Day 1 — Old Town & Narikala Fortress
Start in Dzveli Tbilisi, the old town — a living neighbourhood of balconied wooden houses, Persian-style courtyards, and churches of three different faiths within a few minutes' walk. Find Anchiskhati Basilica, Tbilisi's oldest surviving church, tucked just off Shardeni Street.
Take the cable car from Rike Park up to Narikala Fortress. The 4th-century walls run along the ridge above the city, and the views over the old town's terracotta rooftops and the Mtkvari gorge are the best in Tbilisi. Walk down through the Botanical Garden and cross the Bridge of Peace at dusk, when it's lit up over the river.
Day 2 — Sulphur Baths & the National Museum
Book a private room at one of the Abanotubani sulphur bathhouses — Chreli-Abano or the Royal Baths (Orbeliani) are the two classics. The natural hot spring water (37–45°C) has drawn bathers here for over a thousand years, and this ritual, more than any monument, is the essential Tbilisi experience.
Afterwards, walk up to the Georgian National Museum on Rustaveli Avenue. The treasury room holds gold and enamelled icons from Georgia's medieval golden age and the world's oldest known worked gold and silver, excavated from a Trialeti kurgan. Budget at least ninety minutes.
Evening: the funicular up Mtatsminda hill for sunset over the whole city, then dinner in the old town.
Day 3 — Fabrika & Natural Wine
Spend the morning at Fabrika, the converted Soviet sewing factory in Chugureti now packed with coffee roasters, independent shops, and a courtyard that turns into a bar scene after dark.
Devote the afternoon to Georgia's natural wine culture. Georgia has been fermenting grape must in buried clay qvevri for roughly 8,000 years — the oldest continuous winemaking tradition on earth. Vino Underground and 8000 Vintages both run approachable tasting flights of amber and orange wines from small producers; ask staff to walk you through Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane, and Saperavi.
Evening: Lado Asatiani Street in Marjanishvili/Vera for dinner — the city's best concentration of unpretentious Georgian restaurants.
Day 4 — Rustaveli Avenue, Sololaki & Holy Trinity Cathedral
Walk the length of Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi's grand 19th-century boulevard, from Freedom Square past the Rustaveli Theatre to the Parliament building. Detour into Sololaki, just south, for its faded Art Nouveau houses and Persian-influenced courtyards.
In the afternoon, visit Holy Trinity Cathedral (Sameba), Georgia's largest church, completed in 2004 on a hilltop east of the old town. The gold dome and sheer scale of the building — visible from much of the city — make it worth the walk or short taxi ride even without a religious interest.
Evening: the Dry Bridge flea market area is quiet by dusk, but the surrounding Vera streets have good, low-key wine bars for a slower final city evening before tomorrow's day trip.
Day 5 — Mtskheta Day Trip: Georgia's Ancient Capital
Mtskheta, 20km northwest of Tbilisi, was Georgia's capital for over a thousand years and remains the spiritual centre of Georgian Orthodoxy. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an easy half-day trip by marshrutka (30 minutes) or taxi.
The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, built in the 11th century on the site where Georgia's conversion to Christianity is said to have begun in the 4th century, is one of the most important religious sites in the Caucasus — a massive stone structure still active as a working cathedral. Climb up to Jvari Monastery on the hilltop above town for the classic view: the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, with Mtskheta laid out below.
Return to Tbilisi by early evening for a final supra-style dinner — order widely (khinkali, khachapuri, pkhali, lobio), let the wine keep coming, and don't rush the last night.