Tbilisi Market & Bakery Morning Walk: Dezerter Bazaar, Tone Bread & Khinkali
Day tour
Food tour
Standard
Departure point
→
Destination
Tbilisi, Georgia
Tbilisi
1N (Participation Duration)
Walking (Transportation)
English (Language)
Number of participants 0/10
0 booked
Tour description
Georgian food is one of the great undiscovered cuisines of Europe, and Dezerter Bazaar is where it comes from. The market is loud, cheap, entirely local and finished by mid-afternoon, which is why this tour starts at half past eight.
Your guide walks you through it properly: Svaneti salt, a blend of garlic, coriander, fenugreek and chilli from the high mountains; sulguni and guda cheeses; blue fenugreek and marigold, the two spices that make Georgian food taste Georgian; walnut paste; and churchkhela, strings of nuts dipped repeatedly in grape must until they set into a candle shape. You taste as you go.
Then bread. Shoti is slapped onto the wall of a clay tone oven and hooked out minutes later, still blistering, and eating one straight from the oven with a piece of sulguni is one of the best things you can do in this country.
We finish with khinkali, the soup dumpling pinched into a topknot that you hold by the knot, bite, drink the broth from and never eat the knot - your guide will show you - and lobiani, bean-stuffed bread, with a small qvevri wine tasting.
Small group, maximum 10 guests.
Your guide walks you through it properly: Svaneti salt, a blend of garlic, coriander, fenugreek and chilli from the high mountains; sulguni and guda cheeses; blue fenugreek and marigold, the two spices that make Georgian food taste Georgian; walnut paste; and churchkhela, strings of nuts dipped repeatedly in grape must until they set into a candle shape. You taste as you go.
Then bread. Shoti is slapped onto the wall of a clay tone oven and hooked out minutes later, still blistering, and eating one straight from the oven with a piece of sulguni is one of the best things you can do in this country.
We finish with khinkali, the soup dumpling pinched into a topknot that you hold by the knot, bite, drink the broth from and never eat the knot - your guide will show you - and lobiani, bean-stuffed bread, with a small qvevri wine tasting.
Small group, maximum 10 guests.
Meeting point:
View on map
Station Square metro station, Dezerter Bazaar entrance, Tbilisi
We meet at the Dezerter Bazaar entrance beside Station Square metro on the red line. Your guide will have a small sign with your name.
Detailed itinerary
Stop 1 - Dezerter Bazaar: The city's main market, at its best before eleven. Your guide walks you through Svaneti salt, blue fenugreek, marigold, walnut paste and the mountain cheeses, tasting as you go.
Stop 2 - Churchkhela: Strings of walnuts dipped repeatedly in thickened grape must until they set - Georgia's oldest sweet, and often called the original energy bar.
Stop 3 - Tone bakery: Shoti bread slapped onto the wall of a clay well oven and hooked out minutes later, eaten hot with sulguni cheese. This is a morning-only stop; the bakeries sell out.
Stop 4 - Lobiani and mchadi: Bread stuffed with spiced beans, and cornbread cooked on a griddle, eaten with cheese.
Stop 5 - Khinkali: Soup dumplings pinched into a topknot, twenty folds or more. Your guide will teach you how to eat one without wearing it.
Stop 6 - Qvevri wine tasting: Three small pours of wine fermented in clay vessels buried in the ground, a method 8,000 years old and still in use, with your guide on amber wine.
Stop 7 - Coffee and a sweet: A last stop for coffee and pelamushi or a Georgian pastry, with your guide's notes on eating in Tbilisi.
Stop 2 - Churchkhela: Strings of walnuts dipped repeatedly in thickened grape must until they set - Georgia's oldest sweet, and often called the original energy bar.
Stop 3 - Tone bakery: Shoti bread slapped onto the wall of a clay well oven and hooked out minutes later, eaten hot with sulguni cheese. This is a morning-only stop; the bakeries sell out.
Stop 4 - Lobiani and mchadi: Bread stuffed with spiced beans, and cornbread cooked on a griddle, eaten with cheese.
Stop 5 - Khinkali: Soup dumplings pinched into a topknot, twenty folds or more. Your guide will teach you how to eat one without wearing it.
Stop 6 - Qvevri wine tasting: Three small pours of wine fermented in clay vessels buried in the ground, a method 8,000 years old and still in use, with your guide on amber wine.
Stop 7 - Coffee and a sweet: A last stop for coffee and pelamushi or a Georgian pastry, with your guide's notes on eating in Tbilisi.
Tour price includes
• Small-group English-speaking local food guide (maximum 10 guests)
• All food tastings listed in the itinerary
• A three-pour qvevri wine tasting, or soft drinks if you prefer
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout
• All taxes and service fees
• All food tastings listed in the itinerary
• A three-pour qvevri wine tasting, or soft drinks if you prefer
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout
• All taxes and service fees
Tour price excludes
• Hotel pick-up and drop-off unless stated
• Additional drinks beyond those included
• Personal travel insurance
• Tips for your guide (appreciated but never expected)
• Meals and purchases outside the programme
• Additional drinks beyond those included
• Personal travel insurance
• Tips for your guide (appreciated but never expected)
• Meals and purchases outside the programme
Cancellation policy
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour start time for a full refund. Cancellations within 24 hours are non-refundable. Tours run rain or shine; the bazaar is largely covered.
Other notes
Runs daily at 08:30. The start time is set by the market and the bakeries: Dezerter thins out after about three in the afternoon and the tone bakeries sell out by late morning. An afternoon version of this tour would not work and we do not offer one.
Entry requirement: since 1 January 2026 all visitors to Georgia must hold health and accident insurance with a minimum of 30,000 GEL of cover. Please make sure you have it before you travel - you can be refused entry without it.
On a full supra: the traditional Georgian feast, with a tamada leading toasts, runs three to four hours and involves a great deal of wine. It is wonderful and it is not compatible with a walking tour. Ask us and we will arrange one separately.
Demonstrations have been taking place on Rustaveli Avenue most evenings since late 2024. They are generally peaceful, but our routes avoid Rustaveli in the evening as a matter of course. This morning tour is not affected.
Cash: the bazaar and budget venues are cash only in Georgian lari, although most restaurants take cards.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead. Georgia is outstanding for vegetarians - there is a whole tradition of walnut and vegetable dishes built around the Orthodox fasting calendar.
About 2 km of walking, some of it on uneven market floors.
Entry requirement: since 1 January 2026 all visitors to Georgia must hold health and accident insurance with a minimum of 30,000 GEL of cover. Please make sure you have it before you travel - you can be refused entry without it.
On a full supra: the traditional Georgian feast, with a tamada leading toasts, runs three to four hours and involves a great deal of wine. It is wonderful and it is not compatible with a walking tour. Ask us and we will arrange one separately.
Demonstrations have been taking place on Rustaveli Avenue most evenings since late 2024. They are generally peaceful, but our routes avoid Rustaveli in the evening as a matter of course. This morning tour is not affected.
Cash: the bazaar and budget venues are cash only in Georgian lari, although most restaurants take cards.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead. Georgia is outstanding for vegetarians - there is a whole tradition of walnut and vegetable dishes built around the Orthodox fasting calendar.
About 2 km of walking, some of it on uneven market floors.
Detailed price list
| Guest type | Price |
|---|---|
| 大人 | $55 |
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