Date: 15th May 2026
Travelled: A walking tour of Tbilisi in Georgia
Visited: Everywhere.
Stayed: Holiday Inn Express, Tbilisi
After the chaos of Tbilisi evening traffic we arrive and settled into the Holiday Inn, which is nice enough. We decide to go for a walk before dinner which proves challenging. Just crossing the road outside the hotel is difficult. Not really lost but not seeming to be achieving anything, we spot a little bakery and select a couple of kubdari. So itโs a simple dinner and we call it a night.
Our guide is waiting outside the hotel at 9am. He explains weโll be walking but the bus will meet us later to drive back to the hotel. So off we go down through what our guide calls part of old Tbilisi. Tbilisi is the capital and most populous city in Georgia with a population of 1.5 million, who all appear to have a car and they are all driving around looking for a parking spot.
At the bottom of the hill we arrive at the Peace Park. From there we take the gondola crossing the Kura River to the Mother of Georgia Statue which overlooks the city.
Curiously we can only see the Mother of Georgiaโs bum from the park but the views of the city are impressive. Within a few minutes the weather changes it become cold and the rain starts as we move quickly back to the gondola.
Off the gondola itโs a quick dash back into the old town and Meidan Markets which conveniently are underground. The market is an eclectic mix of tourist tat and antiques and artworks. A pleasant place to spend 20 minutes until the weather past by.
Still in Old Tbilisi our guide gives us an hour for lunch and sets us free on Shota Rustaveli Avenue. Iโm a little embarrassed to report we soon spot a Subway and find the urge for a simple chicken salad roll and a strong coffee. By the time lunch is done, the drizzle has gone and a little blue sky returns, so we go exploring along the avenue.
Back with our guide we wander the tourist hot spots.
Just for fun and to fill in a little time our guide takes us up the funicular and down the cable car before where picked up by the coach for our last stop, (yes we were tired by now) Tbilisi Cathedral. To use its formal name the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi dominates the city, the golden roof prominent.
Being completed in 2004 it took 9 years to build which seems remarkable given the scale. Itโs Georgian in style but many features are Byzantine. Tomorrow is โfamily dayโ an important date in the Georgian Orthodox calendar. There is a real buzz in the Cathedral as the Patriarch (the Patriarch is the bishop of bishops in the Orthodox Church) is scheduled to arrive for a final inspection before tomorrowโs big day.
The place is teeming with priests, bishops and various church helpers dotting tees and crossing whatevers. There all kissing each other and lots of hugs, not that thereโs anything wrong with that.
Back on the bus and into the traffic once again. Itโs been a long day and I think where all glad to get back to the hotel for a rest. Having a drink in the bar a little later some ladies from the other green bus ask if we want to join them for dinner at the Palermo an Italian Restaurant just up the street and around the corner.
What a great meal with good company, I can highly recommend the veal and mushroom.
Michael + Pam
