Quick answer
With three days: walk the Old Town from Meidan to the Bridge of Peace (free, or the tip-based tour from Freedom Square at 12:00), book a private sulfur bath for the evening (from 130 GEL a room, about $50), see Sameba cathedral at sunset, spend a morning at the Dezerter Bazaar and the Dry Bridge market, give the Georgian National Museum two hours (40 GEL, closed Mondays), and drink a glass in a Sololaki wine bar (from 6 GEL). Ride the 2.50 GEL cable car to the ridge for the view; Narikala fortress itself is closed for restoration. Add a half day in Mtskheta (2 GEL by van) and, with a fourth day, Kazbegi or Kakheti.
- Days needed
- 3 to 4
- Metro or bus ride
- 1 GEL
- Museums closed
- Mondays
- Best months
- May, Sep, Oct
A few things changed in 2026 that most lists have not caught up with. Museum tickets rose again: the National Museum is 40 GEL (about $15) in 2026. The Mtatsminda funicular is 12 GEL each way and takes only the park's own card. Narikala fortress has been fenced off for restoration since late 2023 with no reopening date. And the National Gallery reopened in spring 2026 after a long closure. Everything below reflects that. Museum prices and hours are from wander-lush.org's Tbilisi museums guide of 12 May 2026; the rest is mirrored from our own verified Tbilisi guides, each linked, or checked on the operator's site on 23 September 2026.
The Old Town and the ridge
1. Walk the Old Town
Start at Meidan Square at about 09:00, before the tour groups, and wander up through the bath domes, into the Leghvtakhevi gorge, then back through Sioni, Shardeni Street and the lanes of Betlemi to the Bridge of Peace. Duck into courtyards; most are open and lived in. Our Old Town walking tour has the route stop by stop and costs under 10 GEL for the walk itself. If you would rather follow a guide, a free tip-based tour leaves Freedom Square daily at 12:00.
2. Take a private sulfur bath
The city's name comes from its warm springs, and the Abanotubani baths are the thing to do on your first evening. Book a private room: they are priced per room per hour, not per person, and start at 130 GEL (about $50) at Chreli Abano or 150 GEL at Gulo's and the Royal Bath House. Book two hours rather than one, and add a kisa scrub for 15 to 30 GEL in cash. The public baths at Bath No. 5 are 6 to 10 GEL a person, gender-segregated and naked. Most bathhouses open around 08:00 or 09:00 and close at 23:00. Our sulfur baths guide compares every bathhouse.
3. Ride the cable car to the ridge
The cable car from Rike Park floats over the river to the ridge beside Narikala for 2.50 GEL a ride with a Metromoney card. The fortress itself is closed for restoration, fenced off since late 2023 with no reopening date, but the ridge beside it is open and is still the best free view in Tbilisi: the bath domes, the river, Metekhi church on its cliff and Sameba across the water. Walk on along it to the Mother of Georgia statue. Go at sunset, and walk down through the Old Town afterwards.
4. The botanical garden
Below the ridge on its far side, the National Botanical Garden fills 161 hectares of a wooded gorge; travellers described royal gardens here as early as 1671. Entry is 4 GEL, and 45 to 90 minutes there is the best way to break up the Old Town walk on a hot day.
5. Anchiskhati and the leaning clock tower
Anchiskhati is a small stone basilica in a quiet yard and the oldest surviving church in Tbilisi, from the sixth century; 10 to 15 minutes is enough, longer if a service is on and the choir is singing. A few steps away, Rezo Gabriadze's leaning clock tower puts on a short puppet show at 12:00 and 19:00, and the marionette theatre next to it plays most evenings in a hall of under a hundred seats, in Georgian with the visuals doing the work.
Sameba and the churches
6. Sameba cathedral at sunset
Sameba, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, is the main cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church, built between 1995 and 2004 on the hill above Avlabari. It is the third-tallest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the world, and it looks it from anywhere in the city. Walk up from Avlabari metro, go in the late afternoon and stay until the lights come on. Dress for a church: shoulders and knees covered, women with a headscarf; there are loan scarves and wrap skirts at the entrance, and photography is not allowed inside. It is also where the city goes for the midnight Easter service. Our church etiquette guide has the rest.
7. Hear polyphonic singing at a service
Georgian polyphonic singing is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, and the easiest place to hear it is the Sunday liturgy at Anchiskhati or Sameba, from about 10:00. It costs nothing; stand at the back, dress for church and leave quietly. For a staged version, several restaurants put on folk singing and dancing with dinner; our guide to hearing polyphony in Tbilisi lists the churches, the dinner shows and the concert dates with times and prices.
Museums
Almost every museum in Tbilisi is closed on Mondays and on public holidays. If you will see two or more of the big ones, the five-museum day pass sold at the National Museum is 50 GEL.
8. Georgian National Museum
The big one, at 3 Rustaveli Avenue. Go for two things: the Archaeological Treasury in the basement, gold jewellery and ornaments from ancient Colchis and the Trialeti culture, and the Soviet Occupation Exhibition Hall on the top floor, which runs from 1918 to 1991 and is the best short introduction to the country's 20th century. Look for the Neolithic clay vessel decorated with grape clusters on the second level, the find behind Georgia's claim to the world's oldest wine. Give it 90 minutes to two hours. Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, last tickets 17:30, 40 GEL.
9. The National Gallery
At 11 Rustaveli Avenue, reopened in spring 2026 after an extended closure, and the place to see Niko Pirosmani, Georgia's national painter. Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, 25 GEL. It pairs naturally with the National Museum a few doors down.
10. The Open Air Museum of Ethnography and Turtle Lake
On the wooded hill above Vake, a museum of traditional houses brought from every region of Georgia, founded in 1966, with a narrator in each open house. Only three to five houses are open at a time, so it is an afternoon out rather than a deep dive. Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, 20 GEL. Get there on the old Soviet cable car from the edge of Vake Park to Turtle Lake, 1 GEL with a Metromoney or bank card, and eat at Rachis Ubani near the top. The lake itself is a small city lake for a walk or a hot-day swim, not a destination.
Markets, food and wine
11. The Dezerter Bazaar
By Station Square, the city's main food market: herbs, spices, cheese, churchkhela, meat and the back halls where the city actually shops. Daily 07:00 to 17:00, best before noon, cash only, and do not bargain over vegetables. Our markets guide maps it.
12. The Dry Bridge market
Soviet medals, old cameras, vinyl, paintings and brass of unclear purpose, laid out on tables and blankets around the Dry Bridge. Daily 10:00 to 17:00, with the full market at weekends from about 11:00. Bargain: this is the one place in Tbilisi where it is expected. Bazari Orbeliani, a polished food hall with a rooftop, is the easy alternative for lunch.
13. Eat khinkali where locals do
Skip the restaurants with a man outside waving a menu. For khinkali, go to Amo Rame or Klike's Khinkali in Sololaki, where they cost 1.50 to 3 GEL a piece; order by the piece, hold one by the knot, bite, drink the broth, eat, and leave the knot on the plate. A mid-range dinner for two with bread and drinks runs 60 to 80 GEL. Our restaurant guide has the canteens, the regional kitchens and the splurges.
14. A glass of qvevri wine
Tbilisi's wine bars are the easiest way to taste the amber wines made in clay qvevri. Vino Underground on Galaktion Tabidze Street in Sololaki was the first bar in the city to pour only low-intervention wine and does a four-wine tasting. 8000 Vintages, at Tabukashvili Street 27 off Rustaveli and three more branches, has the biggest range, glasses from 6 GEL and guided tastings daily from 13:00 to 18:00 if booked ahead. Try at least one amber wine: tannic, dry and nothing like a European white. Our wine bar guide has twelve more.
15. Breakfast and coffee in Vera or Sololaki
Tbilisi's cafe culture is one of the pleasures of a slow morning: specialty coffee, big Georgian breakfasts and terraces under the plane trees. Our breakfast guide and coffee guide list the places by street, with prices.
Neighbourhoods to walk
16. Sololaki
The residential district climbing the hill behind Freedom Square: Art Nouveau entrance halls, painted stairwells, courtyards, and some of the best wine bars and khinkali houses in the city. Wander without a plan; it is quieter than the Old Town and just as old.
17. Vera
Leafy and hilly between Rustaveli and Vake, with cafes, galleries and small wine bars on streets like Kostava and Petriashvili. The best neighbourhood for an unhurried afternoon of coffee and nothing much.
18. Marjanishvili, Aghmashenebeli and Fabrika
Across the river, Aghmashenebeli Avenue is a long 19th-century boulevard of restored facades and restaurants that fills up in the evening. Round the corner, Fabrika, the converted Soviet sewing factory at 8 Ninoshvili Street, is a hostel, bars, coworking and a courtyard full of murals and people every night. The side streets around it carry the city's densest street art.
19. Rustaveli Avenue
The city's grand avenue from Freedom Square to Rustaveli metro: the National Museum and Gallery, the Opera, the old parliament building and the Kashveti church. Walk it once, on a Sunday morning if you can, and then use it as the spine that ties the museums together.
Views and evenings
20. Mtatsminda by funicular
The funicular climbs from the Sololaki side of the city to Mtatsminda Park on the ridge above it, with a Ferris wheel on the edge, rides for children and the widest view of Tbilisi. It is 12 GEL each way and takes only the Mtatsminda Park Card, sold for 2 GEL at the stations; your Metromoney or bank card will not work. Go at dusk and ride down after dark. Our public transport guide sorts out which card works where.
21. A night at the Opera
The Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theatre on Rustaveli has sat in its neo-Moorish building since 1896 and reopened after a six-year restoration in 2016. The season runs through the autumn: Raymonda from 25 to 27 September and Don Quixote from 2 to 4 October 2026, with tickets from 20 GEL (about $8) on tkt.ge when we checked on 23 September. Dress up a little; the building deserves it.
22. A night out
Bars get busy late and the city stays up late. Wine bars cluster in Sololaki and Vera, and the younger crowd gathers in Marjanishvili around Fabrika. Our nightlife guide sorts them by mood.
Out of the city
Three day trips are worth fitting into any Tbilisi stay; fares are mirrored from our day trips guide, checked in September 2026.
23. Mtskheta
The old capital, with Svetitskhoveli cathedral in town and Jvari monastery on the hill above the river junction. A van from Didube is 2 GEL and takes about 30 minutes; a GoTrip driver is 81 GEL per car with stops. Half a day.
24. Kazbegi and the Military Highway
Up the Georgian Military Highway past Ananuri and the Jvari Pass to Gergeti Trinity Church under Mount Kazbek. The van is 20 GEL and 3 to 3.5 hours each way, so it is better as an overnight; a GoTrip driver is 210 GEL per car, or a group tour (below). Our Kazbegi guide has the rest.
25. Kakheti and Sighnaghi
The wine region: cellars, qvevri, and the walled hill town of Sighnaghi over the Alazani valley. The van from Samgori is 15 GEL, but wine and driving do not mix, so this is the one day trip where a tour with tastings makes most sense.
What we would skip
- The tout restaurants on Shardeni Street. English menus, a man outside and prices to match. Walk one block into Sololaki.
- Planning a visit inside Narikala. It is closed. Go to the ridge beside it for the same view.
- The Chronicles of Georgia by day without a car. Zurab Tsereteli's 16 bronze-clad pillars, 30 to 35 m tall, stand on a hill above the Tbilisi Sea, never fully finished since 1985. They are worth it at sunset with a Bolt there and back, and not worth two buses at midday.
- A museum on a Monday. Nearly all of them are shut.
What it costs
Tbilisi sights and rides, September 2026
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Metro, bus or Turtle Lake cable car | 1 GEL | About 1.50 on a foreign bank card; Metromoney card 2 GEL, refundable |
| Rike Park to Narikala cable car | 2.50 GEL | Metromoney card |
| Mtatsminda funicular | 12 GEL | Each way; park card only |
| Private sulfur bath room | from 130 GEL | Per room per hour; scrub 15 to 30 extra |
| Georgian National Museum | 40 GEL | Closed Mondays; five-museum pass 50 |
| National Gallery | 25 GEL | Pirosmani; closed Mondays |
| Open Air Museum of Ethnography | 20 GEL | Closed Mondays |
| Botanical garden | 4 GEL | Below the ridge |
| Opera or ballet ticket | from 20 GEL | On tkt.ge |
| Glass of wine in a wine bar | from 6 GEL | At 8000 Vintages |
Prices checked September 2026. Ranges reflect season and operator.
Three full days of sights with one bath, two museums, the cable cars and the opera come to roughly 150 GEL a person plus a 65 GEL share of a bath room, before food and drink. The trip budget calculator adds the rest.
How many days to give it
- Two days: the Old Town and ridge, a bath, Sameba, one museum, one good dinner. The minimum.
- Three or four days: add the markets, Sololaki and Vera, Mtatsminda, the opera and Mtskheta. This is where most people are happy.
- A week: add Kazbegi and Kakheti, Fabrika and the left bank, and time to find a cafe you go back to.
Our first-time guide covers the airport, money and where to stay, and the where to stay guide compares the neighbourhoods with prices.
Frequently asked questions
What is the number one thing to do in Tbilisi?
Is Narikala fortress open?
How much is the Georgian National Museum?
How many days do you need in Tbilisi?
What can you do in Tbilisi on a Monday?
How much does the Mtatsminda funicular cost?
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