, as St.George is the patron saint of the country and its people.

From the Metekhi Church, we will walk down to the Mtkvari river (known by its Turkic-Russian name Kura) to see the mosaic icons on the bank. My favorite of the three is the large icon of David the Builder, the king who started the Golden Age of Georgia in the 10th century that ended shortly after the death of his granddaughter King Tamar with the Mongolian invasion under her daughter Rusidan in 1235 (ask me why Tamar is called “king” later).

At around 8:45, we will cross the Mtkvari river via the Metekhi bridge and stroll toward the sulfur baths. I’ve got an appointment for us to experience the healing and restorative power of the hot sulfur springs and the famous Kisi scrub with massage. You will need it after your long travel. Bring your bikini swimsuit!

9:00-10:00 am – sulfur baths.

10:15 am – walk to Sioni Cathedral, the oldest surviving Georgian Orthodox church in the city

You will be blown away by its historical significance (all Georgian Patriarchs are interned there, the most recent being Ilia II) and the world-famous polyphonic choir signing.

11:30/Noon – lunch at a Georgian restaurant in the famed restaurant street.

I don’t have a reservation but there’s no shortage of restaurants and we can just stroll along the street, look at the menus and decide which one we want to eat at. As we walk around the Old Town, I will tell you more about the historical significance of Karavan Sarais (trading places on the Great Silk Road) and the role of Armenian and Jewish communities in the history of Tbilisi.

13:00 – return to Euromaidan square for the cable car ride to the Mother Georgia monument

We’ll walk the Peace Bridge, one of President Saakashvili’s legacy structures, and enjoy the Reke park to the cable car station. Here, you’ll have an opportunity to capture breathtaking views of Tbilisi from above, to appreciate its size and vistas and see how many churches the city has, including the largest one – the newly built Trinity Cathedral.

14:00 – catch a bus to the History of Georgia Museum

You will have a chance to learn about the Dmanisi discovery of the first Europeans that caused a revolution in anthropology and biology and re-evaluation of theories of where we come from. There are other cool artefacts at the museum about the history of Georgia and the region, and my favorite is the collection of coins that shows that Georgia indeed was on the crossroads of many trade routes at all times of known human history.

16:00 – take a walk to the National Gallery of Fine Arts for the Pirosmani exhibit

I wrote about Pirosmani, the best-known Georgian artist in the world, here. The National Gallery houses the biggest collection of his works and only recently reopened (in May 2026) after the major overhaul of the museum’s AC system to keep Pirosmanis, most of which were painted on vulnerable oilcloth, from the humidity and heat damage.

18:00 – stroll along the Rustaveli Ave. toward the Philarmonic and Amirani Movie Theater

Rustaveli Ave., named after the most famous Georgian medieval poet, author of the Knight in the Panther Skin epic, houses a lot of culturally and politically significant buildings, including the Georgian Parliament, Opera and Ballet Theater, and several museums. I will tell you about them as we pass them on our way. We will stop for an ice cream at Luca Polare across from the Rustaveli Metro Station and his monument. Luca Polare, which I know sounds Italian, is a local Georgian ice cream brand that will take you by surprise. Honestly, some of the best ice creams I’ve had in my life, and I’ve had a lot. My absolute favorite is Black Currant, but there are many more delicious varieties.

I will also show you the Amirani Theater, the oldest cinema theater in town (opened in 1915 at another location on Rustaveli Ave), that hosts the annual International Film Festival in December. We won’t have time to watch a movie, but we can walk inside for you to get the feel of the theater.

20:00 – taxi ride to Ethnography Restaurant for dinner with the Georgian song and dance

You will have a chance to experience a real Georgian supra – a never-ending feast with the abundant spreads of various appetizers, main dishes, and excellent table wine. You will have to be strategic about it as you will see a lot of incredibly delicious food in front of you but if you stuff yourself with what is already set out you will not be able to enjoy the main meat and fish dishes that are presented later in stages. In between eating and drinking, we will enjoy the traditional Georgian polyphonic singing and dancing performed on the restaurant stage. We will dance when the performers are on breaks. We will leave at about midnight, and you will see that this is the time when Georgian patrons of the restaurant have just warmed up enough to dance and sing even more. But we have one more place to go to.

Midnight – we catch a taxi to the SKENE bar to experience the Tbilisi artsy night life

SKENE is a hot new place in town, an underground bar in the tunnels that were discovered in archeological digging only about 15 years ago. The tunnels used to be a part of the Karavan Sarai structures on the Great Silk Road where travelers and tradespeople stayed for the night and enjoyed all sorts of transactions and negotiations. SKENE doubles up as a performance venue connected to an exhibition space and a wine museum with real ancient wine-making artefacts from the private collection. So you’ll learn about the history of wine-making as well. You will be blown away by the entire experience as there is a “mystery performer” at SKENE scheduled for 1 am. I don’t know what it’s going to be, but it is usually someone of enormous talent. I wrote about a performance I attended earlier at SKENE here.

We can stay there for as long as you want but we will have to head out around 3 am to get to my home, pick up your things and go back to the airport for your next flight.

I know it’s a lot and you will be exhausted and completely worn out when you get to your plane seat. But you will never regret it. I promise you it will be one of the most memorable 24 hours in your life.