Vera, Tbilisi: Vera Park, Kiacheli Street, Cafes and Wine Bars

Vera is the old red-brick quarter just north of Rustaveli Avenue, and it's known for its specialty coffee, small wine bars and the two design hotels in a former Soviet printing house. Here's what you need to know about Vera Park, Kiacheli Street and the Blue Monastery, where I'd drink coffee, eat and drink wine, and whether Vera is the right base for your trip.

Where Vera is and what it feels like

Vera sits just north of Rustaveli Avenue, on the right bank of the Mtkvari. It starts at Rustaveli metro station and climbs north to Kekelidze Street, and the roundabout beyond it is where Vake begins. The neighborhood takes in the hill of Vardisubani around the old cemetery, the streets of Pikris Gora toward the river, and a lower plateau below Vera Park that looks out over the water.

What I like about Vera is that it feels lived in. The streets are narrow and lined with 19th-century red-brick houses, Soviet apartment blocks and the odd glass newcomer, and almost every corner has a small coffee shop or a wine bar with six tables. It has far fewer tourists than the Old Town and less of the late-night crowd you get at Fabrika, so it's where I'd send a friend who has already seen the postcards.

A short history of Vera

Vera is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Tbilisi, first mentioned in the 13th century. It takes its name from the Vere river, which runs along its edge into the Mtkvari and is now mostly channelled underground. In the 19th century the land belonged to the Gabashvili princes, and Vera still counted as a suburb of the city.

The building boom came at the end of that century. Vera had 27 brick factories, several steam sawmills and plenty of joiners, which is why so much of it is red brick rather than the stucco of Sololaki. The people who moved in were teachers, journalists, lawyers and artists, a professional middle class rather than the merchant families who built the grand houses down the hill.

The Soviet years added apartment blocks and big cultural buildings like the Concert Hall. After independence in 1991 the area went through a hard decade, and the revival came in the 2010s, when the old publishing house on Kostava Street became Rooms Hotel and the cafes followed.

Kiacheli Street and lower Vera

Lower Vera is the part to walk first. Start at Rose Revolution Square, next to Rustaveli metro, where a giant steel bicycle stands on the square: 8 m long and 4 m high, installed in 2011. From there, Leo Kiacheli Street runs north into the neighborhood.

Kiacheli is a street of tall 19th-century houses with arched windows, iron balconies and heavy wooden doors, some freshly restored and some still peeling. Number 10, a listed heritage building, is one of the restored ones and shows you what the whole street looked like when it was new.

Giorgi Akhvlediani Street runs alongside it, and many locals still call it by its old name, Perovskaya; its small bars and after-work wine bars fill up from early evening.

Keep going up Niko Nikoladze Street to the Estonian House at number 1, a Baltic-inspired building that looks nothing like its neighbors. On Vasil Barnovi Street, step into the courtyard at number 2 for a spiral wooden staircase; the actor Sergo Zakariadze lived in this house. And on Merab Kostava Street, look up at number 12, the Aramiants house, built in 1910 by Alexandre Ozerov, with a bear sculpture on its corner tower. Vera's houses are less showy than Sololaki's, but they belong in any walk through Tbilisi's architecture if you like brick, balconies and courtyards.

Vera Park

Vera Park is the green heart of the neighborhood, set between Kostava Street and Nikoladze Street, with its main entrance next to the Concert Hall. It's free and always open, and it's where Vera's families, dog walkers and chess players spend their afternoons.

The park holds 61 species of trees and shrubs, including cedars and oaks, which make it one of the shadiest places in central Tbilisi in July. It also has tennis courts, a sports complex with basketball and volleyball halls, a boxing ring and a chess palace where the local chess clubs meet.

Look out for the statue of Ekvtime Takaishvili, the historian who guarded Georgia's national treasures in exile, and the bust of Merab Kostava, the dissident the street outside is named after. The park also holds the graves of three pioneers of Georgian mountaineering, Aliosha, Alexandra and Simon Japaridze.

The Blue Monastery

The Blue Monastery (Lurji Monastery) sits between Nikoladze Street and Vera Park, and it's one of the oldest buildings in this part of the city. It was built in the 12th century under Queen Tamar, commissioned by Basil, a former archbishop of Kartli, and named for its blue tiled roof.

Its history is the history of Tbilisi in one building. It was damaged in a Persian invasion in the 16th century, rebuilt in the 17th as a three-aisled basilica without a dome, and owned by the Gabashvili family in the 18th. Under Russian rule in 1873 it got a round dome that had nothing to do with Georgian tradition. In Soviet times it served as a factory and then a medical museum, until it went back to the Georgian Orthodox Church in 1990. In 1995 the dome was reshaped into the conical one you see today.

It's a working church, so cover your shoulders and knees, and women should bring a scarf for their hair. For the bigger names, from Sameba to Sioni, my list of the best churches in Tbilisi covers the rest of the city.

Tbilisi Concert Hall and Kostava Street

The round building at the crossing of Melikishvili and Kostava streets is the Tbilisi Concert Hall, a rotunda designed by Ivane Chkhenkeli in 1971. It seats 2,300, and the bronze Muse sculpture by Merab Berdzenishvili stands at the entrance.

It's still a working stage for touring bands and orchestras, so check what's on during your dates if you want a bigger night of live music in Tbilisi than the bars can offer. Merab Kostava Street runs downhill from here toward Rustaveli, and it's Vera's main road: busy with traffic, lined with shops, cafes and the Stamba complex.

Stamba, Rooms and Wine Factory N1

Two of the city's best-known reuse projects sit in Vera. At 14 Kostava Street, an old Soviet publishing house now holds two hotels side by side. Rooms keeps the red brick, a vintage feel and a glasshouse Garden Bar in the courtyard.

Stamba, next door, keeps the raw concrete and steel and fills them with Cafe Stamba and its pink walls, a chocolatier, a bakery and the Tbilisi Photography and Multimedia Museum.

At the bottom of Vera, Wine Factory N1 at 1 Petriashvili Street was built in 1894 and renovated in 2017. Its cellars hold more than 30,000 bottles, and the old buildings now house several bars and restaurants around a shared courtyard. Both complexes are among Tbilisi's converted factories, and you can wander into either one without a booking.

Vera Cemetery

Vera Cemetery lies on the hill of Vardisubani above the neighborhood. It was founded in 1836, and its Holy Cross church was built in 1844 as an Armenian church, paid for by David Tamashev, and later became Georgian Orthodox. Burials stopped after 1920, and the cemetery was vandalized in the 1990s, so expect broken stones and overgrown paths.

It's a quiet, melancholy place, and the names on the surviving graves tell you who lived here: General Yeremia Artsruni, the first mayor of Tiflis, is buried here, alongside architects, linguists and philanthropists. I'd pair it with the other historic cemeteries in Tbilisi only if you like that kind of history; otherwise, Vera Park is the better use of an hour.

A walk through Vera

Here's the loop I'd do on a first afternoon in Vera. Start at Rustaveli metro and the bicycle on Rose Revolution Square, then walk up Kiacheli Street and drift across to Akhvlediani. Climb Nikoladze Street past the Estonian House to the Blue Monastery, then cut into Vera Park and leave by the main entrance at the Concert Hall.

From there, walk down Kostava Street past the Aramiants house to Stamba for a coffee in the courtyard, then cross to Zandukeli Street for dinner. If you still have legs, head down Petriashvili Street to Wine Factory N1 for a glass. The full loop, including the Wine Factory, is a little under 5 km, and I'd give it about 4 hours with stops.

If you want the view over the whole city, Mtatsminda Park is a 30 to 40 minute walk uphill from Vera, steep but doable, and the funicular brings you back down.

The best cafes in Vera

Vera has the most serious coffee scene in Tbilisi, and a cappuccino here costs 7 to 12 GEL. These are the cafes I'd go to first.

Shavi Coffee Roasters, 40 Zandukeli St

The original Shavi, opened in 2021, is where I'd have my first coffee in Vera. They roast their own beans and do hand brew and batch brew, and the signature drink is a citrus raf. A cappuccino is 10 to 12 GEL, and there's avocado toast and banana bread if you want breakfast.

Laptops are allowed only in one zone and within set hours, so it's better for a slow coffee than a working day.

Mova Maisi, 9 Zandukeli Dead End

Mova Maisi sits in a courtyard off a dead-end lane, with a greenhouse that stays heated through the winter. A cappuccino is 10 GEL, dogs are welcome and laptops are fine, which makes it my pick for a long morning.

The kitchen does proper food too, so it works for lunch as well as coffee.

OKRO Coffee Roastery, 14 Nikoladze St

OKRO opened in late 2023 and roasts on site, with a French pastry chef behind the counter and a room of graffiti and old carpets. A cappuccino is 12 GEL. It has designated laptop tables, so it's the one I'd pick for a couple of hours of work.

Pulp, 22 Janashia St

Pulp is a small neighborhood cafe that opened in 2019 and serves breakfast all day. Coffee starts at 7 GEL, the cardamom buns and sourdough are the reason to come, and it pours natural wine in the evening. It's open 09:30 to 20:00 on weekdays and to 21:00 on Friday and Saturday, and it's dog-friendly.

Two more I like: Lolita on Chovelidze Street, with an open kitchen and a queue most weekends, and RedMan Cafe near the Concert Hall for V60, Chemex, plant milks and gluten-free pastries. Vera alone could fill a list of the best cafes in Tbilisi.

Where to eat in Vera

Vera is a good place to eat well without dressing up. Dinner for two with wine at a mid-range place runs about 80 to 120 GEL.

Van Goghi, 24 Zandukeli St

Van Goghi is my first choice for a special dinner in Vera. Order the tasting menu, or pick from the salmon tartare on a potato waffle, the beef cheeks and the mini cheese khinkali with truffle. It's open daily from 13:00 to midnight.

Portions are small and the popular dishes sell out, so book and go early.

Tsiskvili Terrace

Tsiskvili Terrace has an open kitchen, two bars and a big terrace with river views, which makes it my pick for a summer evening. Order the oyster mushroom salad with pickled plums and the fried ghomi with Gurian ajika.

It's big enough for a group, and the menu covers the Georgian classics if someone at the table wants khachapuri and khinkali.

Veriko

Veriko has a terrace overlooking the garden of Wine Factory N1 and some of the best-value Georgian cooking in the area. The shkmeruli (chicken in garlic and milk sauce) and the pkhali are what I'd order.

It's the easy dinner before a glass at the Wine Factory next door.

Beletage, 6 Vashlovani St

Beletage is a restaurant inside a heritage flat, with a painted ceiling and a chandelier over the dining room. Come for the room as much as the food: it's the closest you'll get to eating in one of Vera's old apartments.

It suits a quiet dinner for two more than a big group.

Keto and Kote, Zandukeli Dead End

Keto and Kote hides at the end of a dead-end alley off Zandukeli Street and takes its name from an opera by Victor Dolidze. It's my pick for a first-night dinner: khachapuri, lobiani, khinkali and a pkhali tasting set.

Cafe Stamba, 14 Kostava St

Cafe Stamba fills the ground floor of the Stamba Hotel with pink walls and tiled floors. Order the Adjaruli khachapuri, which comes with a thinner, crispier crust than the usual, and a light, fruity cocktail from the bar. The menu leans international, and you need to reserve.

Wine bars and craft beer in Vera

Vera's bars are small and mostly about wine, which suits me. These are the five I'd pick.

Sulico Wine Restaurant, 27 Zandukeli St

Sulico opened in 2019 and lists about 130 wines, with a focus on qvevri wines made in buried clay jars. It's a wine restaurant rather than a bar, so come hungry and let the staff pair a glass with your food.

The courtyard is the place to sit on a warm evening.

Wine Boutique, 17 Eristavi-Khoshtaria St

Wine Boutique is a wine bar and shop in one, and it runs tastings. It's my pick if you want to taste a few Georgian wines side by side and then buy the bottle you liked best to take home.

Ask for an amber wine if you have never tried one.

Wine Not?, opposite Wine Factory N1

Wine Not? is an underground wine bar across the street from Wine Factory N1. Glasses start at 10 GEL, and you get 5 GEL off a bottle if you take it away.

It's the cheapest good glass in this corner of Vera, and a calm alternative to the busier Wine Factory bars.

Process Craft Beer Bar, Kostava St

Process is a tiny bar on Kostava Street opposite Stamba, pouring Georgian craft beer from NaturAle, Megobrebi, Underground, Alkhanaidze and its own taps. The styles get adventurous: tomato gose, tarragon sour, cherry ale.

It also pours chacha and Georgian cider, so a mixed group is covered. It's the best stop in Vera for craft beer in Tbilisi.

Warehouse, Stamba courtyard

Warehouse is a wine bar and shop in the Stamba courtyard: walk past the plant pergola and the entrance is on the left. There's no menu, just a few open bottles of Georgian and European wine on ice, and you can buy bottles to take away. For a longer wine night, Sololaki is a short walk downhill and holds several of the best wine bars in Tbilisi.

Shopping in Vera

Vera is the best part of town for Georgian fashion and design. Vasil Barnovi Street alone has about a dozen fashion boutiques, from established Georgian labels to young designers, and IERI stocks around 25 Georgian designers under one roof.

For homeware, White Studio Home at 18 Petriashvili Street has been making ceramics since 2013 and runs workshops.

EthnoDesign at 23 Akhvlediani Street sells crafts from across Georgia, with demonstrations. Both are good places to pick up Georgian crafts that weren't made for the tourist stalls.

For books, On the Same Page at 57 Barnovi Street is a bookshop and wine bar with art workshops on Wednesdays, and They Said Books at 10 Akhvlediani Street sells English-language books and pours Five Elephant coffee from Berlin.

Staying in Vera: who it suits

Vera is my pick for a second trip or a long stay. You're 5 to 10 minutes on foot from Rustaveli metro and the avenue, the cafes and wine bars are on your doorstep, and the streets go quiet at night. Rooms cost 60 to 350 GEL a night, guesthouses 60 to 100 GEL, and apartments 80 to 150 GEL.

Stay in Vera if you are:

• On a long stay or working remotely. Apartments are plentiful, and several cafes with laptop tables are a few minutes away.
• A couple. Quiet streets, design hotels and the city's best small wine bars.
• Back for a second trip. You've seen the Old Town, and now you want to live like a local for a week.
• Into food and coffee. Vera has more good cafes per street than anywhere else in Tbilisi.

Skip it if you are:

• On a 2-day first trip. Stay in Old Tbilisi or Sololaki so the sights are outside your door.
• Out for club nights. The techno clubs are elsewhere, and you'll be taking taxis.
• On a tight budget for a long stay. Marjanishvili and Saburtalo cost less.

Here's how Vera compares with the neighborhoods around it:

For hotels, the two names everyone knows are Rooms and Stamba at 14 Kostava Street, the two most famous of the city's luxury hotels. For something smaller, Lowell is a 3-star with 11 rooms a few minutes from Rustaveli metro, and Nini's Lofts on Melikishvili Street has self-catering lofts with terraces.

Hotel Pavo is the budget pick in lower Vera. Vera, Sololaki and the Old Town are the 3 areas I'd weigh up first when deciding where to stay in Tbilisi.

Getting to Vera

The easiest way in is the Tbilisi metro to Rustaveli station, 1 GEL a ride, which leaves you at the bottom of Kiacheli Street. From the Old Town it's about a 15-minute walk via Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue, or a 6 to 8 GEL taxi on Bolt or Yandex Go.

From the airport, 18 km away, a taxi to Vera costs about 20 to 30 GEL. Within the neighborhood you walk, but give yourself time on the upper streets around Vera Park, which are steeper than they look on the map.