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6 Days – North, South and West
From the high Caucasus to the cave cities and on toward Kutaisi.
Departure
Tbilisi
Duration
6 Days
Price from
€
Currency: Georgian Lari (GEL / ₾). Cards accepted in cities; cash useful in smaller towns.
SIM Cards: Available at the airport and in cities (Magti, Beeline, Cellfie). eSIM also offered.
Time Zone: GMT +4.
Visa: Many nationalities (EU, US, Canada, UK, etc.) enjoy visa-free entry for up to one year.
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
Few images say 'Georgia' like Gergeti Trinity Church standing alone at 2170 m against the glaciers of Mount Kazbek. The drive itself, along the Georgian Military Highway, is one of the world's great mountain roads, past fortresses, gorges and the high Gudauri bowl. In Stepantsminda the air is thin and the light changes by the minute, so every visit produces a different photograph. Whether you come for a day or stay the night, this is the Caucasus at its most iconic, and it never disappoints.
In the 12th century Queen Tamar's builders carved an entire city into a cliff above the Mtkvari: thirteen floors of dwellings, chapels, refectories and wine cellars, home to thousands of monks. An earthquake later sliced the mountain open, exposing the honeycomb you climb through today. Frescoes from Georgia's golden age still glow in the rock-cut Church of the Dormition. Walking its tunnels and stairways, with swallows wheeling over the valley below, feels like entering a legend that happens to be real.
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.
TOUR ITINERARY
DAY
1
Tbilisi city tour and old Mtskheta
The morning belongs to Tbilisi: the Old Town lanes, the cable-car ride up to Narikala fortress and the brick domes of the sulphur-bath district. In the afternoon we drive twenty minutes to Mtskheta, the country's ancient capital, to stand in UNESCO-listed Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and look down on the meeting of two rivers from the clifftop Jvari Monastery. It is a compact first day that spans fifteen centuries of Georgian history.
Overnight in:
Tbilisi
DAY
2
Kazbegi overnight
We leave the capital on the Georgian Military Highway, stopping at Ananuri fortress above the turquoise Zhinvali reservoir and at the Friendship Monument viewpoint with its sweeping mountain panorama. By afternoon we are in Stepantsminda, the small town lying right beneath Mount Kazbek, with time to settle in and watch the light change on the peak. Depending on timing we go up to Gergeti Trinity Church today or save it for the calm of the morning.
Overnight in:
Stepantsminda
DAY
3
Gergeti and return
We go up to Gergeti Trinity Church early, before the day-trip crowds, when the morning light on Mount Kazbek is at its best. There is time for a walk around Stepantsminda and a mountain coffee before we start back down the Military Highway, stopping for photographs wherever the road insists. We are back in Tbilisi by late afternoon.
Overnight in:
Tbilisi
DAY
4
Uplistsikhe and Borjomi
We follow the Mtkvari valley to Uplistsikhe, one of the oldest settlements in the Caucasus, an entire town of halls, wine cellars and a theatre carved into a riverside cliff. From there the road climbs into the forested Borjomi gorge, where an evening stroll through the mineral-water park, tasting the lightly sparkling water at its source, closes the day. Overnight in Borjomi.
Overnight in:
Borjomi
DAY
5
Vardzia and Akhaltsikhe
We follow the Mtkvari gorge south to Vardzia, the 12th-century cave city of Queen Tamar: thirteen levels of tunnels, chapels and wine cellars carved into the cliff, with frescoes still vivid in the rock church. In the afternoon we explore Rabati Castle in Akhaltsikhe, a restored fortress mixing Georgian, Ottoman and Persian styles, and stay the night in town.
Overnight in:
Akhaltsikhe
DAY
6
Kutaisi and Martvili
A western finale: Gelati Monastery's golden mosaics above Kutaisi, then a boat ride through the marble narrows of Martvili Canyon. In the afternoon we cross the Rikoti pass back to Tbilisi, arriving in the evening, a long day that stitches the whole country together.
Overnight in:
Price Includes
• Professional licensed guide
• Comfortable air-conditioned transport
• Entrance fees as per itinerary
• Hotel pickup and drop-off
Price Doesn't Include
• Accommodation (unless stated)
• Lunches and dinners
• Personal expenses
• Travel insurance
Book now or contact us directly
3, Nina Khubulava Street
Tbilisi, 0190 Georgia
+995 500 88 77 58