It seems that everyone loves the country of Georgia. You can barely mention it without people piping up to say how startlingly beautiful the Caucasus mountain villages are, or raving about meats grilled over grapevines, the generous use of walnuts and pomegranates, or internationally beloved acharuli khachapuri, fresh baked cheesebread with a raw egg on top. But what they may leave out is how cheap it is — especially true since the lari has lost 20 percent of its value since last summer.

Most trips to Georgia start in Tbilisi, the capital city of a million or so that for American travelers is both reassuringly familiar and genuinely exotic. The streets could be European, but what’s that gorgeous alphabet the signs are written in? The national religion is Christian, but women cover their heads in churches with no pews. Georgians love bread and cheese but sometimes crack a raw egg over it.

You could spend money in Tbilisi, but you’d have to go out of your way. Alas, the one thing I would have paid for, I couldn’t: the overcast, drizzly weather I encountered in late February. For 7 lari ($3.21 at 2.18 lari to the dollar), though, I was able to switch to powdery snow — by hopping a bus up into the mountains. (For more on getaways from the capital, see last week’s column on the eastern region of Kakheti.)

Here are some tips on getting the most out of the already frugal traveler-friendly city.

Lodging

You could pay $200 and change at the Courtyard by Marriott looking out on Freedom Square and its gilded statue of St. George atop a pillar. But in the eight-plus years since the statue went up (which was, in turn, 15 years after a statue of Lenin was torn down) affordable guesthouses have opened across Tbilisi, including ones right near the square. I stayed in Tina’s House, tucked away on a nearby residential street, for 70 lari a night including breakfast. The Muradashvili family has lived there for decades; it’s full of portraits painted by Tina’s nephew, and clocks collected by her husband, Zviad. The beds at the Marriott are better, but the guesthouse is also close to the metro and a 10-minute walk to the old city.