Tbilisi rewards thin wallets: the metro costs 1 GEL, most viewpoints cost nothing, and a plate of khinkali runs 6–8 GEL. These three days trade ticketed attractions for free ridges, Soviet-era mosaics, bazaars and bakery windows across the Mtkvari gorge.
Zurab Tsereteli's unfinished 1985 monument: sixteen bronze-clad pillars up to 35m tall, carved with kings above and the life of Christ below. Open 24/7, unstaffed, no ticket booth. Marshrutka 60 from Didube plus a 15-minute uphill walk.
Sellers spread Soviet medals, Zenit cameras, hand-painted enamel pins and Georgian silver on blankets along the Dedaena Park approach. Daily roughly 10:00–17:00, busiest at weekends. Browsing is free; pins start at 5 GEL, cameras 40 GEL.
Behind unmarked doors on Lado Asatiani and Amaghleba streets sit 1890s stairwells with stained glass, painted ceilings and cast-iron railings — the 'Kaleidoscope House' on Lado Asatiani is the best known. Residential, so entry is by goodwill.
The hillside burial terrace of Georgia's writers, including Ilia Chavchavadze and Griboyedov, wrapped around a 19th-century church. Free entry, roughly 09:00–20:00 in summer. Reachable on foot up Besiki Street stairs instead of the paid funicular.
Tbilisi's sprawling produce market beside Station Square metro: sacks of walnuts, churchkhela strings, sulguni cheese wheels, spice piles of khmeli suneli and blue fenugreek. Open daily from about 08:00. Churchkhela 3-5 GEL, cheese 12-18 GEL per kilo.
Open around the clock on the Old Town's main square, serving kalakuri khinkali at roughly 1.20 GEL each and adjaruli khachapuri near 12 GEL. Plastic-tablecloth canteen energy, laminated picture menu, and lemonade in tarragon or pear.
Shoti bread pulled from a clay tone oven in front of you, plus lobiani and penovani pastries. A loaf is around 1.5 GEL, a filled pastry 3-4 GEL. Pair it with 4 GEL of cheese from a nearby corner shop for a full riverside lunch.
A Soviet sewing factory turned hostel and courtyard, where students, skaters and remote workers drink local draught from about 6 GEL. The yard itself is public and free to sit in, ringed by cheap kiosks and a Georgian-Asian food window.
Around 70 relocated timber and stone houses from Svaneti, Kakheti and Adjara spread over a wooded hillside above Turtle Lake. Roughly 5 GEL entry, closed Mondays, open about 10:00-18:00. Interiors are staffed by guardians who explain the hearths.
A small reservoir ringed by a flat 900m walking path, with pedal boats and cheap kiosk snacks. Access on foot from the ethnographic museum takes 15 minutes downhill. Free to walk and swim from the public shore in summer.
A 97-hectare garden in the ravine below Narikala, built on the former royal gardens, with a waterfall, Soviet-era arboretum sections and a bamboo grove. Entry is about 4 GEL, open roughly 09:00-20:00 in summer. Bring your own water.
The 20m aluminium Mother Georgia statue holds a wine bowl and a sword above the Sololaki ridge. The dirt path along the crest is free and unfenced, running toward Narikala with the gorge, Trinity Cathedral and the sulphur domes below.