Self-Quest in Sololaki
With its endless charms mixing old and new, it’s very easy to fall in love with the city of Tbilisi. There’s always more to see, even if you’ve lived here for years, especially in the Georgian capital’s ancient neighborhoods like Sololaki. Considering the pandemic situation, when it’s best to stay home, and when you do dare to leave your fortress of responsible social-distancing, you need to keep away from other people, self-guided tours can be a life-saver; keeping you safely adventurous. “Quest in Sololaki” is just what you need!
Quest tour is a self-guided tour you can take in the Sololaki district of Tbilisi, needing nothing more than your mobile, and, ideally, comfortable walking shoes. As you walk through the neighborhood, you take a journey around the most luxurious places of 19th century Tbilisi, discovering the life of the Georgian elite of the time, finding clues, and solving puzzles. And you get awarded when you finish!
“Quest tour is an exciting, fun and engaging activity,” the organizers promise, and it works like this: you fill out a request at georgiantrend.com, then you receive a link to the Quest and open it on your mobile device, after which you go to the indicated starting point location, the Tbilisi City Assembly building on Liberty Square, and you follow instructions and start questing. You get asked questions, and by answering them, you find clues to move on to your next location. While some of the locations are well-known, there are surprises too, making the Quest tour all the more exciting. The highlights of the Quest-tour include the century-old houses of Sololaki; the “Italian Villa”; Tiflis Gentlemen’s Club; Beria’s Cadillac; a fight between two architects; the Siemens brothers; and fascinating tales of love and crime.
Designed mainly for tourists, the Quest language is English. You can go solo, or get together with a group of friends (up to 4) to discover one of the most beautiful districts of the Georgian capital. The more of you there are, the less the Quest costs: 15 GEL for 1 person; 20 GEL total for 2; 25 GEL total for 3 persons; 30 GEL total for 4 persons. Quest is also very kid-friendly, and the difficulties of the clues and puzzles can be customized when filling out a request to Quest.
Prize and kid-friendly conditions are not the only advantages of the Quest. The duration of the quest, as well as when you embark on your adventure, is completely adapted to your schedule: you can quest anytime during the day and take however much time you want. In between the locations, you can stop to shop, drink a cup of coffee or two, or merely just stand there, imagining you are back in the 19th century, and admire the culture, history and beauty of the district.
The 19th century is an interesting time to go back to, since it was then the rich Tbilisians competed with each other in who could build the more outstanding town houses. And, so, Tbilisi, fulfilling its constant role of merging the different origins together, became the place where new trends in architecture evolved, such as the “Caucasus Modern,” a unique style that can be particularly appreciated while taking a stroll along the narrow streets of the Sololaki district.