Me And Teddy’s Georgia Travel Story: Tbilisi Highlights And Hidden Gems

My Georgia Travel Story begins in Tartu Estonia where I was eating dinner with my 2 friends when this idea subconsciously first entered my mind.

We had just stopped at a restaurant after a very long coach trip and whilst talking with the waiter he was saying how nice Georgia was.

I didnt decide to come here right then but after getting back home I was then talking to another friend who was also with us in Estonia.

We was talking about going away again and I suggested Georgia. I dont know what come over me but right there and then I looked up flights on Skyscanner.

I suggested going away for 10 days with a one night stop in Milan and although he didnt seem to take to the idea the next night I bit the bullet and my booked my flights for the upcoming September.

Pretty mad really with factoring in my trip to Italy and Tunisia before this – which might I add ended up with a week in Turkey pretty much immediately after but I really liked the sound of Georgia and I am glad I went because I was not dissapointed.

Arriving in Tbilisi

I will skip the part about staying in the former mental hospital In Milan, Italy. There isn’t really much to say. It was my 3rd time in Milan in less than a month and really it was over before I knew it.

I got to Tbilisi airport the next day and it really was quite stress free except all the despearate taxi drivers begging me for their service at the airport.

I’m really glad I didn’t bite because catching the bus was so easy and cheap.

After this the walk to my hostel (The Tbilisi Freinds Hostel), was no trouble either. A bit of a tiresome walk uphill but I was there in about 10 minutes.

Getting to the Friends Hostel

I was not disappinted – besides having to walk up the foot of a mountain. it was very friendly here, they had nice lounge to sit in and I was quite happy with my room and the set up.

For £8 a night I was glad I chose this place and not somewhere else – which may I add I could haved as much as £4 a night on.

The Next Day and Going To The Zoo

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I often wonder what people think with me and going to the zoo so much. Rarely, do I go to any zoos in the UK but most places I go to abroad I will go and checkout their zoos and wildlife reserves.

The Zoo in Tbilisi was a good one. I was kind of feeling a bit of zoo fatigue when I went to Rome Zoo a couple months before. In my head I was thinking I was starting to get bored of seeing the same animals so much but Tbilisi zoo was different. Probably one of my favourites.

It reminded me a bit of the zoo in Belgrade. Kind of archaic, part zoo part amusement park and very cheap to get in. I think it was something like 20 GEL (Georgian Lari) and the first thing I see was the bumper cars.

It was like I was dreaming. I then see the baboons and macaques. There was the raccoons and a Hippo that followed me from one side of the enclosure to the other.

I was thinking how it would be to work here. I would love to care for an animal like that and I never even realised this Hippo (Begi) made International news.

So, after a flood in 2015 where many animals sadly perished Begi escaped into the city and was seen walking the streets of central Tbilisi.

I never realized this till later but even just meeting him and seeing how friendly he was this was the best part.

The big wheel too was quite special. It was quite scary in a way but it was pretty cool to get up here and look around.

I see a vulture here after this. Pretty mad as it looked like it was meditating in a lotus pose. Not sure if this is normal for vultures or not but this was pretty funny / amazing I thought.

Matitoma Park

After the zoo I actually stopped for lunch. I can’t remember what the place was called. From here I was just planning to walk back to my hostel.

I had my google maps navigation set up to get back to the Opera Theatre but then I noticed the cable car.

I couldn’t help myself because I noticed the other big wheel 🎡 in the distance

I had been on the Big Wheel at the zoo already and as soon as I realized I could go up to where this was I had to do it.

I’m not sure what I was expecting up really prior to this but I seriously would say to anyone visiting Tbilisi not to overlook this.

The views at the top are Insane and its basically a fairground with the big wheel (as mentioned) and a rollercoaster.

A few of my friends said at the time that they would be too scared to come up to a place like this but for me it was just such a thrill. I didn’t go on the rollercoaster (annoyingly) but I did get on the big wheel and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The Chronicles of Georgia

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I didn’t book any tours for the whole time I was in Georgia but one thing that stuck out to me like a sore thumb after finding out about it was the Chronicles of Georgia.

Unbelievably, this place only began construction in 1985 – just a year before I was born in 1986. It was something else that totally amazed me.

>>read more about the Chronicles of Georgia in this blog post here<<

So, I am deepy Interested with the ancient past. In my lifetime I would like to see many ancient sites. Just to theorize how anyone could have managed to build such magnificent things but this – there is no mystery about how it was built but just to look at it is absolutely mind blowing.

Seeing how small people are next to it. The intricate calligraphy the design of all the saints and biblical scenes you wonder how the architects could even fathom the scope of building such a site.

Its construction was halted around 1992. It is not even finished – its construction still continues now, and its progress is something I will definitely be following.

I will add I did have a bit of a head ache getting here. The bus stop is by Tbilisi Sea and I had to go back the other way but thanks to Google maps I did get here and its definitely something you should not miss if you come to Tbilisi.

Transition to Yerevan Armenia

On my 4th day in Georgia I had a transport arranged for getting to Yerevan Armenia. I stayed here for 2 nights in total. I will write about thisnin another blog post (Read it here when its published) but anyway, it was always the plan to get back to Georgia and I will continue this story from here.

My Return to Georgia

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It was a long trip back. Getting through the border took a very long time. I think it was to do with a russian girl who was travelling with.

I was due back in Tbilisi around 1:30pm but it was around 4:30pm when I actually did get back here.

It was not too much trouble really. Getting back to the hostel was funny. The same receptionist was working and we had a joke about my bag for life lol.

I’m constantly laughed at because of this but what can I say EasyJet never stop me for having too much in my bag. There was a time when I tried bringing another bag and after that I knew that this is one of the best Travel Hacks ever! As silly as it might seem.

My 1st Night Back at the Friends Hostel

On my first night back I stayed in for the rest of the night. The hostel kindly let me do my laundry here too so this was pretty much it for the night for me but I still had just over 3 days left after this to get out and explore a bit more.

Visiting the Bear Sanctuary in Tskhvarichamia

This was one thing i wanted to do since getting here. I was hoping to get on the tour to come here but I could not find one. It was a lot of trouble but after getting back I could not not come here.

Getting the train was easy enough. On Google maps it said to get one train and then to get another. But it wasn’t nowhere near this straightforward.

I had no option but to get a bolt and

I also lost 100 GEL in this time. I calmed myself down after this and I made it happen.

I could not find the driver for about 25 minutes but he was good enough to stay put and he was very nice. He kept giving me apples but main thing he got me to the bear sanctuary.

It was a scary drive up here. I didnt realize how far up the mountain that this was and I was filled with dread thinking how I’d get back down after.

My plan was initially to walk back down but I spoke to the driver and for another 50 GEL he was happy to wait on standby for me.

Getting to the Bear Sanctuary

The bear sanctuary itself I only stayed at for about 15 minutes maximimum. I didn’t feed the Bears like everyone else but it was funny to see them bossing all the wolves about. I definitely was glad I come but I think maybe getting on a tour next time I think will be better.

Actually, I would recommend if you can to seriously find out what the tour is if you want to come here because it is not exactly easy to get to.

Being Woken Up by a Political March

After the bear sanctuary I didn’t stop for dinner. I went straight back to the hostel ready to call it a night.

I was in bed when I heard this. Beating drums and people shouting with megaphones.

I’d heard about Georgias troubles with Russia but this showed me how upset people were with it all. What a racket.

It turns out the Georgian people feel that their govt. Is pro Russian and they want out to be in the EU. Kind of worrying to think what changes are in store but this march was quite Interesting to come out the door and see.

Visiting The Mother of Georgia Statue

I had no plans to come here. The funny thing was I never even knew this statue even existed until I spotted it from the street below.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Another amazing monument from the soviet union era. It was actually the best thing that could have happened as I never had any plans on this day.

It was another thing that felt like a dream. One minute I was looking down from the street below and before I knew it I was walking up the steps to get here.

I stopped at an art gallery / shop on the way. The art work was a bit naughty (sexual) lol but it was a cool place.

The statue was pretty cool up close but really this was only part of it because the whole area here really was so Interesting. It gave me so much to think about doing but it was a shame it was so close to when I had to go.

Also, I learned that this was connected to Matitoma Park and there is a second cable car that heads up to this side of the mountain.

From here you can also head to a place called turtle lake which I never got to see but next time I’m here I definitely got to see this.

I also noticed the Tbilisi hot air balloon in the distance. After some goggling I found you can pay to get up here most days for about £30. It takes you to the highest point overlooking the city which is pretty mad with the mountains you can go up.

It was a shame like turtle Lake that I didn’t find out about this sooner. I am now desperate to come back to Georgia It is really one thing after another here.

Matitoma Park at Night

So, after seeing the big wheel lit up in the distance before I went to Armenia – I really wanted to come up back here at night and experience this.

It was pretty quiet really. In a way I was a bit disappointed. I couldn’t get back on the big wheel or the rollercoaster.

I was hoping that I could catch some other getting on at the same time as its 4 people minimum for them to let you on but I just missed the last group of people.

It was such a pain I stopped for a beer. The only one I drunk for this whole trip and if I hadn’t had that I would have caught the last group to ride on here.

It was nice to walk around but the only thing that really was worth the trip up here was the Trout with Pomegranite Sauce. I was tempted to get the Pork Ojakhuri again like last time but I thought I would.try something else.

My Last Morning in Tbilisi

And just like that my 10 days in Georgia and Armenia were already over. It was quite sad for me as I really liked it here.

It was cheap, the weather was nice – not too hot but not cold either, the food was good and there is plenty to do here.

I would definitely recommend coming here to anyone that likes travelling. Most people in Tbilisi speak English and I never really had any problems at all.

A Quick Last Visit to Tbilisi Zoo

One good thing about my last day was my flight wasn’t till 3pm so I still had a bit of time left here to once again come to the Zoo.

I was surprised this time. I see both the lions and tigers which I never see on my last visit. It was pretty much the same as last time except the Big Wheel was switched off on this day so I unfortunately never got to have another ride on it.

After this I stopped for a Kupati dog at the restaurant near to the Zoo. I never tried one prior to this so this was good.

Leaving Georgia

After going to the zoo and having my last meal I headed back to the hostel to grab my bags.

I was hoping to get the bus back to the airport but annoyingly I couldn’t figure out what side of the road I needed to get the bus from.

At this point I was getting a bit anxious. As much as I would have loved to have stayed I really didnt want to have to pay for another flight back so I done the smart thing and ordered an uber to the airport. Pretty easy to do and just like that my trip was over

The Places I Didn’t Go

I was quite honestly, a bit iffy about booking a tour in Georgia. Nothing on Viator really stuck out to me but after having such a good time on my tour in Armenia I did think it would have been good to do something similar – although time was not on my side but I did make this list for hopefully whenever I manage to go back.

• The Hot Air Balloon
• Turtle Lake
• Mtskheta
• Batumi
• Vardzia
• Martvli Canyon
• Kutaisi
• Prometheus Cave
• Rabati

I will be going back to Georgia. I have already booked my flights. This list above I will try and get through for next time I’m here and if your reading this I hope this can be helpful.

I shall finish this blog post up here. If you have enjoyed reading and would like to share your comments or questions it would be great to hear from you.

Many thanks

Alex