Kutaisi and Samegrelo

Gelati was medieval Georgia's Oxford: an academy founded in 1106 by King David the Builder, where philosophers translated and taught beneath golden mosaics. The great Virgin mosaic of the main church survives, one of the finest in the Caucasus, alongside layers of superb frescoes. David himself lies buried under the gateway stone, so that all who enter step over their king. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, for many travellers, the most moving building in western Georgia.

Martvili Canyon looks invented: jade-green water sliding between tall moss-covered walls of limestone, with waterfalls dropping straight into the gorge. Once the private bathing place of the Dadiani princes, it is now explored by inflatable boat, gliding beneath fern-hung cliffs. Wooden walkways above give a second, bird's-eye reading of the same emerald water. It is the single most photogenic half-day in Samegrelo.

Samegrelo is Georgia at its most lush: a princely region of tumbling rivers, emerald canyons, its own language and a legendary spicy cuisine. In Zugdidi the Dadiani Palace keeps one of Napoleon's three bronze death masks, brought here by marriage into the Bonaparte family. The Martvili and Balda canyons hide jade pools in the forests nearby. Come for the scenery, stay for the Megrelian table.