Some cities save Christmas for one day. Tbilisi spreads it over a month and a half, from the first lights in December to the Old New Year in January. So we made it an advent calendar: one thing to do for every day of December.
Some ideas are classic Tbilisi, some are little secrets, and a few are at our hotel. Tap a door to open it. If you are here in December, today’s door is glowing.
Ride the funicular up just before 5 pm. The sun sets around 5:30 and the whole city switches on below you.
Book a private room in the domed baths of Abanotubani. The warm mineral water is how Tbilisi has beaten the cold for centuries.
Cross the lit Bridge of Peace, then wander the lanes around Sioni Cathedral down to the domed baths of Abanotubani.
DJs play every Friday and Saturday at Weather Report Sky Bar, the highest bar in Tbilisi, on our 37th floor.
The open-air flea market by the river is best on a weekend morning: Soviet cameras, old enamel, paintings and silver.
Float over the river from Rike Park to the old fortress walls, then walk down through the Old Town.
Hold the knot, take a small bite, sip the broth, then eat the rest. Leave the knot on the plate and count them at the end.
Find a brick cellar bar in the Old Town and ask for wine made in clay qvevri, a method on UNESCO’s heritage list.
See Niko Pirosmani’s paintings of feasts and animals at the National Gallery.
Check the winter programme at the Opera and Ballet Theatre. December brings the festive classics.
At the Dezerter Bazaar, the city’s big food market, buy churchkhela, dried fruit, walnuts and spices like a local.
Children decorate their own gingerbread in our Playroom from 2 to 4 pm, with hot chocolate and face painting. See the season.
Georgia’s ancient capital is about half an hour away. See Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and the view from Jvari Monastery.
Mid-December the city opens its New Year village around the main tree, with an ice rink, stalls and concerts.
Step into the old entrance halls of Sololaki for painted ceilings, carved staircases and stained glass.
Weekdays from 12:30 to 4 pm, lunch at Dumas comes with a view across the whole city to the mountains.
If the season has started, Gudauri is about two hours north by car on the Georgian Military Road.
From today, lit huts outside the hotel serve mulled wine, hot chocolate, waffles and roasted chestnuts. More markets in Tbilisi.
A second chance for children to decorate gingerbread in our Playroom, from 2 to 4 pm.
After a cold walk, swim in our heated 25 m indoor pool, free for hotel guests from 7 am to 11 pm.
Today has just over nine hours of daylight. Spend the long evening over dinner with the lights of the city below.
Buy a small tree of white, curled hazelnut wood. In Georgia it stands next to the Christmas tree until Epiphany.
Walnuts set in honey and cut into diamonds: the sweet of the Georgian New Year table.
Walk the lit Old Town and the Bridge of Peace, then warm your hands on a cup of mulled wine at a market.
Cards marked At Pullman are at Pullman Tbilisi Axis Towers. Times and dates are for December 2026.
And on the 25th? Christmas brunch on the 36th floor.
On 25 December, Christmas Day for most of our visitors and a normal working day in Georgia, we lay out a long Christmas brunch at Dumas from 1:30 to 4:30 pm, with live music and a kids’ corner. Then the season keeps going: fireworks on 31 December, Georgian Christmas on 7 January, and the Old New Year on the 14th.
Questions
What is there to do in Tbilisi in December?
Plenty, indoors and out: the Christmas markets and New Year village, sulphur baths, Mtatsminda and Narikala at sunset, wine cellars, the opera, the flea market at the Dry Bridge, and day trips to Mtskheta or the snow at Gudauri. This calendar has one idea for every day.
Is Tbilisi good for families in December?
Yes. The New Year village usually has an ice rink, rides and shows for children, and on 12 and 19 December children can decorate gingerbread at Pullman Tbilisi.
Stay for the whole season
A room in the tower puts you a lift ride away from the market, the brunch and New Year’s Eve on the 36th floor.