Heart of Georgia — 5-Day Private Heritage Tour

A museum and walking day in Tbilisi.

1. 09:30

   Pickup at your Tbilisi hotel or the airport

   • TbilisiDay 1: the Georgian National Museum and an afternoon Old Town walk with the cable car to Narikala. Nights 1 and 3 in Tbilisi.

     Day 1: the Georgian National Museum and an afternoon Old Town walk with the cable car to Narikala. Nights 1 and 3 in Tbilisi.

     Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, spreads along the Mtkvari river gorge between Narikala fortress and the Mtatsminda ridge. It is where most trips begin and end, and it deserves 2–3 days of its own. Walk the Old Town from the domed sulphur baths of Abanotubani up to Narikala, cross the Bridge of Peace, spend a morning with the gold of the Georgian National Museum and eat your way through the city's wine bars and khinkali houses. Every day trip in this area starts from here.

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2. 10:00

   Georgian National Museum (the Treasury is optional)

3. 13:00

   Lunch (not included)

4. 14:30

   Old Town walk and the cable car to Narikala

5. Overnight: Tbilisi (hotel, breakfast)

⚠ Long day: about 270 km and 4–4.5 hours of driving.

1. 08:30

   Jvari Monastery, then Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

   • Jvari MonasteryDay 2: Jvari Monastery (c. 590–605), on the hill above the meeting of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers.

     Day 2: Jvari Monastery (c. 590–605), on the hill above the meeting of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers.

     Jvari Monastery stands on a rocky hilltop above Mtskheta, about 20 km north of Tbilisi, where the Aragvi river flows into the Mtkvari. The church, built around 590–605 on the spot where a wooden cross (jvari) was raised after Georgia's conversion to Christianity, is part of the UNESCO-listed Historical Monuments of Mtskheta. Inside you see the base of the cross; outside, carved donor reliefs and the classic view down to Mtskheta and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. A 30–45 minute visit, usually combined with Mtskheta itself.

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2. • MtskhetaDay 2: Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, the old capital, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site with Jvari.

     Day 2: Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, the old capital, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site with Jvari.

     Mtskheta, about 25 km (30 min) north of Tbilisi where the Aragvi meets the Mtkvari, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kartli (Iberia) and the place where Georgia adopted Christianity in the 4th century. Its churches are a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in the old town, Jvari Monastery on the hill opposite with the classic view over the river confluence, and the Samtavro convent. Allow half a day, or combine it with Gori and Uplistsikhe or a Mukhrani winery.

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3. 11:30

   Uplistsikhe (1.5 h)

   • Uplistsikhe Cave TownDay 2: 1.5 hours in Uplistsikhe, a rock-cut town above the Mtkvari used from the Early Iron Age to the Middle Ages.

     Day 2: 1.5 hours in Uplistsikhe, a rock-cut town above the Mtkvari used from the Early Iron Age to the Middle Ages.

     Uplistsikhe is a rock-cut town on a sandstone ridge above the Mtkvari river, about 12–15 km east of Gori and 1.25–1.5 h west of Tbilisi. Over roughly 2,000 years people carved halls, houses, temples, wine presses and streets into the rock here. You walk up the ancient main street past the cave halls to the 9th–10th-century brick basilica on the summit, then leave through a tunnel toward the river. Most visitors spend 1–1.5 hours, often combined with Mtskheta and the Stalin Museum in Gori.

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4. 13:30

   Lunch in Gori (not included); Stalin Museum

   • Gori Stalin MuseumDay 2: the Stalin Museum in Gori, with his birth house and his railway carriage (included in the ticket); about 1 hour.

     Day 2: the Stalin Museum in Gori, with his birth house and his railway carriage (included in the ticket); about 1 hour.

     Gori, in Shida Kartli about 86 km west of Tbilisi, is the town where Joseph Stalin was born in 1878, and its Stalin Museum is the main reason travellers stop. The museum complex keeps the small house where he spent his first years under a marble pavilion, a Soviet-era exhibition that still presents him largely uncritically, and his green armoured railway carriage. Above the town stands the medieval Gori Fortress. Allow 1–1.5 hours for the museum and fortress, and combine it with Uplistsikhe cave town, 12 km away.

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5. 16:00

   Drive to Kutaisi on the Rikoti highway (about 2 h)

   • KutaisiNight 2 in Kutaisi; on day 3, Bagrati Cathedral (11th century, removed from the UNESCO list in 2017 after its reconstruction) and Motsameta monastery above the Tskaltsitela gorge.

     Night 2 in Kutaisi; on day 3, Bagrati Cathedral (11th century, removed from the UNESCO list in 2017 after its reconstruction) and Motsameta monastery above the Tskaltsitela gorge.

     Kutaisi, Georgia's third-largest city, sits on the Rioni river in Imereti, about 230 km west of Tbilisi. It is the natural base for western Georgia: UNESCO-listed Gelati Monastery and the hilltop Bagrati Cathedral are on its edge, and Prometheus Cave, Sataplia, and the Martvili and Okatse canyons are within an hour. In town, walk the Green Bazaar, the White Bridge and the old Jewish quarter, then eat Imeretian khachapuri with a glass of local Tsitska or Tsolikouri white wine.

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6. Overnight: Kutaisi (hotel, breakfast)

Kutaisi to Tbilisi 220–230 km (about 3–3.5 h).

1. 09:00

   Gelati Monastery

   • Gelati MonasteryDay 3: Gelati Monastery, founded in 1106 and a UNESCO World Heritage site, known for its 12th-century mosaic of the Virgin; the main church may be partly under scaffolding for conservation.

     Day 3: Gelati Monastery, founded in 1106 and a UNESCO World Heritage site, known for its 12th-century mosaic of the Virgin; the main church may be partly under scaffolding for conservation.

     Gelati Monastery, on a wooded hillside about 11 km north-east of Kutaisi in Imereti, was founded by King David the Builder in 1106 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inside the main Church of the Virgin you see a 12th-century gold mosaic of the Virgin and Child in the apse and walls of frescoes painted from the 12th to the 18th centuries, including portraits of Georgian kings. Outside are King David's grave, the ruined academy and two smaller churches. It is a 1-hour visit, often combined with Motsameta and Kutaisi.

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2. 10:30

   Motsameta monastery above the river

3. 11:30

   Bagrati Cathedral

4. 12:30

   Lunch (not included)

5. 14:00

   Drive back; 17:30 in Tbilisi

6. Overnight: Tbilisi (hotel, breakfast)

About 4 hours of driving via the Gombori Pass (Sagarejo road in winter).

1. 09:00

   Over the Gombori Pass to Alaverdi Cathedral

   • AlaverdiDay 4: Alaverdi Cathedral, built in the early 11th century and about 50 m tall, with the Caucasus behind it.

     Day 4: Alaverdi Cathedral, built in the early 11th century and about 50 m tall, with the Caucasus behind it.

     Alaverdi Cathedral rises over the vineyards of the Alazani valley in Kakheti, about 20 km north-west of Telavi and 2–2.5 hours from Tbilisi. The 11th-century church of St George, about 50 m tall, was the tallest church in Georgia until Tbilisi's Sameba Cathedral in 2004, and the monks still make wine in qvevri clay jars. Visitors walk the walled grounds, see the frescoed interior and can buy the monastery's own qvevri wine; it combines easily with Telavi and Tsinandali.

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2. 12:00

   Tsinandali house-museum and park

   • TsinandaliDay 4: the Tsinandali house-museum and park of the poet-prince Alexander Chavchavadze, then a family-cellar tasting nearby.

     Day 4: the Tsinandali house-museum and park of the poet-prince Alexander Chavchavadze, then a family-cellar tasting nearby.

     Tsinandali is the 19th-century country estate of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze, about 10 km south-east of Telavi in Kakheti, with a house museum, a large landscaped park and one of Georgia's oldest wineries. A visit takes 1.5–2 hours: tour the family house, walk the park under old plane trees and cedars, go down to the enoteca, whose collection starts in 1814, and taste the estate's wines. In early September the estate hosts the Tsinandali Festival of classical music.

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3. 13:30

   Lunch and tasting at a family cellar (tasting included)

4. 17:00

   Sighnaghi; sunset from the walls

   • SighnaghiNight 4 in Sighnaghi: a sunset walk on the town walls above the Alazani Valley, then dinner (included).

     Night 4 in Sighnaghi: a sunset walk on the town walls above the Alazani Valley, then dinner (included).

     Sighnaghi is a small walled town at about 790 m on a ridge above the Alazani Valley in Kakheti, about 113 km (2 h) east of Tbilisi. Its 18th-century defensive wall with towers looks across the vineyards to the Greater Caucasus. You walk a section of the wall, see Niko Pirosmani's paintings in the Sighnaghi Museum, taste qvevri wine in the town's cellars, and visit Bodbe convent, the burial place of St Nino, 2 km away. It works as a half-day stop or a relaxed overnight in wine country.

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5. Dinner (included)

6. Overnight: Sighnaghi (hotel, breakfast and dinner)

About 1.5–2 hours to Tbilisi.

1. 09:30

   Bodbe convent

   • BodbeDay 5: Bodbe convent, burial place of St Nino, 2 km from Sighnaghi, before the drive back to Tbilisi.

     Day 5: Bodbe convent, burial place of St Nino, 2 km from Sighnaghi, before the drive back to Tbilisi.

     Bodbe is a working convent 2 km from Sighnaghi in Kakheti, about 115 km (2 h) from Tbilisi, and the burial place of St Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia in the 4th century. Her tomb lies in a small basilica first built between the 9th and 11th centuries, set among cypress trees and flower gardens with a wide view over the Alazani valley to the Caucasus. From the convent a long, steep path of steps leads down to St Nino's Spring, where pilgrims collect water and bathe.

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2. 11:00

   Drive back to Tbilisi

3. 13:00

   Drop-off at your Tbilisi hotel or the airport