Let’s be honest: stopovers are usually a jet-lagged purgatory of charging cables and overpriced coffee. But what if I told you there’s a route to London where your layover tastes like wild-fermented wine, smells like sulphur springs, and involves a puppet master’s crooked clock tower? Read on, because Tbilisi, Georgia, is the alternative stopover that hijacks your itinerary and steals the spotlight.
First: The Feast
You’ve barely dumped your bag at one of the many available retro communist chic hotel rooms before the local dishes beckon
Khinkali, these aren’t the usual dumplings, they’re doughy and filled with broth and spiced meat. Grab one by its twisted top hat, nibble a hole, and slurp like your life depends on it dribble proudly, it’s tradition. Follow it with some khachapuri, the Adjaruli style canoe of bread cradling molten cheese, butter, and an egg.
Wash it down at Vino Underground, a brick cellar where natural wines glow like amber. Try skin-contact qvevri wine—orange, funky, and poured by a sommelier who’ll tell you tales of 8,000 year old wine making traditions. Still thirsty? Chacha Corner shots you with grape firewater. Gaumarjos! That’s “cheers” in Georgian—say it with gusto.
Sights with Sass
The Sulfur Baths at Abanotubani
Domed like honeycombs, these 1,400-year old baths steam like dragon’s breath. Book a private room, sink into warm mineral water, and let a no-nonsense attendant scrub off your flight grime with a sandpaper mitt. You’ll emerge pinker than a Georgian sunset.
Narikala Fortress. The Mother of All Views
Hike or cable car up to this 4th-century fortress. At the top, Mother Georgia looms with a sword in one hand and wine cup in the other—essentially Tbilisi’s mood: “I’ll fight you, but let’s drink first.” The panorama? A confetti of pastel houses, Byzantine domes and Soviet tower blocks.
The Leaning Clock Tower of Rezo Gabriadze
This tilting fairytale tower, designed by a puppeteer, chimes with a mini theater of angels and skeletons. At noon, a tiny golden-winged automaton circles the roof. It’s bonkers, beautiful, and proof that Tbilisi laughs at straight lines.
Dry Bridge Market
Hunt for Soviet relics—KGB badges, Lenin portraits, and retro cameras—amidst locals selling silver daggers and painted enamel. Haggle over a 1980s Georgian space program pin real or fake? Who cares.
The Grand Finale: A Supra
Before your London flight, crash a supra feast. At Ezo, hidden in a Sololaki alley, long tables groan under walnut-stuffed eggplant, pomegranate-speckled salads, and more wine. A tamada (toastmaster) leads 20+ toasts, to love, ancestors, and the chaos of travel. You’ll leave tipsy, clutching candle shaped grape candy for the onward flight.
Why It Works
*“Tbilisi doesn’t do jet lag. It does jazz bars in converted stables, art nouveau mansions crumbling like wedding cake, and street cats judging your life choices. In 12 hours, you’ll have whiplash from time-hopping between Silk Road caravans and hipster wine bars. London will feel terribly… predictable afterwards.
Logistics Lite:
- Visa-Free: Most passports get 365 days visa-free!
- Airport Transfer: 30 mins by taxi; use Bolt (like Uber).
- Airlines: Turkish Airlines (via Istanbul) or Qatar Airways (via Doha).
So next time you’re Heathrow-bound, demand a Tbilisi tango. Forget duty-free—fly home with a head full of sulphur steam, a camera full of technicolor chaos, and the conviction that layovers should always taste this good.
