With ten days you can see both halves of Georgia: the mountains and wine country of the east, and the green west down to the Black Sea at Batumi. The trick is to travel in one direction and not double back, and to end in Batumi rather than driving all the way back to Tbilisi. Here is a realistic route by car with a driver-guide.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive in Tbilisi
An evening walk in the Old Town, from the Bridge of Peace to the sulphur-bath domes of Abanotubani.
Day 2: Tbilisi and Mtskheta
The Old Town and the cable car to Narikala in the morning; in the afternoon Mtskheta, 30–40 minutes away, for Jvari Monastery and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.
Day 3: The Military Highway to Kazbegi
Ananuri fortress, Gudauri, the Friendship Monument and the Jvari Pass (2,379 m) to Stepantsminda, 152 km from Tbilisi. Night in Stepantsminda.
Day 4: Gergeti, back to Tbilisi
Gergeti Trinity Church (2,170 m) at about 8:00 with Mt Kazbek (5,054 m) behind it, then back to Tbilisi, about 3–3.5 hours.
Day 5: Kakheti
Bodbe convent, Sighnaghi's walls and a tasting at a family cellar that still makes wine in qvevri. Stay the night in Sighnaghi, or return to Tbilisi (1.5–2 hours).
Day 6: Uplistsikhe, Gori, Borjomi
The rock-cut town of Uplistsikhe in the morning, the Stalin Museum in Gori, then on to Borjomi for the night.
Day 7: Vardzia and Akhaltsikhe
Vardzia at opening time. Since a rockfall on 27 May 2026 about half the complex has been closed, so check what is open. Then Khertvisi fortress and Rabati castle; night in Akhaltsikhe.
Day 8: Kutaisi
Akhaltsikhe to Kutaisi takes 3–3.5 hours. Gelati Monastery (UNESCO-listed; its main church is partly under scaffolding in 2026), Bagrati Cathedral and the Sataplia caves.
Day 9: To the Black Sea
Kutaisi to Batumi is about 2.5 hours. Gonio fortress, the Batumi Botanical Garden and an evening on the seafront boulevard.
Day 10: Fly home from Batumi
Batumi has its own international airport. If you fly out of Tbilisi instead, the train takes about 5 hours, or 5–6 hours by road; that day has no time for sightseeing.
The summer version with Svaneti
From June to September you can swap Vardzia and Borjomi for Upper Svaneti: Kutaisi to Mestia via Zugdidi takes 4–5 hours. Plan two nights in Mestia and a day trip to Ushguli (47 km on a sealed road; roadworks in 2026 make it 1.5–2 hours each way), then drive Mestia to Batumi, a full day of 5–6 hours. Ushguli sits at about 2,100 m and is one of Europe's highest permanently inhabited villages.
Mistakes that make a 10-day route exhausting
- Doubling back. Ending in Kakheti after Batumi means about 590 km in one day.
- Tbilisi to Mestia in one go. It is about 460 km and 8–10 hours; break it in Kutaisi.
- Mondays. Tsinandali's museum, the Svaneti Museum in Mestia and the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi are closed on Mondays.
- Winter. From December to April the Jvari Pass to Kazbegi can close after snow, and the high passes to Tusheti and Ushguli–Lentekhi are shut. How winter closures work.
Tours that follow this route
Our Grand Tour of Georgia, 10 days is a private route through Kazbegi, Vardzia and Borjomi, Kutaisi and the Black Sea at Batumi; check the tour page for its current day-by-day plan. With two weeks, Georgia in 14 days adds Svaneti, with Mestia and Ushguli. For a shorter trip, the Classic Georgia 8-day tour covers the east. Or plan your own route and we send a price for your own car and driver-guide. Nothing to pay now. With only a week, see our 7-day itinerary.
