Friday Evening — Arrive & Head Straight for the Old Town
Drop your bags and walk into Dzveli Tbilisi, the old town. The wooden balconied houses on Sioni and Shardeni streets are at their best after dark, when the lanes empty out and the lit-up Bridge of Peace glows over the Mtkvari river below.
Cross the Bridge of Peace to Rike Park and look back at Narikala Fortress floodlit on its cliff — one of the best free views in the Caucasus. Then head back into the old town for dinner: order khinkali (soup dumplings, don't cut them, bite and suck the broth first) and a carafe of house natural wine. Vino Underground or 8000 Vintages are good first stops if you want to understand qvevri wine before diving deeper later in the trip.
Take it slow. This is a short trip and the temptation to cram everything into the first evening isn't worth fighting the jet lag over — a walk, a good dinner, and an early night sets you up properly for a packed Saturday.
Saturday — Fortress, Baths & the Old Town on Foot
Morning: take the cable car from Rike Park up to Narikala Fortress. The 4th-century walls are part-ruined, part-restored, and the views over the old town's terracotta roofs and the river gorge are extraordinary. Walk back down through the Botanical Garden or straight into Abanotubani, the sulphur bath district, at the foot of the hill.
Midday: book a private room at one of the domed bathhouses — Chreli-Abano's tiled interior is the most photogenic, the Royal Baths (Orbeliani) the most atmospheric. Soak in the natural 37–45°C sulphur water, get scrubbed by an attendant if you're brave, and emerge loose-limbed. This ritual has been running for over a thousand years and gives the city its name.
Afternoon: wander Rustaveli Avenue, the city's grand 19th-century boulevard, then loop back through Sololaki, a quieter neighbourhood of Persian-style courtyards and faded Art Nouveau façades. The Georgian National Museum sits on Rustaveli itself — if you only have twenty minutes, go straight to the treasury room for the medieval gold and enamelled icons.
Evening: a full Georgian supra (feast) dinner. Order khachapuri (the Adjarian version, boat-shaped with a raw egg stirred in tableside), pkhali vegetable spreads, and Saperavi red wine. Follow it with a walk up to Mtatsminda Park via the funicular for the best night view of the city.
Sunday — Markets, Churches & Departure
Morning: the Dry Bridge flea market, an open-air spread of Soviet medals, old cameras, carpets, and genuine antiques along the river near Rike Park. It's at its best before 11:00, before the tour groups arrive.
Walk to Holy Trinity Cathedral (Sameba), Georgia's largest church, completed in 2004 on a hilltop east of the old town — the gold dome and the scale of the place are worth the detour even if you're not religious.
Lunch: find a table on a terrace overlooking the old town and order lobio, the bean stew served bubbling in its own clay pot with mchadi cornbread on the side — a heartier, less touristy dish than khinkali and khachapuri, and a good way to close out a weekend that's otherwise been mostly dumplings.
If time allows before your flight: one more coffee and a churchkhela (walnuts dipped in grape must, the local energy bar) from a street stall. Head to the airport with a bottle of Saperavi in your bag.