Georgia

Tbilisi (named for the warm sulphur springs that have been used since the 5th century) has one of the most romantically dilapidated old towns in the Caucasus — carved wooden balconies overhanging cobblestone streets, the Narikala fortress above, the Metekhi Church on the cliff. The Abanotubani (Sulphur Bath District) for a traditional Georgian bath.

💡 The Tbilisi sulphur baths (domed brick buildings above natural hot springs, 35–43°C, distinct smell of hydrogen sulphide) have been continuously operating since the 5th century. The baths inspired Pushkin, Dumas and Lermontov. A private room for two costs GEL 10–40/hour.

The Simon Janashia National Museum (archaeological collection from 8,000 BCE, including the 1.8 million-year-old Dmanisi hominid skulls — the oldest human remains found outside Africa) and the Ethnographic Museum (open-air, 70 traditional buildings relocated from across Georgia). The evening in Rustaveli Avenue wine bars — Georgia is the birthplace of wine.

💡 The Dmanisi skulls (found 1.8 million years ago in the Caucasus foothills) pushed back the accepted date for human migration out of Africa by 600,000 years. The discovery is among the most significant in palaeoanthropology — the skulls are on display at the Tbilisi National Museum.

2h30 from Tbilisi via the Georgian Military Highway (the most spectacular drive in the country, through gorges and over the Jvari Pass at 2,379m). Kazbegi (Stepantsminda) — the Gergeti Trinity Church (14th century, perched on a 2,170m cliff directly below Mount Kazbegi at 5,047m) is the defining image of the Georgian Caucasus.

💡 The Gergeti Trinity Church hike (1h30 each way from Kazbegi village, 600m vertical) is the single most rewarding walk in Georgia — the path rises through pine forest and emerges above the cloud layer with the church below and Kazbegi’s glaciers above. Accessible by 4WD on the road or on foot.

2h from Tbilisi. Kakheti is Georgia’s wine region — the Alazani Valley, the Telavi wine town, and the qvevri (clay jar buried in the earth) winemaking tradition that has been practised here for 8,000 years. UNESCO included Georgian qvevri winemaking on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013.

💡 Georgia is the birthplace of wine — archaeological evidence of grape cultivation and wine production from the Neolithic period (6000 BCE) has been found in the Caucasus. The qvevri method (fermenting with grape skins in sealed clay jars buried in the earth for 6 months) produces the distinctive amber wines now celebrated internationally.

25 min from Tbilisi. Mtskheta (UNESCO World Heritage Site) was the capital of the Georgian Kingdom from the 3rd century BCE — the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (11th century, the most important religious building in Georgia, built over the burial site of Christ’s robe according to tradition) and the Jvari Monastery (6th century, the prototype for all subsequent Georgian ecclesiastical architecture, directly above the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers).

💡 Jvari Monastery (“Holy Cross”, 590 CE) gave its name to the opening stanza of Lermontov’s narrative poem “The Demon” (1841): “Where Aragva merges with the Kura, there stands the ancient monastery.” The view from the monastery over the confluence and Mtskheta below is unchanged since the 6th century.

3h from Tbilisi. Kutaisi (Georgia’s second city) and the Gelati Monastery (12th century, UNESCO World Heritage Site, built by King David the Builder — the finest medieval Georgian royal monastery, with the mosaic of the Virgin in the apse and the tomb of the king himself beneath the main entrance portal).

💡 King David IV (David the Builder, 1073–1125) unified and enlarged the Georgian Kingdom to its greatest historical extent. He asked to be buried beneath the main entrance to Gelati so that every visitor would walk over his grave — an act of humility entirely at odds with his considerable military achievements.

1h flight from Kutaisi to Mestia, or 6h drive. Svaneti — a high Caucasian valley (1,400–2,500m) with medieval defensive towers (the Svan towers, built from the 9th–13th centuries as family fortresses), preserved pre-Christian and Christian religious artefacts and the finest trekking in the Caucasus. Fly back to Tbilisi.

💡 The Svan towers (230 in Mestia alone) were built as defensive family compounds — the Svans retreated inside and sealed the ground floor when threatened. The towers are 20–28m tall, built from unmortared stone, and have stood for 800–1,000 years without maintenance.