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Best Georgia Destinations: Tbilisi Old Town (founded 5th century), Kazbegi and Gergeti Trinity (14th century, 2,170 m), Upper Svaneti UNESCO 1996, Mtskheta UNESCO 1994, and Kakheti Wine Country (UNESCO qvevri tradition 2013)

TL;DR

I have spent close to four weeks across Georgia over two separate trips, one in late May when the wildflowers in Kazbegi were still soft and the Mtkvari river ran chocolate brown, and one in early October when the harvest in Kakheti turned every village courtyard into an open-air wine cellar. If you only have time to read one paragraph before you start booking, this is the one that will save you the most money and the most argument with your travel companions. Georgia is small, only 69,700 square kilometres, but the elevation goes from sea level on the Black Sea coast to 5,193 m at the peak of Shkhara, and the cultural layers go from the 13th century BC kingdom of Colchis to the Rose Revolution of November 2003. You can land in Tbilisi (TBS) on a flight from Istanbul for as little as USD 90 one way, clear immigration on a visa-free stamp valid for 365 days if you hold an Indian, EU, UK, US, Canadian, Australian, Japanese, Korean, Israeli, or GCC passport, and be sipping a glass of amber Rkatsiteli in the Old Town within ninety minutes of touching down. The local currency is the lari (GEL) and at the time of writing on 11 May 2026 one US dollar buys 2.71 GEL, a Bolt taxi across the centre of Tbilisi costs around 6 GEL or USD 2.20, and a bowl of khinkali dumplings in a worker's khinkhalia rarely exceeds 12 GEL or USD 4.40. The headline destinations I keep coming back to are five: Tbilisi Old Town with its sulphur bathhouses and 4th century Narikala fortress, Kazbegi village (officially Stepantsminda) with the 14th century Gergeti Trinity Church at 2,170 m staring up at the 5,047 m peak of Mount Kazbek, the Upper Svaneti UNESCO region of stone tower-houses inscribed in 1996, the former royal capital of Mtskheta with the 1010-1029 Svetitskhoveli Cathedral inscribed in 1994, and the wine region of Kakheti where qvevri winemaking was added to the UNESCO Intangible Heritage list in 2013. Add to those a second tier of Vardzia cave monastery, Uplistsikhe, Gelati and Bagrati, Borjomi, and David Gareja and you have ten anchor sites that easily fill a fortnight. Plan a 7-10 day Georgia trip.

Why Georgia matters

I find that the country sits at an unusual intersection of numbers that you do not see anywhere else in one passport stamp. The wine archaeology is the deepest in the world: in November 2017 the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirmed grape residue on neolithic pottery from the Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora sites in the Kvemo Kartli region dated to roughly 6,000 BC, pushing the timeline of domesticated viticulture to 8,000 years. In 2013 UNESCO inscribed the traditional qvevri winemaking method on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list, recognising the practice of fermenting grape juice, skins, stems and seeds together inside beeswax-lined clay vessels buried in the earth.

The country holds four UNESCO World Heritage tangible sites. The Historical Monuments of Mtskheta were inscribed in 1994 and cover Jvari Monastery, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, and Samtavro Monastery. Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery were inscribed together in 1994; after the controversial reconstruction of Bagrati between 2009 and 2012 the property was reduced in 2017 to Gelati alone. Upper Svaneti was inscribed in 1996 and protects the villages of the Ushguli community along with their 9th-12th century defensive tower-houses. The Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands, a network of seven component parts in western Georgia, were inscribed in July 2021 and protect Tertiary-period relict forests with 1,100 species of vascular plants.

Christianity arrived early. According to tradition Saint Nino converted King Mirian III in 326 AD, making Georgia the fourth state on the planet to adopt Christianity as a state religion after Armenia in 301, the kingdom of Osroene around 202, and the Roman Empire under Theodosius in 380. The Greater Caucasus range runs across the country's northern border with Russia and produces six 5,000 m peaks within Georgia itself, the highest being Shkhara at 5,193 m. The capital Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century by King Vakhtang Gorgasali, supposedly after his hawk fell into a hot spring while hunting. Visa-free entry of 365 days is granted to citizens of 98 countries including India, the United States, the United Kingdom, all 27 EU members, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Iran, Turkey and Ukraine.

Background and history in a long page

Long before the wine became famous, Greek geographers knew this corner of the Black Sea as Colchis, the destination of Jason and the Argonauts in the 13th century BC quest for the Golden Fleece. The fleece itself is now read by historians as a memory of the local technique of using sheepskins to collect alluvial gold from rivers like the Rioni. The Kingdom of Iberia rose in the east around 302 BC and after the Christian conversion of 326 AD slowly merged with Colchis to form the medieval Georgian state.

The country reached its territorial and cultural peak between the early 11th and the late 13th centuries. King David IV, called Agmashenebeli or the Builder, ruled from 1089 to 1125 and pushed the Seljuks out at the Battle of Didgori on 12 August 1121. His great-granddaughter Queen Tamar reigned from 1184 to 1213 and presided over the so-called Golden Age, a period that produced the national epic Vepkhistqaosani, the Knight in the Panther's Skin, written by Shota Rustaveli around 1189. The Mongol invasions from the 1220s and Tamerlane's eight separate campaigns between 1386 and 1403 reduced the kingdom to fragments. The eastern kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti were annexed by the Russian Empire in 1801 under Tsar Alexander I, and the western kingdom of Imereti followed in 1810.

A short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia declared independence on 26 May 1918 but was invaded by the Red Army in February 1921 and absorbed into the Soviet Union, where it remained until the declaration of independence on 9 April 1991. The post-Soviet decade was rough, with the Abkhaz war of 1992-1993 and the Tskhinvali conflict of 1991-1992 producing roughly 250,000 internally displaced persons. The Rose Revolution of 21-23 November 2003 brought Mikheil Saakashvili to power on a wave of anti-corruption reform that genuinely cleaned up the traffic police, the customs service and the higher-education system. The five-day Russo-Georgian War of 7-12 August 2008 over South Ossetia ended with Russia recognising the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which together amount to roughly 20 percent of the internationally recognised territory.

Population: 3.69 million as of the 2024 estimate
Capital: Tbilisi, population 1.20 million
Official language: Georgian, written in the Mkhedruli script of 33 letters that has been the everyday alphabet since the 11th century
Religion: 83.4 percent Georgian Orthodox, 10.7 percent Muslim (mostly Azeri and Adjarian), 2.9 percent Armenian Apostolic
Currency: Georgian lari (GEL), introduced 2 October 1995 to replace the kuponi at 1 lari to 1 million kuponi
Time zone: GET, UTC plus 4, no daylight saving
Country calling code: plus 995

Tier 1: the five destinations I would not skip

1. Tbilisi Old Town and the sulphur baths

I walked into Tbilisi for the first time at six in the morning after a night bus from Yerevan and the smell that hits you in the lower part of the Old Town, the Abanotubani district, is unmistakable: warm sulphur, like cooked eggs and wet stone. King Vakhtang Gorgasali founded the city here in the 5th century precisely because of the 38-44 degree Celsius springs that bubble up under the eastern slope of Sololaki ridge. The classic experience is to book a private room at one of the historic bathhouses, of which the Orbeliani Bath with its blue-tiled Persian facade built in 1840 is the most photographed. A private room for two hours costs between 80 and 250 GEL or USD 30 to USD 92 depending on the level of finish. A scrub by the kisi attendant adds 30 GEL.

Above the baths the Narikala Fortress climbs the ridge at an elevation of 522 m. The first fortification was built by the Persians in the 4th century AD, expanded by King David IV in the 12th century, and partly destroyed by an 1827 lightning strike that ignited the gunpowder store. Entry is free and the easiest approach is the cable car from Rike Park, which costs 2.5 GEL each way and runs from 11:00 to 23:00. The pay is by Metromoney card, not coins. From the top you look straight down on the curved roofs of the bathhouse domes, the 13th century Metekhi Church on the cliff opposite, and the 1860s Sioni Cathedral that until 2004 was the seat of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.

What I love is the layered street life on Erekle II Street and Bambis Rigi where Soviet-era kommunalka apartments with carved wooden balconies sit a metre away from natural wine bars charging 25 GEL for a 750 ml bottle of village-made Rkatsiteli. Free walking tours leave from the Pushkin statue at the western edge of Freedom Square every day at 10:00 and 16:00, tip-based, usually 30-50 GEL is appropriate. Eat at Shavi Lomi for a sit-down Georgian meal with mains at 28-45 GEL or at Stamba's Cafe Stamba inside the converted Soviet printing house for a flat-white at 12 GEL and a baked egg breakfast at 24 GEL. Sleep at Fabrika hostel in a dorm bed at 60 GEL or USD 22, or at Rooms Hotel Tbilisi if you want a 600-GEL room with floor-to-ceiling Vake park views. The metro runs from 06:00 to midnight, two lines, flat fare 1 GEL per ride. Allow three full days for the Old Town, the National Museum on Rustaveli Avenue, the dry bridge flea market on Sundays, and a half-day side trip to the Chronicle of Georgia monument by Zurab Tsereteli on the hill above the Tbilisi Sea reservoir.

2. Kazbegi and Gergeti Trinity Church

The drive north out of Tbilisi on the Georgian Military Highway, the S3, is 157 kilometres long and the marshrutka minibus from Didube station departs every hour for 15 GEL or USD 5.50, taking three to four hours depending on the snow on the Jvari Pass at 2,379 m. I always pay an extra 5 GEL to the driver to stop for ten minutes at the Russia-Georgia Friendship Monument at kilometre 116, a circular Soviet-era mosaic platform built in 1983 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Georgievsk. The view drops 800 m straight into the Devil's Valley below.

The destination village is Stepantsminda, still called Kazbegi by everyone older than thirty, sitting at 1,750 m on the bank of the Tergi (Terek) river. The headline image of all Georgia travel marketing is the same: the 14th century Gergeti Trinity Church (Tsminda Sameba) perched on a grassy spur at 2,170 m elevation with the snow cone of Mount Kazbek (5,047 m, the third-highest peak in Georgia) behind it. The walk up from the village takes 1 hour 45 minutes through pine forest and gains 420 m of elevation. A 4x4 jeep ride costs 80 GEL per vehicle one-way, split four ways that is 20 GEL each. Drone flights are forbidden over the church grounds. Inside the church, women cover their hair with one of the wraps from the basket by the door and men remove hats; photography inside is not permitted.

From Stepantsminda I always do at least one of three day-hikes. The Juta valley hike to the Chaukhi pass viewpoint at 2,700 m takes seven hours round trip from the Juta trailhead (45 minute jeep ride from Stepantsminda, 100 GEL per car). The walk to the Gveleti waterfalls (lower fall 25 m, upper fall 15 m) is a flat 6 km round trip from the Dariali gorge, the geological feature that Pliny the Elder called the Caucasian Gates. The third option is the 14 km round trip from the Sameba church up to the Sabertse pass at 3,000 m on the lower flank of Kazbek, which gives you an unobstructed view of the Gergeti glacier. Stay at Rooms Hotel Kazbegi if your budget runs to 700 GEL a night for the famous panorama lobby, otherwise at Kazbegi Hostel for 70 GEL a dorm bed.

3. Upper Svaneti, the stone towers of Mestia and Ushguli

If I could only pick one region in Georgia to send a first-time visitor, it would be Upper Svaneti. The 1,070 square kilometre UNESCO site inscribed on 15 December 1996 covers the medieval Svan villages along the Enguri river from Mestia at 1,500 m up to the Ushguli community at 2,100 m. Ushguli is repeatedly described as the highest continuously inhabited settlement in Europe, and although three small Caucasus hamlets dispute the title, none of them have the same density of medieval stone defensive towers (koshki) built between the 9th and 12th centuries. UNESCO counts over 100 surviving towers, four to five storeys, drystone basalt construction with timber floors inside; the family lived on the upper floors and the cattle on the lower floors during raids.

Reaching Mestia is now easy. The Vanilla Sky propeller flight from Natakhtari airfield, 35 km north of Tbilisi, costs USD 80 one way and takes 1 hour 5 minutes. The alternative is a 9-hour overnight train to Zugdidi at 22 GEL in 2nd class followed by a 3-hour marshrutka into the mountains at 30 GEL. I have done both. The flight is dramatic but cancels at the slightest weather; the train plus marshrutka is reliable but punishing. Once in Mestia the Mikhail Khergiani museum, named after the legendary Svan climber who died on the Su Alto in 1969, and the Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography (entry 10 GEL) are required visits. The museum holds 11th century repousse icons from across the region and a single 10th century Byzantine processional cross of beaten silver.

From Mestia the standard onward trip is the 47 km drive to Ushguli, a community of four hamlets (Zhibiani, Chvibiani, Chazhashi and Murqmeli) with a combined population of around 70 in winter and 200 in summer. The road was paved only in 2020, although I remember the 2017 trip taking five hours each way for that 47 km in a Mitsubishi Delica that broke its rear axle on the Latpari descent. A shared jeep from Mestia now charges 250 GEL per car (up to 6 people, so around 42 GEL per seat). Shkhara, at 5,193 m the highest mountain in Georgia, looms 12 km north of Ushguli. The flat valley walk from Ushguli north to the Shkhara glacier snout is 8 km each way and gains only 250 m of elevation, doable in 6 hours round trip. Sleep in a Svan guesthouse for 80-120 GEL per person including dinner and breakfast; the local kubdari (meat-stuffed flatbread baked in the hearth) is the regional speciality and worth driving days for.

4. Mtskheta, the spiritual capital

Twenty kilometres north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers sits Mtskheta, capital of the kingdom of Iberia from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD when King Vakhtang Gorgasali moved his court south to Tbilisi. The town of 7,400 people is so compact that you can walk every cobblestone in two hours, but it carries the densest religious history in the country. UNESCO inscribed the Historical Monuments of Mtskheta in 1994 as a single property covering three churches.

Jvari Monastery sits on the rocky promontory 656 m above sea level on the opposite bank from town. It was built between 586 and 605 AD on the spot where Saint Nino is said to have erected a wooden cross in the 4th century. The tetraconch plan with its eight-faceted drum became the template for Caucasian church architecture and was copied across the region for the next three centuries. Entry is free and the easiest way up is a 12 GEL Bolt ride from Mtskheta town; the alternative 2.5 km uphill walk crosses a busy highway twice and I do not recommend it.

In the town centre Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, built between 1010 and 1029 by the architect Arsukidze, stands on the foundations of a 4th century basilica. Tradition holds that Christ's tunic, brought back from Jerusalem after the Crucifixion by a Mtskheta Jew named Elias, is buried under the central nave. The interior frescoes of the apocalypse on the western wall date from the 17th century. Photography without flash is allowed. Across the cobbled lane Samtavro Monastery (11th century) contains the tombs of King Mirian III and Queen Nana, the rulers converted by Saint Nino in 326 AD. Time your visit to overlap with the morning liturgy on a Sunday between 09:00 and 11:00 to hear the unaccompanied three-part Georgian polyphony, itself inscribed by UNESCO in 2001. A marshrutka from Didube station in Tbilisi runs every 20 minutes and costs 1.5 GEL or USD 0.55 for the 25-minute ride; the express train at 07:00 from Tbilisi central is 1 GEL. Allow a full day if you include lunch at Salobie, the bean restaurant on the highway opposite the Jvari turnoff that has been serving lobio in clay pots since 1939 (mains 15-25 GEL).

5. Kakheti, the qvevri wine region

The Telavi-Sighnaghi-Kvareli triangle in the eastern province of Kakheti produces 70 percent of Georgia's wine and contains roughly 525 of the country's 525 indigenous grape varieties (yes, Georgia really has that many). The two workhorses are Saperavi, a thick-skinned red with naturally high anthocyanin, and Rkatsiteli, a bright white that produces both fresh wines and amber wines depending on skin contact. The qvevri method, inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage list on 5 December 2013, ferments crushed grapes plus chacha (skins, stems and pips) for six months inside the buried clay amphora; the result is a tannic amber wine that tastes nothing like a stainless-steel Sauvignon Blanc.

I make Sighnaghi my base. The walled hill town, restored aggressively between 2007 and 2011 under the Saakashvili government, sits at 790 m on the southern edge of the Alazani valley with a 360-degree view of the Greater Caucasus across the plain. The defensive wall, built in 1762 by King Erekle II of Kartli-Kakheti, is 4.5 km long with 23 towers, of which seven you can still climb for free. The Bodbe Monastery 2 km south of town holds the relics of Saint Nino in the 9th century crypt; entry is free and a taxi from Sighnaghi square costs 10 GEL return.

The wine tasting tour I recommend, after maybe twelve different versions across two years, is: morning at Pheasant's Tears in Sighnaghi (founder John Wurdeman, established 2007, tasting of six wines plus a supra-style lunch for 120 GEL or USD 44), afternoon at Schuchmann Wines near Telavi (German-owned since 2008, modern cellar plus terrace, tasting of four wines for 50 GEL or USD 18.50), and the next morning a stop at the 11th century Alaverdi Monastery cellar where the monks still ferment in qvevri buried under the 1011 cathedral nave. Alaverdi Cathedral itself rises to 50 m and remained the tallest church in Georgia for nearly a thousand years until Sameba was completed in 2004. Sleep at Pheasant's Tears Guesthouse in Sighnaghi at 350 GEL a double, or at Schuchmann's onsite Villa Pheraskhouri at 800 GEL for a wine-package double. Drive yourself with a rental car at USD 35 a day (book through Naniko or MyRentaCar) or hire a Tbilisi-based guide-driver for USD 100 per day for the full Kakheti circuit.

Tier 2: five more anchor sites

Vardzia cave city, hewn into the Erusheti mountain face above the Mtkvari river between 1156 and 1203 under Queen Tamar; 13 vertical levels, 600 surviving rooms out of an original 6,000, entry 15 GEL, 3.5 hour drive south of Tbilisi.
Uplistsikhe, a rock-cut town founded in the late Bronze Age around the 1st millennium BC, abandoned after the 1240 Mongol sack; 8 hectares, entry 15 GEL, easy day trip from Gori (Stalin's hometown, museum entry 25 GEL).
Gelati Monastery near Kutaisi, inscribed UNESCO in 1994 (Bagrati delisted in 2017), founded 1106 by David IV; the 12th century academy here taught Neoplatonic philosophy two centuries before Florence.
Borjomi, a mineral water town in the Lesser Caucasus at 800 m with the 85,000-hectare Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park; the famous salty mineral water has been bottled commercially since 1894 and a free tap in the central park lets you taste it warm at 38 degrees Celsius.
David Gareja monastery complex on the Azerbaijan border, founded in the 6th century by one of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers; 19 cliff-cut monasteries, the most accessible being Lavra and Udabno; 2-hour drive south-east of Tbilisi, day tours USD 35 per person.

Cost comparison table

Item	Budget GEL	Budget USD	Mid GEL	Mid USD	High GEL	High USD
Bed per night	60	22	200	74	700	258
Lunch	12	4.40	35	13	90	33
Dinner with wine	25	9	70	26	180	66
Marshrutka Tbilisi to Kazbegi	15	5.50	15	5.50	15	5.50
Private driver per day	n/a	n/a	270	100	400	148
Mestia flight one way	n/a	n/a	215	80	215	80
Wine tasting (4-6 wines)	30	11	60	22	130	48
Daily total	130	48	380	140	1,100	405

How to plan it

Airports. Tbilisi International (TBS) handles most legacy carriers, Turkish Airlines from Istanbul has up to 6 daily flights, and Pegasus and AnadoluJet add budget options. Kutaisi International (KUT) is the Wizz Air hub for the western half of the country, with services from 30 European cities, and a 4-hour transfer to Tbilisi at 30 GEL by Omnibus shuttle. Batumi airport (BUS) is a third entry useful for combined Turkey-Georgia trips.

Ground transport. The marshrutka (a Mercedes Sprinter or Ford Transit minibus) is the workhorse intercity option, departing when full rather than on a fixed timetable from Didube, Ortachala, or Samgori stations in Tbilisi. Fares range from 1.5 GEL (Mtskheta) to 30 GEL (Mestia). Within Tbilisi, Bolt is reliable and a 4 km ride averages 6 GEL. The metro is 1 GEL a ride with a 2 GEL Metromoney card deposit refundable on departure.

When to go. Peak season is May through October. June, September and early October are my favourite months: the Kazbegi wildflowers peak in mid-June, the Kakheti rtveli (harvest) runs from 20 September to 15 October, and Tbilisi temperatures stay between 22 and 28 degrees Celsius. July and August are hot in the lowlands (Tbilisi can hit 38 degrees Celsius) but ideal for Svaneti at 1,500 m. The Svaneti road closes for snow between mid-November and late April. The Gergeti church is accessible year-round if you can handle a snow walk.

Language and script. Georgian uses the Mkhedruli alphabet of 33 letters and looks nothing like Cyrillic or Latin; learn to recognise the words for entrance (შესასვლელი), exit (გასასვლელი), bank (ბანკი), and pharmacy (აფთიაქი). Russian is widely understood by anyone over 35. English is common in Tbilisi but rare in Svaneti and rural Kakheti. Google Translate works offline; download the Georgian pack.

Money. 1 USD equals 2.71 GEL on 11 May 2026. ATMs are everywhere in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, and most district towns, with TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia charging zero foreign ATM fee on their own machines (others charge 5-10 GEL). Card acceptance is high in cities, low in villages and at small wineries; carry 200-400 GEL in cash for rural days.

Visa. Visa-free for 365 days for 98 nationalities including the entire OECD and most GCC and South Asian states. Indian passport holders enter visa-free; Pakistani and Bangladeshi passport holders need an e-visa applied online for USD 20 and approved in 5-10 working days at evisa.gov.ge. No vaccination requirements; no yellow fever zone.

FAQ

Is Georgia safe for solo travellers including women?
Yes, with normal caution. Georgia consistently ranks among the safer destinations on the Numbeo crime index, with Tbilisi scoring 22 (low) compared to Paris at 56 or New Delhi at 64. Violent crime against tourists is rare. The standard caveats apply: avoid the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (you cannot legally enter them from Georgian territory anyway), watch for pickpockets at the Dezerter Bazaar in Tbilisi, and use Bolt instead of unmarked taxis. Solo female travellers report Sighnaghi and Mestia as particularly easy bases. Carry a copy of your passport rather than the original. Police response is fast and English-speaking in central Tbilisi; the tourist police hotline is 112.

Do I need a 4x4 to drive in Georgia?
For Tbilisi, Mtskheta, Kakheti, Borjomi and the Black Sea coast a normal sedan is fine. For Kazbegi via the paved S3 a sedan is fine. For Upper Svaneti, the road from Zugdidi to Mestia is paved and a sedan can do it, but the onward 47 km Mestia to Ushguli stretch requires a high-clearance 4x4 even after the 2020 paving, particularly the last 8 km. The Tusheti road over the 2,850 m Abano pass and the Omalo road absolutely require 4x4 and are open only from mid-June to mid-October. Insurance is included in most rental contracts but the standard excess is 1,500 USD; reduce it for 8 USD a day.

Can I drink the tap water?
In Tbilisi yes, the water comes from the Aragvi river system and is treated to EU standards; locals drink straight from the tap and so do I. In Kazbegi and Svaneti the village water comes from glacier springs and is famously clean. The Borjomi mineral springs are drinkable but loaded with sodium bicarbonate at 4,500 mg per litre, so do not treat it as your daily water; bottled Borjomi is 1.5 GEL for 500 ml. I never used a filter in three trips totalling six weeks.

What is the food like, and is there much for vegetarians?
Georgian cuisine is one of the great undersold cuisines of the world: khachapuri (cheese bread, the Adjarian boat version is the famous one), khinkali (twisted dumplings of pork and beef or mushroom, eaten by the stalk), lobio (red bean stew with walnut), pkhali (cold vegetable patés of spinach, beetroot or aubergine with walnut), badrijani (aubergine rolls with walnut paste), churchkhela (walnut and grape juice strings), and the supra (formal feast). Vegetarians do extremely well thanks to the Orthodox fasting tradition; ask for samarkhvo (lenten) options and you get a full vegan spread. Vegans struggle slightly in Svaneti where butter and cheese dominate every dish.

Is Georgia good for families with young children?
Surprisingly yes. Tbilisi has the Mtatsminda Park funicular and amusement complex on the 770 m ridge (funicular 5 GEL return, rides 5-10 GEL each), the new Children's Park near Vake Park, and the Tbilisi Aquarium opened 2018 (entry 35 GEL adult, 15 GEL child). Restaurants are universally welcoming of kids, high chairs are common, and the under-7 marshrutka fare is zero. The longer drives to Kazbegi (3.5 hours) and Mestia (8 hours by road) can be tough on small children; consider the 1-hour flight to Mestia for the Svaneti leg.

How does Georgia compare with Armenia for a single Caucasus trip?
They complement rather than substitute. Georgia is greener, wetter, more mountainous in the north, has the wine and the UNESCO bath culture, and a more polished tourist infrastructure. Armenia is drier, has the older Christian sites (Echmiadzin Cathedral around 301-303 AD predates anything in Georgia), the brandy tradition, and a denser concentration of medieval monasteries within day-trip distance of Yerevan. The land border at Sadakhlo-Bagratashen is open and a marshrutka from Tbilisi to Yerevan takes 6 hours for 35 GEL. I recommend 7-10 days Georgia plus 4-5 days Armenia for a balanced two-week regional trip.

What is the supra and how do I behave at one?
A supra is the Georgian formal feast, hosted by a tamada (toastmaster) who proposes a structured sequence of toasts through the evening: to peace, to ancestors, to women, to children, to those who travelled, to those who could not come. Each toast is delivered as a small speech of 2-5 minutes followed by a clinking of glasses and a full drink. Wine is the proper vehicle; chacha (grape brandy at 45-65 percent alcohol) appears for the heavier toasts. You are expected to listen, raise your glass, drink fully (or sip if you genuinely cannot keep up, women are usually given more latitude), and at some point offer your own toast in reply. Refusing to drink at all is read as a rejection of friendship; sipping is fine. Do not toast with beer, which by Georgian tradition is reserved for cursing enemies.

What money mistakes do tourists usually make?
Three repeat errors: paying in US dollars to a Tbilisi taxi who quotes USD 20 when the same Bolt ride is GEL 6 (USD 2.20), withdrawing money at the airport Liberty Bank ATM which charges 12 GEL per transaction when the TBC ATM 200 m further into the terminal charges nothing, and changing money on Rustaveli Avenue inside dedicated currency-exchange booths that look professional but spread the rate by 6-8 percent against Wise; Wise transfers to a Bank of Georgia GEL account give the cleanest rate, and large notes (USD 100 bills printed after 2013) get a better rate at the licensed bureaux on Marjanishvili Street than at hotel desks.

Georgian phrases and cultural notes

The 33-letter Mkhedruli script looks daunting but the language is phonetically regular and most signs are also written in Latin transliteration. Useful words:

გამარჯობა (gamarjoba): hello (literally "victory")
ნახვამდის (nakhvamdis): goodbye
გმადლობთ (gmadlobt) or მადლობა (madloba): thank you
კი (ki): yes
არა (ara): no
ბოდიში (bodishi): excuse me
რა ღირს? (ra ghirs): how much does it cost?
გაუმარჯოს (gaumarjos): cheers, the standard toast response
ერთი ღვინო თუ შეიძლება (erti ghvino tu sheidzleba): one wine please
ცხელი წყალი (tskheli tsqali): hot water (useful at the baths)

Cultural notes worth remembering. The supra is described above. The tamada (toastmaster) is the senior or most charismatic male at the table; if you are asked to be tamada at your own table, treat it as a serious honour and prepare three toasts in advance. Churchkhela, the chewy walnut-and-grape-must candle made by dipping threaded walnuts into thickened tatara, is the right gift to bring home; figure 15-25 GEL per piece at the Dezerter Bazaar. Do not photograph people without asking, especially in Svaneti where there is a long-running sensitivity around outsiders. Always remove shoes when entering a Svan or Kakhetian home. Tipping is 10 percent at restaurants if not already added as a service charge (look for the line "servisi"); marshrutka drivers and taxi drivers are not tipped.

Pre-trip prep

Visa. Visa-free for 365 days for citizens of 98 countries. Check the latest list at mfa.gov.ge before flying as the list expanded slightly in 2024.

Power. Voltage is 220 V at 50 Hz. Sockets are Type C (Europlug) and Type F (Schuko), the same as continental Europe. Travellers from the UK, Ireland, India, Singapore, US, Canada, Japan or Australia need an adapter; pack a multi-USB adapter that takes 65 W. Voltage spikes are uncommon now but if you carry sensitive gear a surge protector is sensible in Svaneti.

SIM and data. Two providers dominate: Magticom (Magti) and Geocell (now owned by Silknet). A 30-day tourist SIM with 30 GB of 4G LTE data costs 25 GEL or USD 9 from either provider's airport kiosk; bring your passport. Coverage is excellent in Tbilisi and along main highways, patchy in upper Svaneti above Mestia and entirely absent on the Shkhara glacier walk. eSIMs from Airalo work but at 11 USD for 5 GB they are worse value than the physical SIM.

Weather and packing. Summer (June-August) ranges from 28-38 degrees Celsius in Tbilisi and 18-25 degrees Celsius in Mestia; pack light layers, sun hat, and a light fleece for mountain evenings. Winter (December-February) ranges from minus 5 degrees Celsius in Tbilisi to minus 20 degrees Celsius in upper Svaneti; pack a proper down jacket, base layer, micro-spikes for the Gergeti walk, and waterproof boots. Spring and autumn shoulder seasons need a 10-15 degree Celsius travel wardrobe plus a rain layer for the Kakheti vineyards.

Travel insurance. I run World Nomads Explorer at USD 6.50 a day and add the adventure module for the Svaneti walks. Helicopter rescue on Kazbek is not covered by standard policies; the local Helimed network charges USD 6,000-12,000 per evacuation.

Three recommended trips

7-day Georgia classic (USD 700-1,400 ex-flights).
Day 1: Arrive Tbilisi, sulphur bath, evening on Erekle II. Day 2: Tbilisi Old Town walking tour plus National Museum. Day 3: Day trip to Mtskheta, Jvari, and Gori-Uplistsikhe. Day 4: Drive to Kazbegi via Ananuri fortress, sleep in Stepantsminda. Day 5: Hike up to Gergeti Trinity Church, afternoon in Juta. Day 6: Drive back to Tbilisi, head east to Sighnaghi for wine evening. Day 7: Pheasant's Tears tasting, Bodbe, return Tbilisi for departure.

10-day Georgia grand (USD 1,000-2,200 ex-flights).
Adds three Svaneti days to the classic. Days 1-3 Tbilisi and Mtskheta as above. Day 4: Vanilla Sky flight to Mestia. Day 5: Mestia museums plus Chalaadi glacier hike. Day 6: 4x4 to Ushguli, walk to Shkhara glacier viewpoint. Day 7: Ushguli to Mestia and flight back to Tbilisi. Day 8: Tbilisi to Kazbegi. Day 9: Gergeti and Stepantsminda. Day 10: Return Tbilisi for Kakheti day trip and departure.

14-day Georgia all-regions (USD 1,800-3,500 ex-flights).
Adds the west: arrive Kutaisi (Wizz Air), 2 nights for Gelati and the Prometheus caves. Then 2 nights Batumi for the Black Sea, 1 night Borjomi for the park and bottled spring, drive across to Tbilisi for 3 nights with Mtskheta and Vardzia day trips, fly to Mestia 3 nights, return to Tbilisi for 2 nights Kakheti and a final Tbilisi day for last-minute shopping at the Dry Bridge market and a farewell supra at Azarphesha or Barbarestan.

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External references

UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Historical Monuments of Mtskheta (1994), whc.unesco.org/en/list/708
UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Upper Svaneti (1996), whc.unesco.org/en/list/709
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Ancient Georgian traditional Qvevri wine-making method (2013), ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00870
Georgian National Tourism Administration, georgia.travel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, visa-free country list, mfa.gov.ge

Last updated 2026-05-11.

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Best Georgia Destinations: Tbilisi Old Town, Kazbegi Gergeti Trinity, Upper Svaneti Towers, Mtskheta and Kakheti Wine for a Deep Caucasus Heritage Tour