Tbilisi Travel Guide by Constance McDonald

You never know where Constance McDonald might end up next: from the sun-soaked shores of Lesbos, to a long-hair competition in Lithuania, to an op shop in Dunedin. Her adventures are always documented, and you can expect to be transported by her photographs and words. Below, Constance shares her ultimate guide to Tbilisi x

Things to do

Try on vintage designer pieces at ARCHIVED couture - Set aside an hour or two for ARCHIVED couture. It is less a shop, more a try-on-able museum, stacked with rare pieces by all your favourites: Christian Lacroix, Dries Van Noten, and Ann Demeulemeester. I fell in love with a white Lacroix to-the-floor dress. You’re probably more flush than me, and it might still be there, so here is your blessing: I promise to be happy for you if you get it. You will find them here.

Giorgi Chitaia Open Air Museum of Ethnography - Oh, how I adore an open air museum, and this is a goodie. Traditional Georgian houses and village architecture relocated from across the country, set in hills above the city. I spent a good few hours here.

Buy a red rose from one of the sellers with big buckets of them on the main street. They are 1 GEL each (about 70 cents NZD).

If you pass a hole-in-the-wall bread spot, get a tonis puri. You will smell it before you see it.

Places to go

Theysaidbooks if you are craving a bookshop that stocks photobooks, art books etc. It has all the new Taschen books, for example, and it is all beautifully curated. Located here.

Oh la la! Cafe Irioni is a whole lot of fun. You will be served what they have on hand, you will stay for hours. So family owned, so family operated, no frills. I had the butterflied roast chicken, and they will never let your red wine glass be anything less than full to the brim. Find them at 1/22 Kaishauri St.

Head to the Navtlughi Flea Market near Samgori metro station. It is mostly open-air stalls plus big rooms of secondhand clothes piles, including one room entirely of boots, most are platforms, all under $5 NZD a pair. Find it at 3 Meveli Street.

Places to eat or get coffee

I ate khinkali every day. These are my two favourite places to get 'em:

Racha: 8 mushroom khinkali for 12 gel (~$7.80 NZD total), the best per-dumpling value going, and my favourite. 4 Mikheil Lermontovi St

Cafe Daphna: their khinkali is around $1.30 NZD each; get the kalakuri (minced meat and tons of coriander), potato, and mushroom. 29 George Atoneli St

Go to DEDA and order the ajika (a Caucasus chilli paste), chicken mtsvadi (Georgian-style marinated, grilled chicken skewers), and bread. 12 Arutin Saiatnova St

Farina for the best woodfired pizza in Tbilisi. The Prosciutto ($19 NZD) was my favourite. 1 Vashlovani St

OKRO Roastery is chic, always buzzing, has great croissants. Had an exhibition of a few photographs there. Say hey to Kat! 12 Iakob Nikoladze St

Top 3 tips

• Get a sim card from any Magti (it is about $30 NZD for unlimited data a month).
• Go to Racha hungry. Khinkali is eaten by hand, and in bulk.
• Write your GEL-to-NZD conversions on a piece of paper and stick it to the back of your phone to make pricing things up so much easier on the go
  

Top 3 recommendations

• I stayed at Rose's Women's Rooms. It is all-girls, super clean, everyone adhered to the quiet hours, $20 NZD a night. Bliss.
• Get it out of your system early and go to any place doing ‘Adjaruli Khachapuri’. That’s the boat-shaped, egg-topped khachapuri, you see everywhere. It is best shared with someone else. They are huge!
• Hit up Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, it is Georgia's largest cathedral.
• Examine the precious-stone encrusted tablets. Then buy a bottle of Kazbegi beer and stroll along the Mtkvari River just after dark. 19 Samreklo Street