Georgia in 10 Days: Tbilisi, Kazbegi and the Wine Route

Georgia is Europe and Asia at once, and neither. 🇬🇪 Ten days among 6th-century churches, 5,000-metre mountains and meals that never end because there's always another toast.

Tbilisi: Sulphur Baths and Wooden Balconies

Tbilisi is a layered city: Orthodox churches, a mosque, a synagogue, brutalist Soviet blocks and futuristic glass buildings, all within a ten-minute walk.

The Abanotubani district, with its brick domes, hides the sulphur baths. An hour in a private room costs €15-25 and is the best cure for a night flight.

We took the cable car up to Narikala fortress at sunset for the full city view, with Mother Georgia keeping watch.

We ate at Dezerter market: adjaruli khachapuri, khinkali and amphora wine. Be warned: portions here are a challenge.

Kazbegi and the Georgian Military Highway

The Georgian Military Highway climbs to the Russian border through gorges and impossibly coloured reservoirs. We stopped at Ananuri monastery and the Friendship viewpoint, a Soviet mosaic hanging over the abyss.

In Stepantsminda, Gergeti Trinity church stands at 2,170 metres with 5,033-metre Mount Kazbek behind it. Three hours on foot or twenty minutes by 4x4.

We slept in a family guesthouse: home-cooked dinner, chacha and a two-hour conversation with the grandfather via gestures and a translation app.

Tip: climb to Gergeti before 9 AM. After that, clouds hide Kazbek almost every day.

Kakheti: 8,000 Years of Wine

Kakheti is the cradle of wine: fermented here in qvevri, buried clay amphorae, for 8,000 years. UNESCO protects the method.

We visited three family wineries in Sighnaghi and Telavi. Nowhere did we pay more than €10 for a full tasting with food included.

Sighnaghi, the "city of love", has 18th-century walls and views over the Alazani valley with the snowy Caucasus behind.

Bodbe monastery and the David Gareja cave complex, in the desert on the Azerbaijani border, close the route with two completely opposite landscapes.

Practical Tips and Budget

**Best time:** May-June and September-October. Svaneti is comfortably accessible June to September only.

**Budget per person (10 days):** - Flights: €200-350 - Accommodation (guesthouses and hotels): €200-350 - Transport (marshrutka + private driver): €150-250 - Tastings and activities: €80-140 - Meals: €150-220 - **Estimated total: €780-1,310**

**Essential tips:** - Georgia is cheap: a full dinner with wine costs €10-15 - Marshrutka vans connect everything, but without fixed timetables - For Svaneti or Tusheti you need a 4x4 with a local driver; don't attempt it alone - Carry lari in cash for rural areas - If you're invited to a supra (feast), say yes: it's the cultural highlight