Georgia & Armenia from Tbilisi

Arrival in Tbilisi, meeting with the guide and transfer to the hotel. After a rest we set off on a calm tour of the capital, a city layered along the Mtkvari where East and West meet.

We visit Metekhi Church on the cliff above the river, take the cable car up to Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue, and walk down to Abanotubani, the district of domed sulphur baths. Through the Old Town we reach Sioni Cathedral with the vine cross of St Nino, the 6th-century Anchiskhati Basilica, the glass Bridge of Peace and finally Rustaveli Avenue. Welcome dinner in a restaurant.

East to Kakheti, Georgia’s oldest wine region. Bodbe Monastery, among cypresses and roses, is the resting place of St Nino, and nearby Sighnaghi, the hilltop “city of love”, is enclosed by 18th-century walls with views of the Alazani valley and the Caucasus.

In the afternoon a family winery opens its marani for us: wine fermented in qvevri buried in the ground (UNESCO), tasted with home-made bread, cheese and churchkhela — amber Rkatsiteli and deep red Saperavi. Return to Tbilisi for dinner.

North along the Georgian Military Road across the Greater Caucasus. We stop at Ananuri Fortress above the turquoise Zhinvali reservoir and at the Friendship Monument above the Devil’s Valley near Gudauri.

In Stepantsminda we change to 4x4 vehicles for the ride up to Gergeti Trinity Church at 2,170 m, beneath the glaciers of Mount Kazbek (5,047 m) — the most famous view of Georgia. Lunch in Stepantsminda (own expense), then back to Tbilisi for dinner.

We check out and head west. In Mtskheta (UNESCO) we visit Jvari Monastery on the hill above the confluence of the Aragvi and Mtkvari and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, the coronation church of Georgian kings.

Next is the cave town of Uplistsikhe, carved into the sandstone from the 1st millennium BC. Over the Rikoti Pass we enter Colchis, stopping in Surami for nazuki bread from roadside ovens. Arrival in Kutaisi and dinner.

In the morning Motsameta Monastery, on a rock above the Tskaltsitela gorge, keeps the relics of two martyred princes. Then we descend into the Prometheus Cave: six illuminated halls of stalactites, petrified waterfalls and underground lakes.

In the afternoon we drive to the Black Sea. Check-in in Batumi and an evening walk along the seaside boulevard, past Europe Square and the Piazza. Dinner in a restaurant.

At 11:00 a one-hour boat trip on the Black Sea with the panorama of the city and the Adjara mountains. Then a walk through old Batumi: Europe Square with the statue of Medea and the Golden Fleece, the Piazza, the Alphabet Tower and the moving sculpture “Ali and Nino”.

The afternoon is free by the sea. Optional extras: the Botanical Garden on the Green Cape or the Roman fortress of Gonio-Apsaros. Dinner in a restaurant.

We leave the coast for the Lesser Caucasus. Borjomi, the 19th-century spa of the Romanovs, lies in a forested gorge: a walk through the spa park and a taste of the famous mineral water from the spring.

We continue to Akhaltsikhe, the capital of Samtskhe, where the illuminated walls of Rabati Castle — a fortress, mosque, synagogue and churches in one complex — glow above the town in the evening (visit optional). Dinner at the hotel.

A photo stop at Khertvisi Fortress (10th century) on a rock between two rivers, then Vardzia, the cave town carved into the valley wall in the 12th century under Queen Tamar: hundreds of chambers, tunnels and a church with original frescoes.

We cross the high Javakheti plateau and the Ninotsminda – Bavra border into Armenia. In Gyumri, Armenia’s second city, a walk through the old Kumayri district with its black tuff houses. Arrival in Yerevan in the evening and dinner.

The spiritual heart of Armenia. Echmiadzin Cathedral (UNESCO), one of the oldest cathedrals in the world, is the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians. Nearby stands St Hripsime Church (618), a masterpiece of early Armenian architecture, and the ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral (UNESCO), with Ararat on the horizon.

In the afternoon we explore Yerevan, the pink city of tuff stone: the Cascade with its sculptures and city views, the Opera House and Republic Square. Dinner in a restaurant.

Khor Virap Monastery stands above the pit where St Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned for 13 years before converting the king of Armenia — and offers the finest view of biblical Mount Ararat.

We continue to Noravank, the 13th-century monastery of red stone in the Amaghu canyon, and to the wine valley of Areni, where the world’s oldest known winery was found in a cave (tasting optional). Return to Yerevan for dinner.

Garni Temple (1st century) is the only Hellenistic temple in the Caucasus, standing above the basalt gorge of the Azat. Further up the valley, Geghard Monastery (UNESCO) is partly carved into the rock, with chapels of remarkable acoustics.

In the afternoon we drive to Lake Sevan, the “blue pearl of Armenia” at 1,900 m, and climb to the 9th-century churches of Sevanavank on the peninsula. Farewell dinner in a traditional restaurant in Yerevan.

Breakfast at the hotel (or a packed breakfast for early flights) and transfer to Zvartnots airport according to the flight schedule. End of the tour.