Mtskheta, Jvari & Château Mukhrani — Private Half-Day Wine Trip

Crowning a hilltop above Mtskheta, the 6th-century Jvari Monastery is one of Georgia's defining UNESCO World Heritage sites, built to commemorate the country's conversion to Christianity. Its name means "Cross," and the austere stone church has drawn pilgrims and travelers for centuries as a cornerstone of Georgian Orthodoxy. From the terrace you look out over the meeting of two rivers and the cathedral of Svetitskhoveli below, all just a short drive from Tbilisi.

Once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Iberia, Mtskheta is where Georgia first embraced Christianity in the 4th century, and that legacy still shapes every street. A short drive from Tbilisi, this UNESCO-listed town pairs the soaring Svetitskhoveli Cathedral with the hilltop Jvari Monastery and the Samtavro convent, where St. Nino lived and King Mirian is buried (St. Nino herself rests at Bodbe in Kakheti). Come for the pilgrimage atmosphere, the icon-painting tradition, and a bowl of hearty lobio between the churches.

A 19th-century palace and winery of the Mukhranbatoni princes in the Mukhrani valley of Kartli, restored as a working wine estate. It offers cellar tours, tastings and meals, and pairs well with a morning in Mtskheta.