Tbilisi: Old & New City Guided Tour with 15 Tastings & Wine

Eat your way through Tbilisi. This tour pairs a guided walk through the Old and New City with 15 Georgian tastings, from beef khinkali and churchkhela to qvevri wine and chacha. I like the way it gives you both a city overview and a proper introduction to Georgia’s table. The hotel pickup and drop-off are also useful when you are still finding your way around.

The main consideration is pace and appetite. You cover a fair stretch of central Tbilisi in two to four hours, and the dumpling portions can be much larger than the word tasting suggests. I also like that the tour feels personal, with guides such as Nodar, Giorgi, Camilla, Irina, and Mariam praised for warm conversation and clear explanations, though the exact route and guide can vary.

Five things to know before you book

• The 15 tastings are more substantial than samples: Four kinds of khinkali, sweets, sauces, wine, and chacha can add up to a full meal.
• You see both sides of central Tbilisi: The route links Dry Bridge Market, Rike Park, the Bridge of Peace, Europe Square, and the Old Town.
• It works especially well on your first day: Guides offer practical suggestions for food, wine, sights, and getting around during the rest of your stay.
• The final wine stop has a relaxed feel: You finish at a local bar, with the option to stay, mingle, and order more wine at your own expense.
• Evening departures can change the route: Dry Bridge Market may be closed later in the day, and weather or public events can require an alternate path.
• Bring good walking shoes: The route includes moderate walking and is not suitable for wheelchair users or people with mobility impairments.

Why this Tbilisi tour works as a first-day orientation

Tbilisi can feel confusing at first. Its old lanes, modern bridges, steep streets, parks, markets, churches, and river views do not fit neatly into one simple district. This experience gives you a useful first map of the city while explaining how food and history connect.

I would book it early in a stay, not at the end. Several guides use the walk to suggest places to eat and things to see later, and you get a better sense of where the Old City ends, where the newer civic areas begin, and which sights are close enough to combine on your own.

The food adds purpose to the route. You are not stopping at random cafés simply to fill time. Each tasting introduces something tied to Georgian eating habits, local produce, or winemaking. The guide explains how to approach khinkali, what the sauces are used for, and how the different wines compare.

At $62 per person, the price is fair if you use the included pickup and enjoy both sightseeing and food. A guide, hotel transport, four types of dumplings, sweets, sauces, soft drink, four wine tastings, and chacha would cost more if arranged separately. It is less attractive if you want a long restaurant meal or a specialist wine tour, since the experience divides its time between many stops.

Starting with a café and Georgian welcome

The tour begins with pickup in Tbilisi and a stop at a local café. This is where the food side starts, with welcome refreshments and an introduction to the tasting plan.

The 15 inclusions are not 15 separate full meals. They are a series of small food and drink experiences, although the khinkali servings can be generous. That distinction matters. Come hungry, but not so hungry that you rush through the first stop.

The dumpling sequence includes beef khinkali, mushroom khinkali, potato and cheese khinkali, and potato khinkali. This is a useful range because it lets you compare fillings rather than treating khinkali as one fixed dish. A guide can also explain the customs around eating them, including the familiar Georgian rules that make the dumpling more than just a quick snack.

If you are vegetarian, mention it when booking or at pickup. The listed tastings include several meat-free dumplings, and one guide received particular praise for taking care of a vegetarian participant. Still, the standard experience includes beef, so dietary needs should be made clear in advance.

Dry Bridge Market and Dedaena Park

Dry Bridge Market is one of the more distinctive stops. You get time for photos, a guided visit, and some free wandering. The market is associated with local objects, art, and secondhand finds, so it gives you a different view of Tbilisi than the polished central sights.

The timing matters. If your tour begins in the evening, the market may already be closed. In that case, you should not expect the full market visit, though the route can still include the area and its surroundings.

Next comes Dedaena Park, a pleasant open space near the river. The stop gives your legs a short break from narrow lanes and lets you see how central Tbilisi uses its public spaces. The park is also a good place for photos and a change of pace before the route continues through the city center.

These early stops help keep the tour from becoming a march between monuments. You get a market, a park, and a sense of ordinary city life before moving into the historic core.

Presidential Palace and the route toward the old center

The Presidential Palace is seen as a photo stop and from the outside. You pass by rather than enter, so think of it as part of the city story, not a palace tour.

This section is useful for understanding Tbilisi’s mix of older buildings and newer government architecture. A strong guide can place current civic life beside the city’s older religious and commercial landmarks. Guides such as Giorgi and Camilla were praised for answering questions about modern Georgian politics, the Soviet period, and current events without turning the walk into a lecture.

That conversational approach is one of the tour’s best features. You can ask about subjects that guidebooks often flatten into a few dates. The quality will depend on who leads your group, but the guide roster includes English-speaking professionals as well as Russian-speaking guides.

A planned secret stop follows. The exact location is not specified, but it includes a break, dessert, local snacks, and a food market visit. It is a welcome pause, especially if you are carrying a full stomach from the dumplings. Some tours include treats such as churchkhela or wine ice cream, and one guide even adjusted a sweet choice to suit a guest’s request.

Rezo Gabriadze Theater and Tbilisi’s oldest church

The Rezo Gabriadze Theater is a photogenic and memorable stop in the old center. You have time to see the theater area, hear about it from your guide, and take photos.

The theater is linked with Georgian puppetry and the work of Rezo Gabriadze, giving the route a cultural note beyond churches and government buildings. You may find this stop especially worthwhile if you enjoy design, theater, or unusual city details.

Nearby, Anchiskhati Basilica brings you into one of Tbilisi’s important religious spaces. The visit is followed by time on Ioane Shavteli Street, a narrow old-city lane with historic buildings and plenty of atmosphere.

This is where comfortable footwear becomes essential. The walking is moderate, but old-city surfaces and changing streets can be less forgiving than a flat modern sidewalk. You are not simply standing at a viewpoint and getting back into a vehicle. Expect repeated short walks between stops.

The Bridge of Peace, Rike Park, and Europe Square

The Bridge of Peace is Tbilisi’s most recognizable modern landmark. Its curved glass and steel structure contrasts sharply with the old neighborhoods around it, making the crossing a clear example of the city’s old-and-new tension.

You get a photo stop, a guided explanation, and time to walk across. The view toward the river and surrounding hills is one of the tour’s strongest visual moments, especially when your guide explains how the bridge connects the historic center with newer public spaces.

On the far side, Rike Park provides another open stretch along the river. You can walk, take photos, and listen to more of the city’s story without the tight feel of the old lanes. Europe Square follows as a brief sightseeing stop and pass-by.

This part of the route is a good reason to choose the tour over a food-only experience. You cover enough ground to recognize major central landmarks afterward, yet the walking is broken up by tastings and pauses.

Meidan Bazar and the Old Town

Meidan Bazar is the most obviously commercial stop. It is an arts and crafts market where you can browse local products, take photos, and learn about Georgian souvenirs.

You may find it useful for deciding what to buy later, but do not confuse it with a quiet neighborhood market. It is designed for browsing and shopping, so prices and products can vary. The guide can help explain what is local and what may be more broadly marketed to visitors.

The Old Town portion brings together the tour’s strongest themes: historic streets, architecture, viewpoints, food, and modern city life. This is not a museum-style history lesson. You move through the streets while your guide fills in the details, including local customs, language, family stories, and the country’s complicated recent past.

That personal layer is important. Guides including Nodar, Giorgi, and Irina were praised for making history feel human and for staying open to questions. You get more than dates and building names. You can ask how people live now, how the Soviet experience shaped Georgia, or what customs still matter at the dinner table.

Churchkhela, gozinaki, sauces, and Georgian character

The sweet and sauce tastings are small but revealing. Churchkhela appears in walnut and hazelnut versions. These are nuts threaded on a string and coated in thickened fruit mixture, creating a chewy, portable sweet that looks unusual on a market stall.

Gozinaki combines walnut and honey. It is simpler in appearance, but it shows how nuts and honey appear in Georgian festive food. The tastings give you a chance to compare textures and sweetness rather than simply ordering the most familiar dessert.

The sauce stop includes tkemali in wild plum and blackberry versions, along with ajika, a spicy local mixture. These items are valuable because they show how Georgian food gets its sharpness and heat. You may prefer one fruit version over the other, and the ajika can be a stronger taste than its small portion suggests.

There is also local lemonade, a useful nonalcoholic part of the tasting list. If you do not drink alcohol, tell the guide. The standard tour includes several alcoholic tastings, but the food, lemonade, sweets, and nonalcoholic dumplings still provide a substantial part of the experience.

Four wines and a final glass of chacha

The closing stop is a local bar for wine tasting. You try white wine, dry red wine, semi-sweet red wine, and qvevri wine, followed by chacha, Georgia’s grape spirit.

The qvevri tasting is the most important one for understanding Georgia’s wine identity. Qvevri refers to the large clay vessels traditionally used in Georgian winemaking. The point here is not to turn you into a wine expert in one sitting. It is to show you that Georgian wine is not limited to one style or one grape.

The selection also gives you a practical comparison. You can decide if you prefer white, dry red, semi-sweet red, or the distinctive qvevri style before ordering bottles or glasses during the rest of your trip.

Chacha is a spirit, not a gentle after-dinner sip. You may find it warming, strong, or simply too much after a day of sightseeing. Pace yourself, and remember that the tour includes several alcoholic tastings in addition to the food.

The bar finish is less rushed than a quick street sample. You can stay and mingle or order more wine, but additional food and drinks are not included. This makes the ending flexible. You can leave after the included tasting or turn it into an informal evening stop.

Timing, walking, and the small-group feel

The advertised duration is two to four hours. That is a wide range, and it reflects the private or small-group format, the number of food stops, the starting time, and the pace of conversation.

A shorter version may feel brisk but efficient. A four-hour outing gives more room for questions, relaxed tasting, and free time at certain stops. If you want a fast checklist of sights, the amount of food may slow you down. If you like talking over a meal and asking questions, that extra time is useful.

Hotel pickup and drop-off simplify the start and finish. This matters on your first day, when Tbilisi’s streets may not yet feel familiar. It also helps if your tour ends after wine tasting and you would rather not work out the return route.

Wear comfortable shoes and bring sunscreen or a raincoat according to the forecast. Oversize luggage and large bags are not allowed. The experience is not suitable for wheelchair users or people with mobility impairments, since it involves moderate walking through historic streets and public spaces.

Weather and public events can affect the route. One private group received an alternate path after protests made parts of the planned route less suitable. That kind of adjustment is sensible, but it means you should treat the exact sequence as flexible.

Who should book this experience?

I would choose this tour if you want a broad first look at Tbilisi rather than a specialist food crawl. It suits couples with different interests, since one person can focus on culture and landmarks while the other pays closer attention to dumplings, sweets, and wine.

It is also a good fit for solo visitors. Irina, among other guides, has been praised for making solo participants feel at ease. Private tours can make the experience more conversational and allow some adjustment to your pace, while a small group may offer a more social feel.

Food lovers should come with an empty or nearly empty stomach. The four khinkali varieties alone can be filling, and the sweets, sauces, lemonade, wine, and chacha add up. This is not the best choice if you want every stop to be a full sit-down meal, but it is excellent if you want to sample widely without planning each venue yourself.

You may want another tour if your priority is a long museum visit, a dedicated wine-country excursion, or a completely flat and accessible route. You should also check the start time if Dry Bridge Market is a must-see.

Should you book the Tbilisi Old and New City tour?

Book it if you want an easy introduction to Tbilisi with real food, city views, and a guide who can connect past events with daily life. The strongest value comes from the combination: hotel transport, a substantial tasting menu, central landmarks, and practical advice for the rest of your visit.

I would especially book it for the first full day, when the city still feels unfamiliar. Go hungry, wear walking shoes, and allow up to four hours. If you prefer a slower meal or a focused wine tasting, choose something more specialized. For most first-time visitors who want history and Georgian food in one outing, this is a well-priced and enjoyable start.

FAQ

How long does the Tbilisi Old and New City tour last?

The tour lasts between two and four hours. Starting times vary, so you need to check availability when booking.

What food and drinks are included?

The included tastings are four kinds of khinkali, local lemonade, walnut and hazelnut churchkhela, walnut and honey gozinaki, two tkemali sauces, ajika, four wine tastings, and chacha.

Is hotel pickup and drop-off included?

Yes. Hotel pickup and drop-off in Tbilisi are included.

Which languages are available?

The tour is available with a live guide in English or Russian.

Is the tour private or shared?

Private and small-group options are available.

Is the tour suitable for wheelchair users?

No. The experience is not suitable for wheelchair users or people with mobility impairments. Comfortable walking shoes are required, and large bags or oversize luggage are not allowed.