Tbilisi Itinerary: A 5-Day Sample Plan and How to Build Your Trip

Quick answer: Five days in and around Tbilisi: the Old Town and sulfur baths, Rustaveli museums to Fabrika wine bars, a UNESCO day in Mtskheta, the Military Highway to Gergeti Trinity Church under Mt Kazbek, and a bazaar-to-Mtatsminda farewell.

Day 1 — Old Town & Sulfur Baths

Start across the river at Metekhi Church for the postcard view, then ride the cable car from Rike Park (a couple of lari) up to Narikala Fortress and walk the ridge below the Mother of Georgia statue. Drop into the Old Town’s Betlemi quarter — carved wooden balconies leaning at impossible angles — and pass the famous leaning clock tower by the puppet theater. Toward evening, do the most Tbilisi thing possible: a private room at the Abanotubani sulfur baths (roughly 100–200 GEL an hour, about $35–70, for a room plus an optional kisa scrub-down). Then khinkali for dinner — the soup dumplings cost about a lari or two each; twist by the stem, slurp, and never eat the doughy handle.

Day 2 — Rustaveli to Fabrika

Walk Rustaveli Avenue past the opera house and parliament to the Georgian National Museum (a few dollars) — the Soviet Occupation floor and the pre-Christian gold room are both worth the time. Browse the Dry Bridge flea market for Soviet cameras, medals and grandma’s china. Cross to the left bank in the afternoon for Fabrika, a Soviet sewing factory reborn as a courtyard of studios, bars and cafes — the heart of young Tbilisi. As night falls, go deep on Georgian natural wine: the city’s bars pour amber qvevri-fermented wines by the glass for a few dollars, and 8,000 years of winemaking history makes for good conversation.

Day 3 — Mtskheta Day Trip

Take a marshrutka from Didube station (a couple of lari, ~30 minutes) to Mtskheta, Georgia’s former capital and spiritual home. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral — where Christ’s robe is said to be buried — anchors the UNESCO-listed old town, and the sixth-century Jvari Monastery on the bluff above looks down on the confluence of two rivers, one silty and one clear. Taxis run up to Jvari for a negotiated fare if you don’t fancy the walk. Back in Tbilisi by late afternoon: coffee around Vake or a stroll to Turtle Lake, then dinner of adjaruli khachapuri — the bread boat with molten cheese, butter and a barely-set egg you stir in with a fork.

Day 4 — Kazbegi & the Military Highway

Commit a full day to the Georgian Military Highway. Group day tours run roughly $25–45 (private cars about $80–100) and stop at the lake-side Ananuri fortress, the Gudauri viewpoints and finally Stepantsminda, where the Gergeti Trinity Church sits on its ridge beneath 5,047m Mount Kazbek — 4WD shuttles or a 1.5–2 hour hike take you up from town. It’s about three hours each way, so start early and bring layers; the weather turns fast at 2,000 meters. Insider move: lunch in Pasanauri, the village that claims to have invented khinkali — locals argue they’re the country’s best.

Day 5 — Bazaars & Mtatsminda

Spend the last morning at Dezerter Bazaar, the city’s great produce market — strings of churchkhela (walnut-and-grape-must candles), mountains of spice, wheels of sulguni cheese; come hungry and haggle gently. Ride the century-old funicular (a few lari) up Mtatsminda for the definitive city panorama, pausing at the Pantheon where Georgia’s writers and Stalin’s mother are buried. Come down for a farewell supra-style feast: order badrijani nigvzit (walnut-stuffed eggplant rolls), mtsvadi pork skewers and a final glass of amber wine, and let somebody play tamada — the toastmaster role Georgians take seriously. End with a slow evening loop over the glass Peace Bridge as Rike Park lights up below.