This is your destination guide for Georgia.
This is your destination guide for Tbilisi and Mtskheta
📍 Part of GeorgiaSulphur baths under a fortress, wine bars in Soviet factories, and a 1,500-year-old church half an hour up the road.
The reality: It's late afternoon in Abanotubani. You've just come out of an hour in a private sulphur bath under a brick dome, skin still warm, and you're walking up the alley by the waterfall towards Narikala. Above you, wooden balconies hang off the old houses. Below you, the river cuts through the city in a gorge.
Tbilisi is often sold as the cheap, wild new capital of the Caucasus. It's more interesting than that: a city of Persian-style baths, Orthodox churches, Art Nouveau mansions and Soviet blocks, all on top of each other. It's also a capital in a tense political period, so read your government's travel advice before you go.
Mtskheta, 30 minutes north, is where Georgia became Christian. Do the city slowly, eat at least one long dinner, and give Mtskheta a morning.
Baths, a fortress and balconies hanging off the hill.
Abanotubani — Tbilisi means "warm place", and the city grew up around the hot springs that still feed these sulphur baths. The brick domes in the ground are the bathhouses. Book a private room for an hour, with a hot pool, a cold pool and, if you ask, a rough scrub from an attendant. The blue-tiled Orbeliani bath is the one in all the photos.
Narikala — walk up behind the baths through the gorge to the waterfall, then climb to the fortress. From the walls you see the whole city and the aluminium Mother of Georgia, holding a sword for enemies and a bowl of wine for friends.
Rike Park — take the cable car down from Narikala and cross the glass Bridge of Peace back to the old town.
Sololaki and Kala — crumbling Art Nouveau mansions, painted entrance halls and courtyards with wooden balconies and washing lines.
The ancient capital, and the view everyone photographs.
Mtskheta — Georgia's capital for almost a thousand years, and where the kingdom became Christian in the 4th century. Today it's a small town where two rivers meet, and the whole town is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral — 11th century, inside a fortress wall in the middle of town. Georgians believe Christ's robe is buried under it. Look for the faded frescoes and the small stone chapel inside.
Jvari Monastery — a 6th-century church alone on a rock above the meeting of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers. Go at sunset, then have dinner back in Mtskheta, where the restaurants by the cathedral are better than you'd expect.
Walk the hills, sit in a factory, and get out for a day.
A long table, a toastmaster and too much food.
Supra — a Georgian feast with a tamada, a toastmaster who leads the table through toast after toast. You'll get one if you're invited to someone's home. Otherwise book a big table and order too much.
Pkhali and badrijani — balls of spinach or beetroot pounded with walnuts, and aubergine rolls with walnut paste and pomegranate.
Lobio and Imeruli khachapuri — beans in a clay pot with cornbread, and a round bread full of melted cheese. Khinkali, the big soup-filled dumplings, are on every menu too.
Polyphonic singing — at some restaurants, men sing in the evening. It's on UNESCO's list, and it's beautiful even after the fourth glass.
Spring and autumn are the best. Summer is an oven.
April to June — green and mild, 18–27°C.
July and August — hot and dry, often 32–36°C. Anyone who can leaves for the mountains.
September and October — the best months, 18–26°C, with new wine from the harvest in the bars.
Winter — grey and around 0–8°C, but the baths make sense in the cold, and hotels are cheaper.
Metro, Bolt and your own legs.
In the city — the metro has two lines and is very cheap. Pay with a Metromoney card or a bank card. Taxis are cheapest through Bolt, so don't flag cars in the street. The old town is best on foot, but it's steep.
From the airport — Bolt takes 20–30 minutes. Bus 337 goes into the centre.
To Mtskheta — marshrutkas (minibuses) leave from Didube station and take about 30 minutes. A Bolt costs not much more. For Jvari Monastery you need a taxi up the hill.
Protests — demonstrations are usually on Rustaveli Avenue and around Parliament, mostly in the evening. Check your government's travel advice before you go, and stay away from them.
Old town charm or the creative left bank.
Old Tbilisi — guesthouses with balconies, walking distance to the baths. Steep, and noisy at weekends.
Sololaki — quieter, among the old mansions, five minutes from everything.
Vera and Vake — leafy and residential, with good cafés and restaurants. A taxi to the old town.
Chughureti — younger and cheaper, with bars on your doorstep around Fabrika.
Mtskheta — a guesthouse by the cathedral, for a quiet night and Jvari Monastery at sunrise.
Find Tbilisi stays →A cheap capital, but the bath hour adds up.
Tbilisi is cheap by European standards, especially for food and transport. Old town hotels have gone up as tourism has grown, and wine bars charge European prices for the best bottles. A good dinner with wine for two still costs less than a single main course in most Western capitals.
Prices in 2026 Georgian lari. 10 GEL is about €3. Old town hotels are dearest in September and October.
Go if you want sulphur baths, long dinners, crumbling balconies and a 1,500-year-old church half an hour away. Skip if you need smooth pavements, polite traffic or a capital without politics in the air. Three nights, with Mtskheta as a morning trip.
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