Skip to main content
Geotour
Bread being baked on the inside wall of a Georgian tone clay oven
Tour photo

Kakheti Village Cooking Day: Bread, Khinkali & Churchkhela — Private

Sighnaghi

  • 1 day
  • Private, 1–8 travellers
  • Easy
  • Starts in Tbilisi
  • Year-round

Overview

A private day trip from Tbilisi to cook with a village family in Kakheti, on the Sighnaghi side of the Alazani Valley. You bake bread in the tone, the family's round clay oven; fold khinkali; and dip churchkhela, walnuts strung on a thread and dipped in thickened grape juice. Then you share lunch at the family table. Adults can watch chacha, the Georgian grape spirit, being distilled and taste it; under-18s skip the chacha. On the way back you stop for a tasting at one winery. It is a relaxed 9.5-hour day with 1.5–2 hours' drive each way and no hiking, and it suits families and anyone more interested in kitchens than in churches. Churchkhela is made mostly in autumn, after the harvest, but the family makes it for guests all year.

Itinerary

Cooking with a Kakheti family

About 9.5 hours door to door; 1.5–2 hours' drive each way.

    • SighnaghiAbout 4 hours with a host family on the Sighnaghi side of Kakheti: tone bread, khinkali and churchkhela, lunch together, then a tasting at one winery.

      About 4 hours with a host family on the Sighnaghi side of Kakheti: tone bread, khinkali and churchkhela, lunch together, then a tasting at one winery.

      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.

      View destination details

  2. Pickup in Tbilisi; drive to Kakheti

  3. With the host family: tone-oven bread, khinkali, churchkhela

  4. Chacha distillation and tasting (adults)

  5. Lunch together (included)

  6. Tasting at one winery

  7. Drive back; 18:30 at your hotel

Make this tour your own:Build your own tour

What's Included

  • Private car or minivan with fuel and parking (sedan for 1–3 travellers, minivan for 4–8)
  • English-speaking driver-guide for the whole day
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off in Tbilisi
  • Cooking session with the host family and all ingredients
  • Lunch with the family, with house wine
  • Tasting at one winery
  • Bottled water

  • Bottles and churchkhela you buy to take home
  • Dinner
  • Tips (optional)
  • Travel insurance (mandatory for visitors to Georgia from 1 January 2026)

Map

Good to know

Best Time to Visit
Year-round
Physical Requirements
Suitable for most fitness levels. Involves some walking on mostly flat terrain with minimal elevation changes.
Cancellation Policy
Nothing to pay now. Your quote includes the cancellation terms before you pay anything.
Kids
a good day for children, who enjoy shaping khinkali and dipping churchkhela; chacha is for adults only.
What to wear
clothes that can take flour and grape-juice stains.
Diet
tell us about vegetarian needs or allergies when you book; walnuts are in churchkhela and many Kakhetian dishes.
Taking food home
churchkhela keeps well for weeks and packs easily in a suitcase.
Categories:
Day trip from Tbilisi
Wine & food

You Might Also Like