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Tbilisi
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'''Tbilisi''' (or Tblisi, Tiflis) is the capital of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and the country's largest city.
== Hitching out ==
=== Northwest towards [[Gori]], [[Kutaisi]], [[Samtredia]] or North towards [[Gudauri]], [[Russia]], [[Vladikavkaz]] === The best way out of Tbilisi depends where you currently are in the city. Basically anywhere along the road north from Tbilisi will work well for hitchhiking. Bus routes are on google maps but marshrutkas are not, so if you haven't learned how to read Georgian yet, you might find it easiest to take a bus to the spot. Not far from Tbilisi, the road splits, with one direction going towards Kutaisi and Batumi and the other way towards Gudauri and Russia.
1. A great hitchhiking spot is about 200 meters after Tbilisi Mall. Look for the hitchwiki sticker on a sign post just before the gas station. There's plenty of space for a car to pull over and everybody driving past that point is going out of the city. It's quite common to encounter other hitchhikers here but even so, it's Georgia, you won't wait long. Several marshrutkas go to Tbilisi Mall and it's even possible to hitchhike there from in the city. Look for marshrutkas 44, 51, 87, 60, 116, 117, or bus 121 to Tbilisi Mall. If you're really in a hurry, taxis to the mall are 10-15 lari from the city center. You can take Marshrutka 121 for example from Didube metro station. Its very easy from all over the city. 2. Another spot is accessible by bus 14 from the center (Rustaveli metro station, among others). The bus is very slow but also very cheap (50 tetri in 2017). Get off at the stop Agmashenebeli Ave #12 (stop ID 1179), continue walking forward across the big intersection, and hitchhike anywhere. There is still some local traffic at this point but nearly everyone going out of the city also drives by here, so you won't wait long. Make sure not to miss the stop or else the bus will turn around and you'll be faced with the choice to walk quite a ways or run across the quite busy highway (well, sometimes standing in the median of the highway with no clear way to the other side is a good way to get cars to stop for you....your choice). 3. One hitchhiking point is not far about 2km from the ''Didube'' metro/bus station, near the statue of David the Builder on horseback. This spot is along the same road as the previous two, just closer to the city (meaning you have more taxis and city traffic, but it's very easy to get to Didube from anywhere in the city).
[[File:tbilisinorth.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Hitchhikers going north from the turn off the Mtskheta road]]
=== East towards the airport and [[Telavi]] ===
Take bus or minibus to the 'Lilo' market, from 'Samgori' metro station. From there it's quite easy to hitchhike.
Also you can take airport bus from the "Station Square" (main station) and leave it before airport turn (you will see big statue and bridge). Bus turns to the right and if you missed the turn it is no problem, you will walk about 50 m. back to the road.
Second option:
Take bus 37 towards the Airport. The bus leaves the city and goes east on the Kakheti highway. After some time on the highway the bus will turn right onto Europe Street (the road to the Airport). At the highway intersection there is a big statue on a column on the left window of the bus. Get out at the first stop and walk back to the Kakheti Highway (about 500 metres). You can hitch there or walk for 5 mins to the traffic light and a gas station. This highway is quite busy with cars. Waiting time could be long, because of the volume of traffic, with many cars not going directly east. The further down the Highway you get/walk the better.
=== Southeast towards [[Rustavi]], [[Merneuli]], [[Armenia]] and [[Azerbaijan]] ===
{{IsIn|Georgia (country)}}