Living in Tbilisi for 3 months or more: a checklist

A few months in Tbilisi means a flat in an old building or a new block, a monthly budget, a hilly walk home and a real winter. This is the list we'd start from.

Before you go

• Check entry rules and how long you can stay for your passport with an official source.
• Get health insurance that covers the whole stay. Many travel policies cap trip length.
• Ask whether working remotely while you're there has any tax or registration side for you, and check with an official source.
• Book the first two to four weeks short-term, then look for a monthly flat once you've walked the areas.
• Tell your bank you'll be away and carry a card without foreign transaction fees.
• Decide what happens to your home, mail and car while you're gone.

First week

• Get a local SIM or eSIM.
• Get a transit card for the metro and buses, or check whether your bank card works at the gates.
• Save 112 as the emergency number, and find the nearest pharmacy and clinic.
• Install a ride app. It's usually easier than agreeing a taxi fare.
• Take care crossing roads. Use underpasses where there are some.
• If you're there in winter, ask how the flat is heated and roughly what gas and electricity cost.

While you're there

• Log spending by month against a budget. Rent is usually most of it.
• Keep an eye on the date your permitted stay ends.
• Plan side trips while you have time: Mtskheta, Kazbegi, Sighnaghi and Kakheti, Borjomi, Batumi.

Wrapping up

• Give notice on your rental in writing and agree how the deposit comes back.
• Cancel the SIM, utilities and any local subscriptions.
• Book the flight out before your permitted stay runs out.

Neighbourhoods people look at

Vake · Vera · Sololaki · Mtatsminda · Saburtalo · Chugureti · Old Tbilisi

Which suits you depends on budget, noise and how you get around. Cojourn's assistant can compare them for your stay.