When to go to Tbilisi?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: May to June and September to October
At a glance
Why go to Tbilisi?
Tbilisi was born of a hot spring. Legend has it that King Vakhtang Gorgasali, in the 5th century, wounded a pheasant while hunting and found it scalded in water rising from the ground: he decided to build his capital there and named it after the word tbili, warm. The sulphur baths of the Abanotubani district still deliver water at 38-40°C without any heating, beneath sunken brick domes. Few cities keep such a direct link between their name, their geology and their founding.
The city has been destroyed and rebuilt some thirty times, at the crossroads of the Persian, Ottoman and Russian empires. The last sack, by the Persians in 1795, left almost nothing standing. What strikes you today is the layering: 19th-century houses with wooden balconies teetering over the lanes, Art Nouveau buildings from the Russian period, Soviet blocks, a cathedral from 2004 and a glass footbridge from 2010. All of it in a narrow gorge where the Kura turns at a right angle.
Then there is the food and drink, one of the real reasons to come. Georgia has been making wine for eight thousand years, in buried clay amphorae called qvevri, a technique added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013. Khinkali, khachapuri and the supra, the feast paced by a tamada who leads the toasts, shape social life. Add prices among the lowest in Europe.
Map of Tbilisi: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Abanotubani Baths
- Narikala Fortress
- Old Town
- Bridge of Peace
- Holy Trinity Cathedral
- Mount Mtatsminda
How much does a trip to Tbilisi cost?
Georgia is one of the cheapest destinations in Europe. A full meal with wine costs €12 to €20, a ride-hailing trip €3, and most major sights are free. Only the sulphur baths and the top-end hotels push the bill up.
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €30-45/day | Hostel or shared flat, khinkali and khachapuri, metro, free sights and one session at the baths |
| Comfort | €70-110/day | Central hotel, supra in the evening, ride-hailing, private cabin at the baths and a trip to Mtskheta |
| Premium | €220+/day | Boutique hotel in a converted building, chef's tables, driver for the day and tastings in Kakheti |
The lari trades at around 3 to €1. Cash machines are everywhere and accept foreign cards, with fees of €2 to €4 per withdrawal depending on the bank. Cards are accepted in hotels, restaurants and most shops, but markets, marshrutkas and some baths take cash only. Exchange offices in the centre offer rates very close to one another.
Is Tbilisi safe?
Tbilisi is a safe city, with a very low crime rate and a police reform carried out in the 2000s that wiped out everyday corruption. You can walk alone at night without trouble, the old town included. The things to watch are elsewhere. Traffic first: local driving is fast and pedestrian crossings are little respected, so cross at the lights. The pavements in the old town are broken and many wooden balconies are propped up, so stay alert when looking up. Politically, demonstrations are regularly held on Rustaveli Avenue and in front of Parliament, sometimes tense: do not take part, and steer clear of the area on those days. Since January 2026, travel health insurance has been compulsory on entry to the country, to be taken out before departure and shown on request. Finally, tap water is drinkable in Tbilisi, which is still rare in the region.
What to see and do in Tbilisi
- Abanotubani sulphur baths
- Narikala Fortress
- Old town and Shardeni Street
- Legvtakhevi canyon
- Bridge of Peace
- Holy Trinity Cathedral
- Dry Bridge Market
- Mount Mtatsminda and its funicular
Abanotubani sulphur baths
The district where the city began, with a dozen bathhouses sunk beneath brick domes that rise just above street level. The sulphurous water emerges at 38 to 40°C without being heated. Pushkin bathed here in 1829 and judged them superior to anything he knew; Dumas wrote about them twenty years later. The facade of the Orbeliani, in blue tiles with Persian patterns, is the only one visible from outside. Private cabins are rented by the hour.
Narikala Fortress
A citadel on the ridge above the old town, whose first walls date from the 4th century, extended in the 8th by the Arab emirs and later by the Mongols. A gunpowder explosion in 1827 destroyed part of the ramparts and St Nicholas Church, rebuilt as an exact replica in 1997. The cable car from Rike Park gets up there in three minutes for less than a euro. From the walls you take in the whole city at once, from the Kura to the mountains that close it in.
Old town and Legvtakhevi canyon
Below Narikala lies a tangle of steep lanes and houses with wooden balconies, often leaning and sometimes propped up. An Orthodox church, a mosque, a synagogue and a Zoroastrian fire temple fit within a few hundred metres. Behind the baths, the Legvtakhevi gorge, cleaned up and landscaped in 2012, runs for two hundred metres to a waterfall of some twenty metres, right in the city centre, its roar drowning out the traffic.
Bridge of Peace and Rike Park
A 150-metre pedestrian bridge thrown across the Kura in 2010, designed by the Italian Michele De Lucchi, made in Italy and then assembled on site. Its curved glass canopy holds 30,000 LEDs which, every evening, spell out in Morse code the symbols of the chemical elements in the human body. On the left bank, Rike Park is home to the lower station of the Narikala cable car and two unfinished steel tubes meant to be a concert hall, left as they are since 2012.
Holy Trinity Cathedral
Built from 1995 to 2004 on Elia Hill to mark the end of the Soviet era and 1,500 years of autocephaly of the Georgian Church. At 87 metres to the top of the cross, it is the tallest Orthodox building in the region and one of the largest in the world. The gold on the dome came from a public collection. The interior, very plain for its size, contrasts with the country's medieval churches. The sung service at the end of the day lets you hear Georgian three-part polyphony.
Mount Mtatsminda and the Pantheon
The holy mountain rises 770 metres above the city and is climbed by a funicular from 1905, brought back into service in 2012. Halfway up, the Pantheon gathers the graves of Georgian writers and public figures, including that of the Russian playwright Griboyedov and his wife Nino Chavchavadze, married at fifteen and widowed a few months later. At the top, an amusement park and a 65-metre Ferris wheel overlook the valley. You watch the sunset head-on, over the whole city.
How many days, and which itinerary?
Three full days cover the city, the baths and the hills. A week lets you add Mtskheta and its listed churches twenty minutes away, the wine region of Kakheti two hours to the east, and two nights in Kazbegi facing Mount Kazbek, at 5,033 metres.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Tbilisi guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of Georgia
Long weekend (3 days)
Day 1: the old town on foot, Betlemi Street and its stairways, cable car to Narikala, down through the botanical garden, Legvtakhevi canyon and then the sulphur baths at the end of the day. Day 2: Dry Bridge Market in the morning, the Georgian National Museum and its treasury of Colchian goldwork, Rustaveli Avenue, the Mtatsminda funicular at sunset. Day 3: Holy Trinity Cathedral, the Marjanishvili district and a supra in the evening.
Tbilisi and Kakheti (5 days)
The three-day core, plus a trip to Mtskheta, the former capital twenty minutes away, for Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and Jvari Monastery, both World Heritage Sites. Then two days in Kakheti: Sighnaghi and its ramparts facing the Caucasus range, the wine cellars of Telavi and Kvareli where wine still ferments in buried amphorae, and the cave monastery of David Gareja, on the Azerbaijani border.
Georgia loop (2 weeks)
Three days in Tbilisi to start, two days in wine country in Kakheti, then the Georgian Military Road to Kazbegi and Gergeti church, at 2,170 metres facing Kazbek. Back down to Gori and the cave town of Uplistsikhe, Kutaisi and the Prometheus Caves, then four days in Svaneti at Mestia and Ushguli, the highest inhabited village in Europe at 2,100 metres, with its medieval stone towers. Return via the coast at Batumi.
Getting there and getting around
Tbilisi airport is 17 km east of the centre. Bus 337 reaches Freedom Square in 40 minutes for about €0.50, with a departure every half hour from 7am to 23:00. A taxi booked through an app costs €8 to €12; the airport train now runs only two services a day.
The metro has two lines and runs from 6am to midnight, at 1 lari a journey, or about €0.35, with the rechargeable Metromoney card that also works on buses. The stations are deep, a Soviet legacy, with escalator rides of more than a minute.
Ride-hailing apps dominate getting around: allow €2 to €5 a ride in town, which makes taking a taxi almost the default. Avoid the cars waiting outside tourist sights, as they charge fares out of all proportion to the meter.
To leave the city, marshrutkas, shared minibuses, depart from Didube and Ortachala stations for the whole country: Mtskheta in 20 minutes, Sighnaghi in 2 hours, Kazbegi in 3 hours. Allow €2 to €8 a seat, no booking, leaving when the vehicle is full.
Where to stay in Tbilisi?
Hostels and guesthouses in the old town and Marjanishvili: €20 to €45 a night. Several occupy 19th-century buildings with an inner courtyard and wooden staircase, or converted Soviet factories with a courtyard, bars and workshops.
Rental flats in the 1900s buildings of Vera and Sololaki: €40 to €70 for two, high ceilings, mouldings and sometimes an original stained-glass window in the stairwell. The best balance of comfort and location for a stay of four nights or more.
Mid-range hotels around Rustaveli Avenue and Freedom Square: €70 to €120, new or renovated buildings, decent breakfast and, in some, a view over the city. Beware of traffic noise on Rustaveli and ask for a room at the back.
Top end: a handful of addresses set in converted industrial or administrative buildings, between €180 and €280, with a rooftop pool and a serious restaurant. Prices stay low for the standard compared with Western Europe.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Tbilisi?
Khinkali, large pleated dumplings filled with minced meat and broth, are held by their knot of dough, bitten open to drink the juice, then eaten with the knot left on the plate. Allow €0.50 to €1 apiece, five to seven per person.
Khachapuri varies by region: the Imeretian version is a cheese-filled flatbread, the Adjarian a boat of dough filled with melted cheese, with a raw egg and butter added at the table. Allow €3 to €7 a portion, plenty for two as a starter.
The supra is the codified Georgian feast, where a tamada proposes toast after toast to the homeland, to absent friends, to the children, setting the pace of the evening. The dishes all arrive at once and literally pile up: allow €15 to €25 per person with wine.
Wine has been made here for eight thousand years, in buried clay amphorae called qvevri, a method added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013. Skin-contact whites, amber and tannic, are the speciality. Allow €5 to €12 a bottle at a wine shop.
Entry requirements
Visa-free for up to one year for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens (EU citizens can enter with an ID card). Since 1 January 2026 every visitor must also hold health and accident insurance of at least 30,000 lari covering the whole stay.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Tbilisi
When is the best time to visit Tbilisi?
May and June, then September and October: 22 to 28°C, clear skies and terraces open. July and August often top 33°C in the Kura basin, without a breath of wind, which makes the climbs up to Narikala and Mtatsminda hard going. Winter stays mild at around 7°C, with little snow in the city and much lower prices.
What happens at a session in the sulphur baths?
You rent a private cabin by the hour, for €15 to €40 depending on the bathhouse and the level of comfort, with a pool of sulphurous water at 38-40°C, a shower and sometimes a steam room. Swimwear is optional in a private cabin, and a towel is usually provided. The scrub with a coarse mitt, the kisa, costs extra, around €8, and is booked on arrival.
How many days do you need in Tbilisi?
Three full days for the city, the baths, the hills and a supra. Two more days open up Mtskheta, the former capital twenty minutes away with two World Heritage Sites, and the wine region of Kakheti two hours to the east. A full week lets you add Kazbegi and Gergeti church, facing a 5,033-metre peak.
Is English or French spoken in Georgia?
English is common among the under-thirty-fives, in hotels, restaurants and ride-hailing cars. Russian is still widespread among older generations, but using it is sometimes frowned upon. French is rare. The Georgian alphabet, unique in the world and unrelated to Latin or Cyrillic, makes finding your way difficult outside the tourist areas.
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