Tbilisi

Visitors come for an old town of carved wooden balconies, churches and bath domes beneath the walls of Narikala Fortress, for 19th-century avenues and modern landmarks, and for a food and wine culture that is a large part of any trip to Georgia. The Greater Caucasus, the wine country of Kakheti and the ancient capital of Mtskheta are all within day-trip range. Tbilisi suits couples, food lovers, walkers and travellers on a longer journey through the Caucasus. Vacation rentals are mostly apartments, from flats in restored 19th-century houses in Sololaki and the Old Town to modern homes in Vake and Saburtalo.

Where to stay in Tbilisi

The Old Town, on the right bank below Narikala, puts the sulphur baths, Sioni Cathedral and the Bridge of Peace within a few minutes' walk. Its lanes are steep and lively in the evenings, and many apartments sit in old houses with balconies over courtyards. Sololaki, just to the west on the slopes of Mount Mtatsminda, is one of the oldest neighbourhoods, built up mainly in the 19th century, with grand but often faded townhouses close to Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue.

Across the river, Avlabari is a historic left-bank quarter that has become one of the city's fast-changing, fashionable areas, a short walk across the river from the Old Town. Vake, in the south-west, is a leafy residential district around Vake Park and Chavchavadze Avenue, a calmer choice for families and longer stays, with Saburtalo beyond it. Wherever you stay, expect hills: Tbilisi rises from about 380 m to 770 m above sea level, so check how steep the walk to your door is.

Old Town, Narikala and the sulphur baths

Narikala Fortress crowns the ridge above the river. Its earliest written records date from the 4th century, and it was enlarged many times, including under King David the Builder. A gondola has linked it with Rike Park on the left bank since 2012, and the National Botanical Garden of Georgia lies in the gorge behind it. Below the walls, Abanotubani, the bath district, is where legend says Vakhtang Gorgasali's falcon fell into a hot spring and led him to found the city; brick domes still cover the sulphur bathhouses.

Nearby, Sioni Cathedral was first built in the 6th and 7th centuries and has been rebuilt several times, and Anchiskhati Basilica dates from the 6th century. The Metekhi Church stands on a cliff above the river, as if growing from the rock. The Bridge of Peace, a 150 m pedestrian bridge of steel and glass opened in 2010, joins the Old Town to Rike Park. Most of the pre-19th-century city was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 1795, so much of what you see is 19th-century.

Rustaveli Avenue, Mtatsminda and the modern city

Rustaveli Avenue runs for about 1.5 km from Freedom Square and is the city's main boulevard, laid out in the 1840s. Along it stand the Parliament of Georgia, the Georgian National Opera Theatre, the Rustaveli Theatre, the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts and the Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia, part of the Georgian National Museum.

Above the city, a funicular first built in 1905 and reopened in 2012 climbs almost 300 m to Mtatsminda Park, with a halfway station near the Mtatsminda Pantheon, where many of Georgia's writers and public figures are buried. On the left bank, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, or Sameba, built between 1995 and 2004, is the main cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church. In Vake, an aerial tramway rebuilt in 2016 runs from Vake Park up to Turtle Lake. The city's architecture mixes medieval churches, neoclassical and Art Nouveau facades, Soviet buildings and new glass landmarks, which makes simply walking between districts one of the pleasures of a visit.

History, food and wine

Tbilisi lay on routes between Europe and Asia and was fought over by Persians, Byzantines, Arabs and Seljuks; Arab armies set up an emirate here in the 8th century. King David IV took the city in 1122 and made it the capital of a united Georgia, the start of a medieval golden age. After centuries of invasions, Russia annexed the kingdom in 1801, and the city, then known internationally as Tiflis, became the seat of imperial rule in the Caucasus. It was the capital of Soviet Georgia until 1991 and has been the capital of independent Georgia since.

Georgian cooking is a highlight. Try khachapuri, bread filled with cheese, and khinkali, dumplings whose meat filling keeps its juices inside. A traditional supra, or feast, is led by a tamada, a toastmaster. In 2013 UNESCO added Georgia's method of making wine in kvevri, large clay vessels buried in the ground, to its list of intangible cultural heritage; the national tourism administration traces winemaking here back some 8,000 years.

Day trips from Tbilisi

Mtskheta, about 20 km north of Tbilisi where the Aragvi meets the Kura, was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Iberia; its historical monuments have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral was completed between 1010 and 1029, and Jvari Monastery looks down on the town from a rocky hilltop.

The Georgian Military Road runs north from Tbilisi over the Jvari Pass, which reaches 2,379 m, to Stepantsminda, about 157 km away at 1,740 m in the Greater Caucasus. Above the town, Gergeti Trinity Church stands at 2,170 m beneath Mount Kazbek. To the east, Kakheti is one of Georgia's main wine regions, and the hill town of Sighnaghi, about 113 km from the city, overlooks the Alazani Valley from within 18th-century walls. South-east of Tbilisi, the rock-hewn monasteries of David Gareji, founded in the 6th century, lie some 60 to 70 km away on semi-desert slopes, and Uplistsikhe, a cave town about 10 km east of Gori, dates back to the Early Iron Age.

Getting there and around

Tbilisi International Airport (TBS), named after the poet Shota Rustaveli, lies about 17 km south-east of the city and is Georgia's main gateway. Tbilisi Central Railway Station has trains to Batumi, Kutaisi and other cities.

The metro, opened in 1966, has two lines and 23 stations, many of them very deep, and links the centre with districts on both banks. Buses, minibuses, cable cars and the funicular fill the gaps, and taxis are easy to find. The Old Town and Sololaki are best explored on foot, though streets are steep and some are cobbled, so comfortable shoes help.

For day trips, a rental car, a hired driver or an organised tour all work; traffic drives on the right. Mountain roads such as the Georgian Military Road can be affected by snow in winter, so check conditions before setting out. Entry rules depend on your passport, so check official sources before you travel, and read your government's advice about the boundary lines with Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Weather and when to visit

Tbilisi has a humid subtropical climate with continental influences: hot, fairly humid summers and moderately cold, dry winters. July averages about 25°C, with afternoon highs often around 30°C and reaching 32°C or more on about 22 days a year, while January averages about 3°C and snow falls on 15 to 25 days. May is usually the wettest month and January the driest.

Late spring, from about April to June, and early autumn, in September and October, are pleasant times for walking the hilly streets and for trips into the mountains; autumn is also the grape harvest in the wine regions. Summer is hot in the city, but it is the best season for high-mountain trips such as Stepantsminda. Winter is quieter in Tbilisi and brings ski season to the Greater Caucasus. Georgia is a mainly Orthodox Christian country, and modest dress is respected in churches; follow any instructions at the door and check current official advice before you go.