Vake or Pekin Street to live?

manolo1 New member

Member since 26 August 2016

manolo1New member16 October 2016 10:37:38

Hello there,

I am going to be living in Tbilisi for a few months soon, and I have found 2 apartments that I really like.

1 apartment is on Pekin Street, and it is a bit cheaper than the other one in Vake by $50.

I love both apartments, so what I am going to base the decision on is location. Most importantly I want a neighborhood that has affordable markets and restaurants, and also is centrally located so I can easily reach the other areas of the city. I have heard Vake is nice, but I also read that the only restaurants there are catered to foreigners and so there are not much local Georgian places to eat. And that most of the restaurants are expensive because its a high end neighborhood.聽 Is this true? Or is it possible to find locally priced restaurants in Vake?

Any advice you can offer as to which location would be more appealing to you would be a great help.

thank you!

LiaLuna New member

Member since 25 April 2015

LiaLunaNew member17 October 2016 12:09:07

I live in Vake and there's a large Smart Market nearby, mini markets, caf茅s, banks, bars, etc. The only thing that bugs me is there's no metro nearby and you have to walk a ways to the bus depending on where in Vake you live, but I just use a taxi service and order a car when I need to go somewhere. It's a quiet area compared to others. I'm up on the mountain, so no loud cars or anything and beside Vake Park and Turtle Lake. Pekini Street is very busy, much more going on over there, and a bit louder, but buses and the metro are closer, I think.

manolo1 New member

Member since 26 August 2016

manolo1New member19 October 2016 05:50:53

thanks for the info! Very helpful!

orkunoner Member

Member since 22 October 2016

orkunonerMember03 November 2016 20:38:35

Vake is beautiful

An.Lee Member

Member since 13 November 2016

An.LeeMember13 November 2016 14:11:29

Pekini street zona is more affordable for many reasons. I would choose that.
The zona Vake is considered more prestigious and that's why usually costs more. That is all.

Ckang Member

Member since 13 November 2016

CkangMember27 November 2016 08:08:28

It is true that there are a lot of restaurants in Vake that have a larger foreign presence, but also remember that there's not a ton of foreigners here. Even at the "higher end" restaurants, depending on the day/night, there would only be a few non-Georgians in the place. Georgia is a fairly cheap place and the difference between expensive and cheap is usually just a few dollars (at least for now). Great time to move to Tbilisi. Also note that the city is small and if you can time the traffic (a hard thing to do with so many cars on the street now), you can get to most parts of town fairly quickly and for between 3-10 lari (2-4 dollars). Much cheaper if you use marshrutkas...

And yes there are local restaurants in the Vake area. I'd pick Vake, Pekini is busy like LiaLuna said. Vake is busy as well but there's a lot more to do and see in Vake.