Kakheti Wine Tour: Sighnaghi & Tsinandali — Private Day Trip

A 10–10.5 hour loop through Kakheti with two tastings included. About 280 km and 5 hours of driving in total.

1. 09:00

   Pickup in Tbilisi; drive east to Kakheti (about 110 km, 1.5–2 h)

2. 11:00

   Bodbe convent, then Sighnaghi's walls and old town (1.5 h)

   • BodbeBodbe convent, where St Nino is buried; about 30 minutes. Dress code applies, and the path down to her spring is steep.

     Bodbe convent, where St Nino is buried; about 30 minutes. Dress code applies, and the path down to her spring is steep.

     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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   • SighnaghiA walk on Sighnaghi's 18th-century walls and through the old town above the Alazani Valley, with lunch (not included) at a local restaurant or a natural-wine cellar.

     A walk on Sighnaghi's 18th-century walls and through the old town above the Alazani Valley, with lunch (not included) at a local restaurant or a natural-wine cellar.

     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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3. 13:00

   Lunch in Sighnaghi (not included)

4. 14:30

   Drive to Tsinandali (1–1.25 h): house-museum and degustation

   • TsinandaliThe Chavchavadze house-museum, park and 1830s winery: museum visit and enoteca degustation included. The enoteca holds bottles back to 1814, among them an 1841 Saperavi.

     The Chavchavadze house-museum, park and 1830s winery: museum visit and enoteca degustation included. The enoteca holds bottles back to 1814, among them an 1841 Saperavi.

     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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5. 16:30

   Family qvevri cellar near Telavi: tasting

   • TelaviA family qvevri cellar near Telavi, such as a Napareuli family winery or the qvevri makers of Vardisubani: see the buried jars and taste wines made in them (included).

     A family qvevri cellar near Telavi, such as a Napareuli family winery or the qvevri makers of Vardisubani: see the buried jars and taste wines made in them (included).

     Telavi is the main town of Kakheti, Georgia's wine region, on the slopes of the Gombori range above the Alazani Valley, about 95 km (2 h) from Tbilisi. It is a practical base for the wine country: the Tsinandali estate, Alaverdi Cathedral, the Ikalto academy and the royal town of Gremi are all within 30 minutes. In town you see the fortress and palace of King Erekle II, the giant plane tree and a lively morning market, then spend the afternoon at family cellars and wineries.

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6. 17:15

   Back over the Gombori pass (about 2 h)

   • Gombori PassBack to Tbilisi over the forested Gombori pass (about 2 h). In ice or snow we take the Sagarejo road instead.

     Back to Tbilisi over the forested Gombori pass (about 2 h). In ice or snow we take the Sagarejo road instead.

     The Gombori Pass (1,620 m) carries the shortest road from Tbilisi to Telavi over the forested Gombori range, about 95 km and 2 hours in all. On the way up from the Tbilisi side the road follows the Iori valley past Ujarma fortress; after the pass it drops in hairpins through beech and oak forest, with wide views over the Alazani valley and the Greater Caucasus beyond. We use it on Kakheti day trips as a scenic way in or out, with a short stop at a viewpoint or roadside stall.

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7. 19:0030 min

   At your hotel