Our trip to Republic of Georgia – what to do when you have a few days in Tbilisi
Did you know that I was born and raised in Republic of Georgia? Not ‘Atlanta/peaches/fried chicken Georgia, but the other one – Georgia that was part of Soviet Union, a country by Black sea, known for its wine and hospitality. Growing up there I knew it was a beautiful place but over last few years I kept seeing Georgia popping up as a new ‘IT’ destination on many travel blogs and websites. My kids have never been there and I thought it would be pretty interesting for them to go to the place where their Mom was born and grew up – to see my old house, my old school, each delicious Georgian food and experience many things Georgia has to offer.
So in the summer of 2018 (yes I am very behind in blogging!) my sister with her husband and two kids and four of us set on a two week trip to Georgia! To say it was a wonderful trip was a major understatement – we absolutely LOVED it. Georgia is stunning (my photos don’t do it justice), Georgian food is SO GOOD (we ate SO MUCH of it), Georgian people are so hospitable – it was a trifecta of awesomeness!
We spent a few nights in Tbilisi, took a couple of day trips and then headed to explore the rest of the country. This blog post is dedicated to Tbilisi – I will write a different one covering the rest of the trip. A lot of my friends were asking me details about the trip so I put together a lot of practical info – including attractions, restaurants, etc – scroll down to see all of that.
PRACTICAL INFO
Getting There
As of now there are no direct flights between NY and Tbilisi but many there are plenty connecting flights. We ended up flying through Brussels (it is a 4 hour flight between Brussels and Tbilisi) and coming back through Prague.
Visa
US citizens don’t need a visa to travel to Georgia so going there is easy peasy!
Stay
Because there were 8 of us and we all wanted to stay together we opted for an AirBnB – got a giant house in a great neighborhood. Whenever we travel anywhere I always prefer to stay in the old town and that’s what we did in Tbilisi as well. The location of our AirB&B was absolute perfect – smack in the middle of everything with restaurants, banks, cafes and plenty of attractions right outside our door. There was a huge terrace (where we had all our meals) overlooking an old church and there was a wine cellar downstairs – can you ask for anything better than that??!
Attractions
We were on a tight schedule so did not have that much time to see everything that Tbilisi has to offer so my list of attractions is by no means a complete one.
I highly recommend meandering and getting lost in narrow cobble stone streets of old town – starting at Liberty Square and walking towards and along river Kura. You will see old churches, a masque and a synagogue, colorful balconies that Tbilisi is known for, Peace Bridge, people selling art and Georgian snacks, contemporary sculptures and so much more!
Narikala Fortress and Mother Georgia- definitely a must see. You can walk up there (it will be a pretty steep hike) or take a tram, which is what we did. The view of the city from the top is absolutely spectacular:
Funicular – you don’t want to miss this. It is a pretty steep but very cool ride up the mountain – there is a church midway through where lots of Georgian nobility and celebrities are buried.
At the top there is a big park that is fun to walk through – lots of attractions for the kids and a few nice restaurants.
Rustaveli Boulevard and Freedom Square – Freedom Square (formally known as Lenin’s Square) is a huge square surrounded by beautiful building and nice shops. This is where you can start you walk up Rustaveli’s Blvd which a great place to stroll – you will walk past old Parliament Building, Opera House, a few churches and many many beautiful 19th century building that have been restored.
Dry Bridge – a stone’s throw from Old town is Dry Bridge – a great place to browse and look for souvenirs and original works by Georgian artists. We always buy paintings there and this time around we bought THREE! I wish I could buy more but I am running out of wall space at home:)
Dezerter Bazaar – you HAVE to visit one of Tbilisi’s giant markets and Dezerter is the biggest one. You can buy anything there – the most delicious fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, seeds and nuts, oil, herbs, etc. Vendors are happy to let you try their foods before you buy them and we did a lot of tasting and buying:) Being a glutton that I am – this was one of my favorite sights of the trip:)
Restaurants
I don’t remember all the places we visited but here are some of the more memorable ones:
Old City Wall this was our favorite place – it was so good that we ate there twice. Definitely make a reservation because this restaurant gets packed. In the main room they have men singing traditional Georgian songs and while it may not sound like something you would enjoy (believe me, I get it) – you should really check it out because it was absolutely mesmerizing!
Sakhli11 – located right off Freedom Square this place was one of the top rated on Trip Advisor so we had to change it out. ‘Sakhli’ means ‘home’ in Georgian and the restaurant’s decor is very cozy and homelike. We did enjoy our dinner there.
Funicular – nice adjarian hachapuri (a georgian take on pizza only much better!) and Lagidze water (Georgian take on cream soda). My fav lagidze water flavor is cream mixed with chocolate – do yourself a favor and try it!
Paul Bakery – french chain – pretty good baked goods – a nice place for breakfast.
Hope you guys find it useful and it will help you plan your own trip to Georgia! And don’t forget to check back soon to read my article about our visit to Kazbegi, Georgian Wine Country, Rabati castle and a few days at a seaside resort of Batumi!
