Where to work in Tbilisi

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Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia, popped up on my radar a couple of times throughout the pandemic due to its rise in popularity as a place for remote workers to go to. So when a creator conference was announced there, it felt like a great reason to go and check out this city that I had heard lots about through two different communities.

Located between Europe and Asia, Georgia is in general a great base for those looking either for a longer stop over on their way to either continent, but there is also such a variety of things to do in the country. Whether you’re looking for city life, beaches or mountains - or a mix of all three - Georgia seriously has it all. And I hope to make it back soon to explore further afield.

Please consult your government website or a visa specialist before moving forward with things, but for many it’s possible to visit Georgia for up to six months without a visa, and you can actually extend it up to one year in certain cases. So it makes it incredibly easy for remote workers to settle in for a longer period of time without the hassle of complicated visa procedures. But again, please consult a professional to make sure this applies to you as well!

Where to work in Tbilisi

1. Fabrika: a former Soviet sewing factory turned into a trendy multi-functional space, Fabrika is a favourite among remote workers (myself included). There is a dedicated coworking space, but we were also ok to work for a few hours in the common area of the hostel. The hipster vibe was great for creative work and having a couple of restaurants to choose from for lunch in the courtyard was a bonus!

2. D Block: another favourite of mine, this is a great place to go for deep work. With a day pass, you have access to different facilities as well as different hot desks available across different floors. There are also cafes and restaurants for great meals in the building.

3. Praktika: I almost don’t want to share this one, but it was such a cute space! Thanks to Baia, from Red Fedora Diary, for sharing this one with me. This cosy little cafe is a favourite amongst students, where you can work, study and generally chill. They have different drinks and food options, as well as games and other ways to spend time.

4. The Museum Cafe @ Georgian Museum Of Fine Arts: I happened to go on the one day the actual museum was closed, but I still found the cafe was a productive place to get a coffee and get some emails done. Other people also had their laptops out here, so as long as you’re comfortable with some background noise, this could also be for you!

5. Cafe Daphna: while not really a place I would say is a must for remote workers, and more to enjoy the khinkali, I was still able to sit in a corner and get some work done for a couple of hours after lunch. I’ve seen this spot come up as more of place to take instagrammable content, than to work and I would sway people more towards this.

6. Moxy Hotel: I saw this a few times in Tbilisi, where hotels would dedicate areas for coworking - and charge for it. And while I’ve been to a few Moxy’s around the world, I’d never seen this model. For 20GEL (at the time of writing this post), you could remote work from your own hot desk in the lobby. Which for the creative environment and location in the city, seemed like a decent deal to me.

7. Puri Guliani: just over the courtyard from Moxy is this cute cafe and bakery, which was not only great for dinner with friends, but also to remote work from. They had a Valentine’s offer on different sweet treats and it was the cutest little indulgence while looking over the Kura River.

8. Hurma Cafe: we didn’t actually check this one out to cowork from, but there were people remote working there and the aesthetic seemed conducive to a great laptop sesh. We enjoyed a light bite for dinner and the portions were great!

9. Fika Cafe: another great find by Baia, aka Red Fedora Diary, this cute little Swedish-inspired cafe was not only a great stop for ‘fika’ (‘a coffee break’), but also to sit and do some work while the smells of cinnamon and coffee waft through the air.

10. Kvarts Coffee: so maybe more of a creative indulgence, rather than a remote work spot, even though the wifi was good? Unless you get there early perhaps, because there were literally two or three small tables in this little cafe. However for a quick coffee break, I do recommend grabbing yourself a hot beverage and paying a little extra to get your portrait sketched on your coffee cup!

Where to stay in Tbilisi

For the conference week, we all seemed to be scattered over different areas of the city, but I personally extended my stay in the Old Town area, near the Clock Tower, and that worked well for me. For shops, places to work from and different places to see as well as the conference itself.

In terms of how long I would recommend staying, I found that 4-5 weeks was just about enough to enjoy some of the conference and city, while also getting work done. It helped as well that I had friends in town and also made new friends from the city, which definitely added to the trip!

If you’re a solo traveller, you may like to check out these groups on Facebook for other remote workers in town: Expats In Tbilisi, Georgia Wanderers, Tbilisi Digital Nomads and Women in Tbilisi.

Things to do in Tbilisi

There is a plethora of things to see and do in Tbilisi for many types of traveller, but these are a couple of extras I would factor into my trip:

• A creative tour of the city: the creator queen of Tbilisi, if you want to get a local view (and some great content), you have to check out one of Baia’s, aka Red Fedora Diary, tours here! She understands how to cater to creators, providing insight into different corners of the city that is not necessarily common knowledge online and she’s generally just great people! Even if you don’t have time for a tour, I recommend taking a peak at her content for travel inspiration!

• Cooking class: for me, food is one of the quickest ways to get to know a country’s culture and history. With each dish, there is a story, and a cooking class in Georgia is no different. I’ll link the one we did here, in which we made khachapuri and khinkali, but there are different variations to choose from.

• Exploring further a field: one month in the city just about felt enough to see most things, but I couldn’t leave without taking at least one tour in the region. I picked this day tour, which was intense and perhaps not how I would generally choose to see a destination considering how much we packed in in a day. However, it was enough to see famous sites like Gergeti Trinity Church and Ananuri Fortress as well as pass through Gudauri Ski Resort (just a couple of hours drive from Tbilisi), stopping briefly to see the Gudauri View Point.

Even in winter, overall I really enjoyed spending time in Tbilisi and would thoroughly recommend visiting for chill city vibes. Especially for creative people, this city is full to the brim with art, culture and creative things to do. Then when you want a breather, you can indulge in food classes (or just the food in general) and head to the beautiful outdoors!

Writing this post, I’m already wishing I was back there with a cup of tea and some khachapuri! What do you think?

Han x