Mtskheta, Gori & Uplistsikhe — Private Day Trip from Tbilisi

A 9–9.5 hour day west of Tbilisi with about 3.5 hours of driving in total. In July and August we start at 08:30, go to Uplistsikhe first and see Mtskheta last.

1. 09:00

   Pickup at your Tbilisi hotel

2. 09:3030 min

   Jvari Monastery

   • Jvari Monastery30 minutes at Jvari Monastery (c. 590–605) on its hill above the meeting of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers, about 20 km from Tbilisi.

     30 minutes at Jvari Monastery (c. 590–605) on its hill above the meeting of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers, about 20 km from Tbilisi.

     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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3. 10:151 h

   Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and old Mtskheta

   • MtskhetaAbout an hour at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (11th century, on the site of Georgia's first church) and the old streets of Mtskheta. Free entry; dress code applies.

     About an hour at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (11th century, on the site of Georgia's first church) and the old streets of Mtskheta. Free entry; dress code applies.

     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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4. 11:15

   Drive to Uplistsikhe (about 75 km, 1–1.25 h)

   • Uplistsikhe Cave Town1.5–2 hours in Uplistsikhe, a town cut into the rock above the Mtkvari and lived in from the Early Iron Age to the Middle Ages. Uneven rock and almost no shade.

     1.5–2 hours in Uplistsikhe, a town cut into the rock above the Mtkvari and lived in from the Early Iron Age to the Middle Ages. Uneven rock and almost no shade.

     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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5. 12:301 h 30 min

   Uplistsikhe cave town

6. 14:301 h

   Lunch in Gori (not included)

7. 15:301 h

   Stalin Museum

   • Gori Stalin MuseumLunch in Gori, then 45–60 minutes at the Stalin Museum, Stalin's birth house and his armoured railway carriage. Your guide adds the history the museum leaves out.

     Lunch in Gori, then 45–60 minutes at the Stalin Museum, Stalin's birth house and his armoured railway carriage. Your guide adds the history the museum leaves out.

     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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8. 16:45

   Drive back (about 86 km, 1–1.25 h)

9. 18:0030 min

   Back at your hotel