The best Sulfur Baths in Tbilisi – you can’t visit the capital without visiting them

One of the most sought after sights of Tbilisi are sulfur baths, which have no analogues anywhere in the world. They involve thermal springs created by nature itself. The poet Joseph Grishashvili said that being in Tbilisi and not going to the sulfur baths is like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower. This phrase has become a catchphrase.

They are similar to simple public ones with the difference that the water is supplied from sulfur springs located underground. It is already warm and has a peculiar smell of hydrogen sulfide. When going on vacation to Georgia, it would not be superfluous to worry about treatment issues: here these concepts are easily compatible and complementary.

Their architecture deserves special consideration: they are made in the form of large semi-basements under stone domes. In former times, constant twilight reigned in them, slightly diluted by slanting sunlight from the window. Now everything is lit by electricity.

How did the baths appear?

According to legend, the foundation of Tbilisi itself is connected with sulfur springs. The name of the city goes back to the Georgian “tbili” (the ancient sound is “tfili”), which means “warm”.

The initial discovery of the springs is associated with the hunt of King Vakhtang Gorgasali near the Tsavkisistskhali River (2nd half of the 5th century).
Today this river crosses the Botanical Garden and continues its path under Aliyev Square.
The story goes that the king shot a pheasant, and it fell into a spring. What happened next, opinions differ. One version says that the pheasant’s wound healed, another says that it was simply boiled. The versions agree on one thing: the king was so impressed that he wanted to move the capital to this place. So Mtskheta remained only a spiritual center, and all state affairs moved to Tbilisi. Historians date the oldest discovered baths to the 1st-2nd centuries. Already at that time, a ceramic pipeline was installed that filled deep fonts carved into the rock, lined with locker rooms along the edges. The covered buildings were first erected in the 16th century and were lavishly decorated with mosaics, imitating the Persian fashion of the time. Time has not always been kind to them: more than once the baths have been destroyed, rebuilt, and modified.

Once upon a time, they were the center of all public affairs of the city: in addition to washing and relaxing here, people learned the latest news, shared information, negotiated and made new acquaintances.

Benefits and harms

Many people think that this is simply about harmless entertainment or a kind of relaxing procedure. However, this is not quite true. The water temperature is very high: at the outlet of the spring it is above 40 °C, and it also has a very rich chemical composition. The hydrogen sulfide admixture can reach up to 150 mg/l and practically never falls below 50 mg/l.

In fact, this is a serious medical procedure used for:

• getting rid of skin problems;
• cleansing the body of toxins;
• vascular stimulation;
• improving blood circulation;
• healing of joints and cartilage tissue.

And this is not a complete range of problems that can be solved here. The state of the nervous system, strengthening the immune system, giving vigor and energy - all these points can be influenced by this method.

However, as with any drug, overdosing can be dangerous. You can stay inside without a break for more than 15 minutes. After this, be sure to take at least a 5-minute break. Do not make more than 4 visits during the day.

Those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases should be even more careful. Exceeding the recommended time may result in overheating. The procedure cannot be performed for asthma, liver and kidney problems, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis and cancer.

Rooms and their prices

At different times, up to 60 sulfur baths could function simultaneously in Tbilisi. About 10 complexes, built mainly from the 17th century, have survived to this day. to the 19th century

The best examples are located in the Abanotubani area . This place itself envelops you with a special atmosphere and pleases with its unique landscape. Since the structures themselves are hidden underground, only brick domed roofs topped with small turrets go outside.

Orbelianovskaya (Motley)

Located at: st. Abano, 2.

Information can be obtained by phone. +995-322-93-00-93, and also on the website: www.chreli-abano.ge. Room prices range from 50–150 GEL, there are a couple of VIP rooms (300 and 500 GEL).

Local residents consider this bath to be the best. It is also called “variegated” or “blue”. In Abanotubani it is noticeably different from the others both outside and inside. Only it resembles an Arabic-style building, beautifully decorated with mosaics in shades of blue. Initially, the baths belonged to the sphere of influence of the Azerbaijanis, which explains this unique design.

The entrance is crowned with a plaque with carved words of the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin. Having visited the local baths, he left the following impressions: “I have never seen anything more luxurious than the Tiflis baths.” Alexandre Dumas also visited here once, so two personal rooms remained named in honor of these famous persons.

The service here is truly superior to the rest. The arrangement of premises, the level of personnel, and all other characteristics do not lag behind. For a comfortable stay in a pleasant environment, you should definitely choose this one out of all the baths. However, there is also a minus: a high fee for visiting - 1 hour of renting a hall will cost about 120 GEL (about 47 US dollars). To save a little, it’s better to go with a group, then the rental cost will be shared by everyone and won’t look so intimidating.

The decoration of the rooms focuses on beautiful oriental motifs. A special room with hermetically sealed insulation is allocated for the locker room. This allows you to keep things dry, despite the high humidity in the rest of the room. Other baths are more modestly equipped. There is also a spacious hallway, equipped with a comfortable seating area, so that you have somewhere to go during the necessary breaks.

Rubber slippers are not provided, but disposable ones are offered for sale for 2.5 lari ($1). Remember that their soles are slippery and walking in them on wet surfaces is inconvenient and sometimes dangerous, so try to bring your own slates with you. In addition, you can find towels and sheets at the administrator, as well as purchase soap (for the same price as slippers).

The air inside is extremely warm, rarely does anyone manage to stay for a long time - you want to hurry out of the heat into fresher air. The water is so hot that it is difficult to sit in it even for 15 minutes. However, it is easier to enter than “Gulo”, perhaps due to the fact that in Orbelianovskaya the temperature difference between water and air is not so noticeable.

Customers are offered a rich menu of drinks and snacks that can be ordered by phone. Soft drinks cost a little more than in city stores - about 3-4 dollars. Before the end of the paid time, employees call to remind you how many minutes are left.

Tbilisi sulfur baths - description and recommendations, personal experience, reviews

According to some sources, in different historical periods there were up to 60 sulfur baths in the city. About 10 complexes have survived to this day, most of them were built during the 17th century. to the 19th century

The area where the best sulfur baths in Tbilisi are located is called Abanotubani. This is a very unusual atmospheric place with a characteristic landscape that is unlike anything else. The main part of the baths is located underground in semi-basements. Only their roofs are located on the surface of the earth - they are round domes made of bricks with small turrets on top.

Through small arched windows, scant sunlight enters the premises. Previously, this was the only lighting in the baths, but today they are fully illuminated with electricity.

• The baths have common rooms, which are divided into men's and women's, and there are individual rooms. The public baths have sections with and without steam rooms, a swimming pool and showers with hot sulfur water and a relaxation room. Individual rooms can be rented for recreation by a group of 2 to 15 people. Each bathhouse has its own set of options; I will discuss each of them in detail below.
• Additional services include rejuvenating peeling with a special “kiso” washcloth, massage, at the entrance you can rent bath accessories, purchase detergents - shampoo, soap in disposable packages, as well as hot tea and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Almost all baths have common rubber slippers.
• As a rule, the time spent in all public halls is not limited - you can sit there all day long. The baths are open from 7.00 am to 21.00 pm. Individual rooms in the baths are available around the clock; it is better to make an appointment in advance to be sure to get in.
• There is a strong smell of hydrogen sulfide inside all baths. At first it literally knocks you off your feet, but after 5-10 minutes you get used to it and completely stop noticing it. After the visit, the characteristic smell remains on the hair and body for some time, but then disappears.
• The higher the temperature of the water, the more healing it is. In hot water, hydrogen sulfide is most active; it penetrates through the skin and lungs into the body and has a beneficial effect on it. Before the bath, you need to wash yourself well - through clean skin, beneficial substances are absorbed much better.
• Hydrogen sulfide neutralizes most harmful microorganisms. But if you pay special attention to hygiene, then it is not a bad idea to take into account that the water in the pools is not changed often - as a rule, on the night from Sunday to Monday. Therefore, the best time to visit the bathhouse is Monday morning. In addition, in the morning the water in the pools is often hotter than in the evening. And if you decide to order a bath attendant, then make sure that he takes a fresh washcloth.
• An important recommendation: before visiting the bathhouse, you must remove all jewelry, especially silver. Hydrogen sulfide oxidizes silver, it instantly turns black and then is almost impossible to clean.

Before going to the Tiflis baths for the first time, I conducted a survey among my acquaintances and friends from Tbilisi to find out which one they considered the best. Almost unanimously everyone called the Orbelian bathhouse.

Opinions were divided regarding the second place in the ranking. Some called the bathhouse “King Erekli”, others preferred “Gulo”, several people recommended “Bathhouse No. 5”. Still, there were more votes in favor of Gulo, so I decided to visit her and Orbelianovskaya. Since the common rooms in the baths do not differ much in price and surroundings, I was interested in comparing individual rooms.

Orbelianovskaya bathhouse

It is also called a “motley” or “blue” bathhouse. As soon as you get to Abanotubani, you immediately pay attention to it - it stands out among all the others, both externally and internally. This is the only above-ground bathhouse, similar to an eastern Arabic building, covered with beautiful bluish mosaics. Traditionally, the baths were run by Azerbaijanis, so this design is not surprising.

At the entrance there is a sign with a saying of the great Russian classic Alexander Pushkin, who, after visiting the sulfur baths, said: “I have never seen anything more luxurious than the Tiflis baths.” In addition to Pushkin, Alexandre Dumas once visited this bathhouse, and today two individual rooms bear the names of these famous guests.

This bathhouse is truly the best in terms of service, room design, level of staff and other parameters. If you want to relax in comfort and in a pleasant environment, then this is definitely the place for you. But it is also the most expensive - for 1 hour of visiting this bathhouse I paid 120 GEL (about $47). For one person this is quite expensive, but if you come with a group, the price tag will look much nicer and will be affordable for almost everyone.

The rooms are impressively decorated, using beautiful oriental motifs. The locker room is separated into a separate room and is hermetically sealed. This is important because it allows things to remain dry, which is not the case in other bathhouses. The complex has a spacious, comfortable hallway with upholstered furniture, where you can relax during breaks between the pool.

Unlike other baths, there are no rubber slippers here, but at the reception you can buy disposable ones, their cost is 2.5 lari ($1). Please note that they are quite slippery and uncomfortable to walk on wet floors, so it is better to bring your own slippers. If necessary, you can also get towels, sheets, and buy soap at the reception. The cost is also 2.5 GEL.

The room is very warm, it’s hard to stay in it for a long time, it gets hot and you want to freshen up. The water in the pool is hot, not everyone will be able to sit in it for 15 minutes - I lasted about 12-13 minutes. However, it seemed to me that it was easier to enter this pool than the Gulo bathhouse. Maybe because in the Orbelianovskaya bathhouse the temperature difference between air and water is less.

Guests can enjoy a large and varied menu of drinks and snacks; orders can be made by phone. Prices for soft drinks are slightly higher than the city average - about $3-4. I can’t say anything about the quality of the food - I didn’t order anything. Conveniently, they call you 15 minutes before the end of the session and warn you about it.

Gulo

The entrance to this bathhouse is located a little to the side, it is inconspicuous and fewer tourists visit it. Therefore, as a rule, it is easier to get here during the hot season. The bathhouse is famous because it was visited by the British singer Sting during his visit to Georgia. Ask the administration what room he stayed in and if you are lucky, you will be able to book exactly that one.

One must assume that if Sting had arrived now, it is unlikely that he would have been taken to this bathhouse. But in those years, the Orbelian bathhouse was under reconstruction and Gulo was one of the best. Surely, the successful secluded location and convenient access to the building also played in its favor.

Prices in Gulo are much more affordable than in Motley, and in order for the comparison of these two baths to be correct, I chose one of the best and most expensive rooms in Gulo. A hall with two pools, hot and cold, cost me 70 lari (about $26).

Almost immediately upon entering, it became clear that this bathhouse was noticeably inferior to the mid-level room in Pestraya (Orbelianovskaya). The room itself is quite spacious, but its decoration is rather modest, despite the presence of a beautiful mosaic panel on the wall behind the pool.

The locker room and the hall in it are one room. If you come with a group of friends of different sexes, then changing clothes will not be very convenient. The only separate room is the toilet, but it is located at the end of the room, next to the pools, and you will have to go to it in street shoes.

If you visit the bathhouse during the cold season, the room may be quite cool. When I visited this bathhouse, it was the beginning of December, the air temperature outside was about zero degrees, and the windows in the domes were broken. The cold outside air was blowing into the room, making the pool water feel very hot. It took at least 3 minutes to completely submerge in the water. At the same time, very sharp sensations arose - the body seemed to be electrocuted, the skin was covered with goosebumps. Re-entering the pool is much easier.

But it was much easier to stay in the pool for the required 15 minutes than in the Orbelian bathhouse. After the hot water, it was very pleasant to immediately move to the adjacent pool with cold, refreshing water. Surely in the summer it is much easier to enter a hot pool with hydrogen sulfide water, and it is even more pleasant to plunge into a pool with cold water.

Bath accessories can be purchased as a set, which includes a towel, sheet and shampoo. Cost – 5 lari (about $2). There are general rubber slippers inside.

After visiting your room, you can relax in the common lounge on comfortable soft sofas. If necessary, you can cool down, dry your hair, drink tea or water. In the cold season, this is very convenient, since immediately after a bath it is not a good idea to go outside while steaming.

Bath of King Erekle

This bathhouse is located opposite Orbelianovskaya, behind the bridge. There are only 4 rooms, each with a swimming pool. But the interior decoration of the rooms in the “Tsar Erekle” bathhouse did not impress me - there was something elusive Soviet in their design. Therefore, I would put it in third place in the ranking of the best baths in Tbilisi.

The undoubted advantage of these baths is the prices. Here they are much more democratic than in the two described above, but the interior and decoration of the rooms are very modest. If you don’t want to overpay for large rooms and the ambience in the form of marble walls with mosaics is not important to you, and at the same time you don’t want to go to shared rooms - feel free to go here. The room will cost you 30-50 lari ($12-19).

Bathhouse No. 5

One of the most famous, mainly because it is cheap and convenient. It has a large common room, 2 suites and 5 private rooms with swimming pools. The bathhouse itself is divided into the sulfur bathhouse 5 and the “VIP bathhouse”. Separately, there is a regular sauna and a massage table, the cost of a massage is 10 GEL (about $3.5), and you can bargain. For some tourists, the bathhouse attendants charge 2-3 times more - don’t be provoked, it’s not worth that much.

The price of staying in a common room is 3 GEL (a little more than $1), individual rooms will cost from 55 to 80 GEL (about $20-30). The rooms are small and not fancy in design. The common room is filled with the flavor of the Soviet era, since which time no significant reconstructions have been carried out in the bathhouse. Women, perhaps, should not come here - there is no sulfur pool in the women's room, only a shower, so exercise will not be complete.

VIP bath

VIP sulfur bath is the most expensive pleasure. It only has a common room, the cost of staying in which is 150 lari per hour (about $57). It is considered the most prestigious, where the city elite and celebrities hang out.

Banya Mirzoeva

This is the only bathhouse in which the women's common room has a pool with sulfur water, it costs 2 lari (less than $1). The bathhouse itself is practically no different from the others, except, perhaps, for the increased size of the common rooms. Located in a shabby building on the street. Grishashvili.

There are several more baths - Sumbatovskaya, Bebutovskaya, Kazennaya, Banya No. 7 (or Boheme), Tsarskaya (or Royal). They are less popular, but each has its own contingent of admirers. Before visiting any bathhouse, you can go in and look around, read the price list in order to make a decision where to stay.

When visiting an individual room, there is no algorithm of actions, but if you decide to spend time in the common room, then the following awaits you. After you have decided on the choice of bathhouse, you need to go inside, go to the ticket office, and buy a ticket. Then you need to go down the stairs to the department you need, where an employee will meet you, check your ticket and show you a locker where you should put all your clothes. The locker is securely locked, the key remains with the bathhouse employee, so you don’t have to worry at all about the safety of your belongings. Then you go to the bath room, where you first take a shower, and only then can plunge into a pool of hot sulfur water. If desired, you can order peeling or massage.

Gulo

Located at: Grishashvili st., 5.

Information can be found by phone: +995-032-272-05-94, +995-577-588-122, +995-599-588-122, as well as on the website: www.thermal.ge and Facebook page ": www.facebook.com/tbilisithermalspa. A visit will cost 30–200 GEL, the most popular rooms cost 70-80.

The entrance door is located a little to the side, not immediately visible, so there are fewer visitors here, which means it is better to head here during the tourist season. Among the celebrities, singer Sting was here when he performed in Georgia. If you check with the staff which number was provided to them, you can ask them to send you to it.

It’s probably unlikely that Sting would be offered this option today. But then the Orbelianovskaya bathhouse was undergoing renovation, and the list of the best was topped by “Gulo”. Important factors must also have been the excellent location, easy access to the building and relative privacy.

The price tag here is significantly more loyal than that of Orbelianovskaya, and in order to be able to adequately compare these options, we will consider the most expensive and comfortable Gulo offices. For example, a hall with two pools: hot and cold - will cost 70 lari ($26).

Possessing sufficient space, it is decorated very modestly; the only impressive thing is the mosaic panel on the wall.

The locker room here is combined with the hall, so groups of friends of different sexes have to agree on the order. Only the toilet is a separate room, but you need to go to it at the farthest end, closer to the pools, and for this you will need to wear street shoes.

During the cold season, it can be cool inside. Even at subzero temperatures, cold air from the street can penetrate here, making the water seem unbearably hot. Entering the pool in such conditions can be difficult and not the most pleasant sensation. However, it will be easier when you enter again.

But diving for the recommended 15 minutes is much easier than with more respectable neighbors. And how nice it is to go from hot water to refreshing cold water located next door. In the hot season, plunging into hot hydrogen sulfide liquid is much easier, and rinsing in cold liquid is simply delightful.

Everything you need for bath procedures is sold as a set: towel, sheet and shampoo. All this costs 5 lari (about 2 dollars). Rubber slippers are provided, which, however, have been used by other visitors before you.

After a swim, you can still soak up the soft sofa in the common lounge. You will have time to cool down, dry your head, drink tea or water. This is especially important in cold weather, when it is so easy to catch a cold while rushing out after water treatments.

Motley or Orbelian bathhouse

A very beautiful bathhouse, both inside and outside. It stands out clearly from the rest of the baths. The bathhouse opened after reconstruction only in 2016. Everything inside is really new, which cannot be said about the other baths. And now, it seems to me, this is the most expensive bathhouse. Although there are also very budget rooms for 50 GEL per hour.

It was this bathhouse that Pushkin loved to visit (but this is not certain), as evidenced by the memorial plaque to the left of the entrance.

Memorial plaque with Pushkin’s words about his impressions of the motley bathhouse

Official website of the baths in which Pushkin and Dumas the Father loved to wash so much: chreli-abano.ge

The site also does not have a recording function, but there is a contact phone number and email address.

Bathhouse No. 5

Located on Vakhtang Gorgasali Street, 3.

You can contact us by phone: +995-322-72-20-90. Facebook page.

This bathhouse is in wide demand, mostly due to its affordable price and convenience. It has a large common room (visiting it will cost only 3 GEL per person), 2 luxury rooms and 5 personal rooms equipped with swimming pools (price: 55–80 GEL). In addition to sulfur bath No. 5, the building also has a “VIP bath”, as well as a separate sauna and massage table. A massage will cost 10 lari (about 3.5 dollars), and you can try to reduce the price even more. It happens that bath attendants ask 2-3 times more, in this case, bargain or refuse - it’s not worth it.

Small rooms do not sparkle with luxury. In the common room you can feel a slight nostalgia for the Soviet era, when renovations were last done here. There is no point in going here for women: the women's section only has sulfur showers, so you won't be able to immerse yourself.

Royal Bath

Located at: st. Grishashvili 1.

Contact phone: +995-32-272-10-66. A visit will cost 70–140 GEL. Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/samefoabano/

Tsarskaya is located immediately behind bathhouse complex No. 5, in one of the ancient buildings. The establishment does not belong to the budget category, but privacy, tranquility and silence will be pleasant bonuses.

Bathhouse "Fantasy"

“Fantasy” is located slightly above the area with all the other baths. If you walk along the street. Grishashvili and turn right in front of house number 11, then in the gateway you will see a beautiful mosaic pattern - this is the entrance.

There are no common areas here, only family rooms are available. The minimum price for them is 20 GEL, but for this money there won’t even be a swimming pool, just hydrogen sulfide showers. Therefore, it makes sense to spend a little more to get at least one container of hot water (35 GEL). More expensive rooms are also equipped with a cold pool and steam room. Before paying, ask the staff to show you the options so you can choose the one that suits you best.

Banya Mirzoeva

The only one where the women's common room is equipped with a sulfur pool (price - 5 GEL). This option is very similar to all others, except that the common rooms are a little larger in size. Located next to the Orbelian Bath and “Fantasy”, at the same address: st. Grishashvili 11 , the only difference is that this building is visible directly from the street.

Bath of King Erekle

Located at: Abano street, 2.

Contact phone: +995-322-75-21-75. It is equipped with only four separate rooms costing from 30 to 50 GEL. Each has a swimming pool.

It stands opposite the Orbelian bathhouse, but is separated from it by a bridge. The interior is quite modest and has a taste of the Soviet era. A strong argument for visiting is the affordable price: for those who are not ready to settle for a common room, but also do not want to shell out half of their cash for visiting a luxurious room, this will be the most acceptable option.

What is Abanotubani

The sulfur baths in Tbilisi are a famous and unique landmark of Georgia. This is a complex of baths called Abanotubani, built on natural sulfur springs in the 16th-19th centuries.

Sulfur baths of Abanotubani

The name Abanotubani itself comes from the merger of the Georgian words abano (i.e. bathhouse) and ubani (district). That is, literally this is the bathhouse area.

Today there are about a dozen sulfur baths in Old Tbilisi. Together they make up an entire city block. The exact time of appearance of each bath is not known, but the oldest is considered to be Iraklievskaya, known since the 16th century.

It is no coincidence that Tiflis was built on warm springs. They have always served as a swimming place for the local residents. In the Abanotubani area, archaeologists found baths of the 1st-2nd centuries, with changing rooms and mosaic pools. The city even got its name from the word tbili (or tefili), which means warm.

Sulfur baths Tbilisi:

• Motley Bath (Orbelianovskaya)
• Bathhouse No. 5
• Mirzoevsky baths (Tsarina bath + Fantasy bath)
• Bathhouse Gulo
• Royal Bath (Royal)
• Iraklievskaya bath
• VIP bathhouse (part of bathhouse No. 5)

All of these baths have traditional steam rooms (Finnish saunas and Turkish hammams), hot sulfur pools and pools filled with mineral water. Taking a dip in a cool spring after a steam room is a mandatory part of the program.

A holiday in Abanotubani will not be complete without a bathhouse attendant. For 20 GEL, they offer a classic foam peeling (about the same as in Turkish hamams). If desired, you can order any other massage: chocolate, sports, relaxing or perhaps wine.

Visiting rules and tips

When traveling to any of these locations, keep the following points in mind.

1. Choose only rooms with hydrogen sulfide pools . In economy class options there may only be a tap with special water, which, however, will not give any effect.
2. In any of these places you can get a massage for no more than 15 GEL (bargaining is appropriate).
3. You can purchase all the necessary hygiene products on the spot, but it is better to take with you everything you might need (soap, washcloth, slippers, towel and even a hairdryer).
4. Sulfur causes silver to darken , and it is almost impossible to clean it afterwards. Also remember that the characteristic smell is absorbed deeply into the skin, and for a long time others will easily guess where you have been recently.
5. When using the services of a bathhouse attendant, make sure you change the washcloth, otherwise you will simply be “washed” with a public one.
6. The effectiveness of the procedure depends on the water: it is better if it is hot. The highest temperature is usually in the morning. The steam rooms here are not as hot as in Russia, only a little hotter than in the halls themselves.
7. On Monday night the pools are drained and refilled. Most visitors quickly stop paying attention to the pungent smell of hydrogen sulfide. Once you've decided which seat to choose, go inside to the ticket office. After paying for the ticket, go downstairs - as a rule, the women's section is on the right side, and the men's section on the left.
8. Things, even valuable ones, can be left in the locker. You will give the key to the overseer. After washing in a unique shower for the best effect of the procedure, you can go to the sulfur pool or relax in the bathroom for individual guests.
9. Replenish lost moisture with aromatic tea.

Brief instructions for first-time visitors to such an establishment

1. We buy an entrance ticket at the box office. There you can also rent swimwear and purchase hygiene products for a small fee.
2. We provide the ticket to the bathhouse attendants at the entrance to a particular branch.
3. We receive the keys to a personal locker from the service staff.
4. Go to the bathhouse. In the center there is a shower with sulfur water. Wash under it until clean. There you are allowed to scrape the skin with a washcloth.
5. After your shower, soak in the sulfur bath for 5 minutes. The procedure must be repeated three to five times. This time will be quite enough to reveal the healing properties of water.
6. In between swims, relax on the warm marble sun loungers. To avoid getting bored with them, order a sponge massage.
7. After the procedures, wash thoroughly in a fresh shower, and then drink fragrant herbal tea in the relaxation room, which will be offered by the bathhouse attendant. It will restore the water balance and slightly eliminate the unpleasant smell of hydrogen sulfide.

Other recommendations:

• A ticket to the public bathhouse gives you the right to stay in it for at least the whole day. But it is better not to abuse hospitality.
• The water leaves a faint smell of rotten eggs on the skin and hair. But don’t be afraid that the locals will wrinkle their noses at the sight of you and avoid you as if you were an unscrupulous person. They know very well what sulfur baths are and what their smell is.
• Sulfur water instantly oxidizes silver. Remove jewelry before swimming.
• Immerse yourself in hydrogen sulfide water for no more than 10 minutes, and limit the number of dives to 3-5. A long stay in it will reduce the healing effect to nothing or even cause harm.
• The optimal water temperature of + 37°C is observed in the morning and in bathhouses close to the hills. It is not recommended to go there at noon, especially in winter. Better early in the morning or late in the evening.
• The water in the pools is usually changed on the night from Sunday to Monday. The common room is cleaned the least often. Therefore, you should not go there at the end of the week and especially on weekends, when literally the whole city washes there.

How to get there?

There is public transport in Abanotubani, but you can take a taxi or walk. This is the center of Tbilisi: landmarks include the Gorgasali monument, Narikala fortress , Meydan and the Peace Bridge. The domes protruding above the surface of the earth, like the helmets of soldiers holed up in a trench, will not allow you to lose your way.

When traveling by public transport, take bus No. 31, 44, 50, 55, 71, 80 or 102 and get off at the Abanotubani stop. By metro these will be the stations “Liberty Square” and “Avlabari” (a little closer from it). For a taxi ride from the outskirts you will pay 10-12 GEL (about $4).