Day-by-day programme of this 11-day itinerary across From the Caucasus to the Black Sea.
Day 1 — Arrival in Tbilisi
Landing in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, a fascinating and contrasting city where the ancient meets the futuristic. A first stroll in the old town and the sulphur baths.
- ✈️ Tbilisi — Aeroporto di Tbilisi (TBS)
- 📍 Tbilisi Old Town — Tbilisi's old town is a fascinating labyrinth of alleys, houses with their characteristic carved wooden balconies, churches and courtyards. In the Abanotubani district the brick-domed sulphur baths steam, where you can relax as Pushkin did. You climb to the Narikala fortress (by cable car) for the view, and cross the futuristic Bridge of Peace. Tbilisi mixes Persian, Russian and European heritage in a unique way. You dine on Georgian flavours.
- 🏨 Mercure Tbilisi Old Town — Città Vecchia, Tbilisi
Day 2 — Tbilisi and Mtskheta
A day between modern and ancient Tbilisi and nearby Mtskheta, the spiritual heart of Georgia, with its UNESCO cathedrals.
- 📍 Holy Trinity Cathedral (Sameba) — The Holy Trinity Cathedral (Sameba), huge and golden, dominates Tbilisi from atop a hill: it is the symbol of the Georgian Orthodox revival after communism. You then stroll along Rustaveli Avenue, among theatres and elegant buildings, and through the markets. The Orthodox faith, very ancient (Georgia converted in the 4th century), permeates the whole country. At midday you set off for Mtskheta, half an hour from the capital.
- 📍 Mtskheta — Mtskheta was Georgia's first capital and remains its religious heart, a UNESCO site: here stands the Svetitskhoveli cathedral, where tradition holds that Christ's robe is buried. Above the town, perched where two rivers meet, the 6th-century Jvari monastery offers a magnificent view. It is a sacred place for every Georgian. You return to Tbilisi for the evening. Tomorrow you set off for the Caucasus mountains, along the Georgian Military Road.
Day 3 — The Military Road and Kazbegi
The spectacular Georgian Military Road heading north: the Ananuri fortress, the Gudauri pass and Kazbegi, where the Gergeti church stands out beneath Mount Kazbek.
- 📍 Ananuri — You take the Georgian Military Road, an ancient caravan route and later a Russian military road, climbing towards the Caucasus. First stop at the fortified complex of Ananuri, with its churches and towers reflected in the turquoise of Lake Zhinvali. You continue climbing among ever grander panoramas to the Gudauri pass (over 2,000 metres), a ski resort with breathtaking views. The air becomes mountain air. You arrive in Kazbegi in the afternoon.
- 📍 Gergeti Trinity Church — The Gergeti Trinity Church (Tsminda Sameba) is the symbolic image of Georgia: a 14th-century stone church, alone on a knoll at 2,170 metres, with the snowy mass of Mount Kazbek (5,047 m) behind. You reach it by 4x4 or on foot (an hour and a half's walk). When the clouds part over Kazbek, the spectacle is unforgettable. It is a place of absolute peace. You overnight in Stepantsminda, at the foot of the mountain.
- 🏨 Rooms Hotel Kazbegi — Stepantsminda (Kazbegi), Georgia
Day 4 — The Caucasus valleys
A day of excursions around Kazbegi: the Gveleti waterfall, the colourful mineral springs and the Truso or Juta valley, in the heart of the Greater Caucasus.
- 🎯 Gveleti Waterfall — The area around Kazbegi is a paradise for walkers: you reach the Gveleti waterfall on foot, hidden in a gorge near the Russian border, and explore the Truso valley (with its mineral springs that colour the rock red and its medieval towers) or the Juta valley (at the foot of the sharp Chaukhi peaks). These are hikes of varying difficulty amid immense panoramas and shepherds' villages. You return to Kazbegi in the evening. Tomorrow you head east, to the wine region: Kakheti.
Day 5 — Kakheti, land of wine
A transfer to Kakheti, Georgia's wine region, to the romantic walled town of Sighnaghi, the 'city of love', among the vineyards.
- ✈️ Kazbegi → Sighnaghi — Sighnaghi, Kakheti
- 🎯 Bodbe / Cantine di Kakheti — Just outside Sighnaghi you visit the Bodbe monastery, set among cypresses, where Saint Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia, rests. Then you enter a winery (marani) to taste Georgian wines, from the red saperavi to the 'amber' whites fermented in qvevri with skin contact, with local bread and cheese. The wine culture here is sacred and the hospitality overwhelming. You dine on a Kakhetian feast. Tomorrow more wineries and the history of Gori.
- 🏨 Hotel Kabadoni — Sighnaghi, Kakheti
Day 6 — Kakheti and towards Gori
More vineyards at Telavi and Tsinandali, then a journey west to Gori, Stalin's birthplace, and the cave city of Uplistsikhe.
- 📍 Gori — Leaving Kakheti, you cross central Georgia to Gori, the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. The museum dedicated to him, in pure Soviet style, retraces his life with the house where he was born and his personal armoured railway carriage, in a disorienting atmosphere that does not hide the dictator's dark side. It is a page of 20th-century history. Just outside town, the surprising Uplistsikhe. You continue west, towards Kutaisi.
- 📍 Uplistsikhe — Uplistsikhe is a city entirely carved into the rock, inhabited for over three thousand years: a maze of caves, halls, pagan temples, a basilica and even a theatre and a 'pharmacy', overlooking the Mtkvari river. Walking among these stone houses emptied by time, under the sun, is like leafing through Georgia's prehistory. You then continue towards Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis (the land of the Golden Fleece). You arrive in the evening.
- 🏨 Best Western Kutaisi City Center — Centro, Kutaisi
Day 7 — Kutaisi and the Prometheus caves
A day in Kutaisi: the medieval monasteries of Gelati and Bagrati, UNESCO sites with their mosaics, and the spectacular Prometheus caves with their illuminated formations.
- 📍 Gelati Monastery — Gelati monastery, a UNESCO site, was founded in the 12th century by King David the Builder and was a great centre of culture: its churches hold Byzantine mosaics and frescoes of extraordinary beauty, including a golden Madonna. Nearby, the Bagrati cathedral dominates Kutaisi. They are the heart of medieval Georgia, its golden age. In the afternoon you go underground, to the Prometheus caves.
- 📍 Prometheus Cave — The Prometheus caves (Kumistavi) are a vast system of colour-lit caverns, with monumental stalactites and stalagmites, immense halls and an underground river you can travel by boat. It is a fairy-tale world beneath the earth, cool and evocative. According to myth, it was on these Caucasus mountains that Prometheus was chained for giving fire to mankind. You return to Kutaisi for the night. Tomorrow the great adventure: the climb into remote Svaneti.
Day 8 — Towards Svaneti
A long mountain journey to Mestia, capital of remote Svaneti, a region of medieval stone towers beneath the highest peaks in Georgia.
- ✈️ Kutaisi → Mestia — Mestia, Svaneti
- 📍 Mestia — Mestia is a mountain village where dozens of Svan stone towers rise among the houses, some a thousand years old. The history-ethnography museum holds medieval icons and manuscripts of extraordinary value, saved in these inaccessible valleys during the invasions. You stroll among the towers and dine on Svan cuisine, hearty and tasty (kubdari, a meat-filled flatbread). Tomorrow the excursion to the highest village in Europe: Ushguli.
- 🏨 Hotel Svaneti — Mestia, Svaneti
Day 9 — Ushguli, the highest village
An excursion to Ushguli, among the highest inhabited villages in Europe, a UNESCO site with its medieval towers beneath the snowy mass of Mount Shkhara.
- 🎯 Ushguli — A dirt track (about two hours by 4x4) climbs the valley to Ushguli, at 2,200 metres: a group of four stone villages with dozens of Svan towers, considered among the highest year-round inhabited settlements in Europe and a UNESCO site. In the background rises Shkhara, the highest peak in Georgia (5,193 m). Walking among these ancient towers, with cows grazing and children playing, is like going back to the Middle Ages. You return to Mestia. Tomorrow you head down to the Black Sea, to Batumi.
Day 10 — Towards the Black Sea: Batumi
A descent from Svaneti to Batumi, a lively city on the Black Sea, a mix of eclectic architecture, skyscrapers, palms and seafront promenade: Georgia's riviera.
- ✈️ Mestia → Batumi — Batumi, Georgia
- 📍 Batumi Boulevard — Batumi Boulevard is a long tree-lined avenue by the sea, perfect for strolling or cycling among fountains, sculptures (the famous moving statue 'Ali and Nino', who merge every evening) and cafes. The old town preserves elegant squares and European architecture, while the illuminated skyscrapers give it a Las Vegas of the Black Sea air. You dine on fish and acharuli khachapuri, the boat of bread filled with cheese and egg, an Adjara speciality. Tomorrow the return.
- 🏨 Ibis Styles Batumi — Centro / Lungomare, Batumi
Day 11 — Batumi and departure
A last morning on the Black Sea and the flight home. The end of a journey in the Caucasus, among snowy peaks, monasteries, medieval towers and Georgian hospitality.
- ✈️ Batumi — Aeroporto di Milano Malpensa (MXP)
