I like hiking. I like Tbilisi. I also like writing.
So in this guide, I’ve conveniently assembled three of my favorite passions to bring you this… a peak-covered collection of the 17 best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi.
I’ve covered long ones, short ones, day-trip ones, and hikes in the very center of the city. Slip into those little hiking boots and come join the party!
1. City Center to Mtatsminda Park
Probably the most well-known of all the hiking trails in and around Tbilisi, this is easy, accessible and swift—you walk right from the heart of Tbilisi, and you clamber up a simple city-center peak.
The wander takes you to the vistas and viewpoints of Mtatsminda Park, a popular local hangout with cafes, food stalls, and regular festivals.
Travelness / Paul McDougal
If you’re looking for simple but pretty, you’ve found it. The path is clear (all parts are either paved, or on man-made wooden walkways), the walk is short, and you don’t even need hiking boots or special clothes.
Start at the bottom of the strangely-named street Mama Daviti Rise, and keep following the path west. To get back down, you can either walk the way you came, follow the trail to Mother Georgia, or hop on the funicular.
2. City Center to Turtle Lake
Sort of similar to the above, this hike takes you from the very center of the city to another of its most well-known family-friendly green spaces.
This time, the walk is largely through the city… so the views aren’t quite as pretty (the best starting point is Rustaveli Metro station). But though the walk isn’t super attractive, the end point is prettier than Mtatsminda Park.
Turtle Lake is one of the city’s most popular hangout spots. A surprisingly big space, it has restaurants, ziplines, hiking trails, cafes, food stalls, picnic spots, a cable car, places to swim, and lots more fun stuff. It’s even close to the city’s ethnographic museum.
3. City Center to Turtle Lake (via Mtatsminda Park)
Okay, here’s where the juicy stuff starts.
If you don’t want to stray from the center of Tbilisi at all, this is the best walk you’ll find.
Start by following the route I’ve already outlined (from the city center to Mtatsminda Park). From here, head to the most western part of the park… and follow a trail to Turtle Lake, past Svan Tower and the cable car station.
This part of the route takes you through sparse forested areas, view-packed flat plains, and lots of pretty stuff.
When you’re done, you can either walk down to the city from Turtle Lake (you can quickly and easily reach both Rustaveli and Vake Park from here), or you can ride on the cable car.
One of the best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi, this is a great city-center option.
4. Lisi Lake Ridge
This is my favorite city-center area for hiking in Tbilisi.
In the northwestern part of the city, you have Lisi Lake, a cute little body of water with a pretty perimeter. People come here for a gentle stroll or a gentle bike ride, or to chow down on some food and drink with a pretty waterside view.
But the area is home to some way-more-adventurous stuff… and most of those adventures start from two ridges on the northern side of the lake.
If you want a relatively-easy hike with excellent views, choose the uppermost ridge, and keep following it west until you hit a crucifix.
Travelness / Paul McDougal
From here (and all the way along the walk), you get incredible views of the city and its surroundings. I reckon this ridge offers the best possible views you can get of Tbilisi.
When you hit the crucifix, turn around and return the same way you came.
5. Lisi Lake to Mskhaldidi
The best direct-from-the-city walk I’ve done in Tbilisi, I massively recommend this one.
If you want something challenging, varied and genuinely beautiful, this is one of the best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi.
Follow the instructions I’ve outlined above—but when you get to the crucifix I mentioned, keep going for a while longer.
You then head south, descending to the village of Tsodoreti, hiking up to the challenging peak of Natlismtsemeli, and descending to the village of Mskhaldidi (via the bowl-shaped perimeter of a pretty lake).
During this one, you’ll tackle a total of around 750 meters (2,500 feet) of ascent.
6. Tbilisi Sea Circular
Long but flat, I absolutely love this route.
Northeast of the city center, you have Tbilisi Sea (which is actually a reservoir, and completely unrelated to any oceans, but let’s not get lost in the details).
The perimeter of the place measures in at around 15 miles (24km), so it’s a pretty big walk. But it’s all flat and simple.
I’ve run in it in two hours, so you can walk it in 4. Along the way around the entire perimeter, you’ll pass fishermen, runners, cyclists, pretty views of the water, pretty views of the city, underrated stretches of Tbilisi, and plenty more stuff. For quaint and cute, it’s my favorite walk on this list.
The southern section of the lake is particularly beautiful, and it has lots of brilliant picnic spots.
The finale of this walk is great. If you start from the northwestern part of the lake, you’ll finish back at that same point. And sitting there, you have the Chronicle of Georgia, a strange behemoth of a monument that looms over this part of the city.
7. Kojori to Kojori Fortress
If you want very short and very easy, but with maximum payoffs, this is one of the best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi.
Close to the nation’s capital, there’s a small town called Kojori. And high over the town, you have Azeula Fortress, an ancient place with incredible views of Tbilisi, and some of the areas surrounding it. You won’t find another walk this easy with panoramic views this good.
If you head to the most southern part of the town (either by taxi or bus—the 380 bus runs relatively regularly from Tbilisi’s Liberty Square), it’s a short walk, with around 100 meters (330 feet) of ascent. You then return the way you came.
8. Kojori to Tbilisi
I love this walk.
Starting from Kojori (yep, the same town I’ve just mentioned), you first want to ascend the fortress, and come back down again (because coming here without going up the fortress would be a ridiculous thing to do).
Once you return to Kojori, you won’t be using wheels to reach Tbilisi. Instead, you’ll be returning to the city on your two little feet, passing forests, Udzo Monastery, lots of trail runners, and great panoramas of Georgia’s surprisingly-sprawling capital.
Although it’s pretty long, this walk is also pretty easy—the majority of the route is downhill.
The trail will lead you to Turtle Lake. From here, you can either keep walking to the center of the city, or hop on the cable car.
9. Kojori to Asureti
For something a little different, this is one of the best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi.
Again, you go from Kojori to Azeula Fortress. Once you’ve hit the fortress, come back down the peak, but not all the way back to the town.
Just after a tiny church, you’ll instead see a signposted trail heading right. Follow that trail through forests, past a mega-basic church, and beyond a pretty lake. And eventually, you’ll get to Asureti!
10. Kojori to Ghoubani
As you’ve probably noticed by now, Kojori is (arguably) the #1 base for finding the best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi.
This hike is pretty similar to the route outlined above… except it’s a little shorter, a little easier, and it doesn’t bring you to a weird German village. So if you want a relatively short wander between two small towns (on the outskirts of Tbilisi), this is a great option.
Again, it’s mostly downhill, and takes you through forests and along ridges. Most of the way down, you can see Ghoubani—it’s a super photogenic wander.
Again, make sure you clamber up and down Azeula Fortress before you start the main part of the walk.
11. Birtvisi Canyon
If you’re on the hunt for unique and unusual landscapes, this is one of the best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi.
Around 1 hour west of Tbilisi, you have the catchily-titled ‘Trialeti Planned National Park,’ a small but excellent area for wandering. It’s home to Birtvisi Canyon, a jagged landscape with strange little spikes. I don’t know any other part of Georgia that looks like this.
Take a marshrutka to Tbisi (not Tbilisi!), then head north out of the town on an admittedly-hard-to-find trail (you should use Maps.me).
Keep heading north past the fortress until you hit a small road. Head west on the road until you hit the main road, and catch a lift from here back to Tbilisi.
Highly recommended!
12. Jvari Monastery
Just north of Tbilisi, you’ll find the popular day-trip option of Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Georgia.
And inside Mtskheta (or on the outskirts, depending on who you ask), you have Jvari Monastery, one of the most significant religious buildings in the nation. Impressive and important, most people drive up here.
But if you like, you can hike from the foot of the road, near the town of Zahesi. Or, best of all, you can wander along the route outlined in this guide.
If you’d rather take a car, I massively recommend this tour. Excellent and affordable, it takes you to the monastery, Mtskheta, and loads of other great places.
13. Norio Village to Tbilisi Bear Sanctuary
Somehow, we’ve made it this far into our guide without even mentioning Tbilisi National Park.
But, eventually, I’ve rolled around to the sprawling place, which is brimming with hikes, viewpoints, monasteries, crucifixes, and… the highlight of this walk… a bear sanctuary!
Start in the village of Norio, wander to the excellent Martkopi Monastery, then keep going all the way through to the park’s bear sanctuary. It’s a big walk, but it’s excellent, it’s packed with variety, and it has a great finale.
14. Tbilisi National Park: the Big Viewpoint Trail
Next up, another option in Tbilisi National Park.
If you’re on the hunt for an easy but excellent circular, this is absolutely one of the best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi. I won’t go into too much detail, because the route is outlined here.
But you get great river stretches, nice panoramas of Tbilisi, an excellent introduction to the national park, and… as you’ve probably guessed… some pretty big viewpoints.
15. The Mamkoda Loop
Our third and final Tbilisi National Park entry, the Mamkoda Loop is a massive challenge measuring in at around 38km (23.5 miles).
That said, it only includes around 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) of total ascent, so it’s definitely doable if you’re an experienced hiker.
Along the way, there are lots of highlights, including Martkopi Monastery and the village of Norio (which we’ve already mentioned), along with Mamkoda Church, two great view-packed passes, and plenty more great stuff.
For variety and depth, this is the best possible walk you can tackle in Tbilisi National Park.
16. Gergeti Trinity Church
Okay, I need to kick this off with a disclaimer—this place is actually very far from Tbilisi… but it’s possible as a day trip, and it takes you to the most famous viewpoint in the nation.
So, okay, it’s not necessarily one of the best hiking trails in and around Tbilisi. But if you’re short on time, and you want a quick fix of massive mountains, this is a long but top-quality option.
Gergeti Trinity Church is just west of Stepantsminda, the most famous mountain town in the entire nation. Ride from Tbilisi to Stepantsminda, wander up to the church, return the same way you came, then ride back to Tbilisi.
If you’d prefer to rest your legs and take a tour, I recommend this one (it also includes lots more highlights in and around the area).
17. Lomisi Church
On the road leading to Stepantsminda, there are loads of en-route highlights… including churches, viewpoints, monuments, fortresses, tiny towns and villages, and loads of pretty roadside views.
But one of the most underrated and under-the-radar highlights is also one of the best options for a day-trip hike from Tbilisi. Ride 90 minutes to the tiny settlement of Kvemo Mleta, hike southwest to Lomisi Church, then hike back down the same way.
This is one of the best accessible day hikes in the entire nation, and I absolutely love it. It’s hard to get views this good without taking a multi-day wander, or a lengthy care ride. It’s a pretty steep walk, with 750 meters (2,500 feet) of total ascent, but it’s totally worth it.
