FlyDubai to Georgia - Tbilisi

We started our Georgia journey by arriving in Tbilisi, so it's only natural that we end it in Tbilisi as well. After our day excursion in Kakheti, we headed to settle down in Tbilisi for the next 3 nights, explored around, and had all sorts of fun!

The capital of Georgia is a living breathing piece of history; having been destroyed and built over 29 times, it is layered with the old, the renovated, and the modern... And we got to see a beautiful overview of it from Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel where we were staying, as you can see below from the balcony of the hotel's restaurant, which overlooks Mtkvari river. 

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Stepping out of the hotel, you get to one of the main streets where you can enjoy shopping from international brands, as well as local brands, artisan/souvenirs shops, and even a flea market full of traditional Georgian arts & crafts... All that in the midst of beautiful architecture, in avenues that are very European; but rest assured, the prices aren't too European, i.e. things aren't expensive, unless you're aiming for expensive things, so it's much like Saudi. For example, I bought comfy shoes that were only for 9 Georgian Laris = 20 SR (Thank you, China lol). In some stores such as Zara and Parfois, items were even cheaper than in Saudi.

If you do not visit Tbilisi for the shopping and architecture, then you might do so for the food and restaurants/cafes. Their cuisine is quite close to Mediterranean, with an apparent affinity to mushroom for some reason. There are a few halal restaurants in the city that you can enjoy with peace of mind, like the Iranian restaurant "Gruzbek", and the Lebanese restaurant "Amira". While in other places, like Tsiskvili, you can enjoy the food with the view (seen in my photo below), the atmosphere and a traditional local show with music (You can see that in my video here). 

But the coolest place to eat in Tbilisi, and also chill, is anywhere in the Old Town, known as Altstadt, which looks like a cozy version of Beirut Solidere/Souks, more like Jbeil Souk, and if you aren't familiar with either places in Lebanon, then it just means that it's a pretty nice branch of streets where you can walk around, or sit in cafes/restaurants. The Old Town is rich with historical churches, monuments, and traditional trades such as jewelry making, and I was lucky to come across ladies fixing and restoring old rugs in a business their family has owned for generations.

The city offers many attractions that are only a few minutes apart; making it ideal for a city walk, and when you want a break from walking, you can take the aerial tramway, across the Bridge of Peace, to enjoy a breathtaking view of the city from atop (which is the view you see in the first photo of this post. Neat, huh!). To truly explore the city, and take your time enjoying it, you'll need about 3 to 4 days, especially if you included a "hammam" in your excursion, and you should! 

And when you've had enough of city excursions, you can always take a trip outside the city, to the countryside, where you'll find stunning nature of mountains, rivers, and green fields. You'll also many historical sites to visit, monasteries on top of hills, that look like castles, where you can pretend to be in Game of Thrones :P haha

And if it's adventure and thrill you seek, then you won't be disappointed either... There are many thrilling activities to do around the country such as rafting and other various water sports, rock climbing, caving & cave diving, and paragliding... So I chose to end my amazing journey in Georgia by doing something I've wanted to do for so long and I finally had the chance to!

Thanks to FlyDubai, and their travel agent Voyager, I had an amazing time in Georgia packed with beauty and fun. I definitely would love to go back there again and perhaps explore the Black sea side of the country; I was told that Batumi is quite gorgeous! Have you been to Georgia or are you planning to go? Let me know in the comments below! And if you haven't seen it yet, here's the video recap of my trip in Georgia below... And you can check out photos of it on my Facebook.