Tbilisi, Kazbegi and Kakheti — 5 days, 4 nights

Overview

Duration

5 days / 4 nights

Base

Tbilisi — one hotel, no repacking

Route

Tbilisi → Mtskheta → Ananuri → Gudauri → Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) → Sighnaghi → Kakheti

Hotel category

4–5 star. The four-star hotels are in the Old Town or city centre; the five-star is by Lisi Lake, a short drive out

Tour type

Private car with driver-guide; group option on request

Best season

Year-round. The Kazbegi road is most scenic May–October, Kakheti harvest is September–October, ski season runs December–March

• Gergeti Trinity Church at 2,170 m, reached by 4x4
• The Georgian Military Highway and the Friendship Monument
• Sighnaghi, the walled hill town over the Alazani valley
• A family winery, and the qvevri method up close
• Narikala Fortress by cable car, over the old town
• Jvari Monastery and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral at Mtskheta

Day by day

1. Day 1 Arrival in Tbilisi

   

   Meet and greet at Tbilisi International Airport, private transfer to the hotel, check-in. The evening is free at leisure — an Old Town walk, or Shardeni Street, five minutes from most old-town hotels and where the city eats late.

   Meals: None — dinner is your own arrangement

2. Day 2 Tbilisi city tour and Mtskheta

   

   A full day, and two halves of it. The morning is an Old Town walking tour — Metekhi Church, the cable car from Rike Park up to Narikala Fortress, the Bridge of Peace, and the sulfur bath district at Abanotubani. The climb everyone warns you about is a three-minute cable car ride with the old town underneath it. In the afternoon, 25 minutes out to Mtskheta, Georgia's ancient capital: Jvari Monastery on its ridge above the meeting of the Aragvi and the Mtkvari, then Svetitskhoveli Cathedral below it. Back in Tbilisi by early evening.

   Meals: Breakfast — lunch in Mtskheta is your own expense

3. Day 3 Kazbegi, full day in the mountains

   

   North along the Georgian Military Highway, nine to ten hours door to door. The Zhinvali reservoir viewpoint, the Ananuri fortress complex, the Gudauri panorama and the Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument, then Stepantsminda — and from there a 4x4 up to Gergeti Trinity Church at 2,170 metres, with Mount Kazbek behind it. Back in Tbilisi in the evening.

   Meals: Breakfast — lunch in Stepantsminda or Gudauri is your own expense

4. Day 4 Kakheti wine region, full day

   

   East into Georgia's wine country, eight to nine hours door to door. Sighnaghi, the walled hilltop "City of Love" looking out over the Alazani valley; Bodbe Monastery, where St Nino is buried; then a family winery for a tour of the qvevri method — fermentation in clay vessels buried to the neck, which Georgia has used for 8,000 years — and a tasting. Back in Tbilisi in the evening.

   Meals: Breakfast, and the wine tasting — lunch at the winery or in Sighnaghi is your own expense

5. Day 5 Departure

   

   Free morning for shopping or a last walk, checkout, private transfer to the airport.

   Meals: Breakfast

Your price

This is what you chose, priced. Change anything and it reprices — the price is the price, not a starting figure that grows at checkout.

Named hotels or similar in the same class, subject to availability on your dates. Prices are per person with two sharing a twin room; a single room costs more.

What’s included

Good to know

• Days 3 and 4 are both long excursion days, back to back. If you would rather take it slower, day 4 can become a free day with Kakheti moved to an optional add-on.
• Day 3 is a mountain day. Comfortable shoes and a warm layer are worth packing — Gergeti sits at 2,170 m and is noticeably cooler than Tbilisi even in summer.
• The 4x4 section up to Gergeti is standard practice, not an upsell. The road is steep but short.
• Modest dress — covered shoulders and knees — is required inside churches and monasteries. Scarves are usually available at the entrance.
• In winter, heavy snowfall can close the Military Highway. The Uplistsikhe and Gori tour is the standard same-day substitute.
• September and October are harvest season — rtveli — in Kakheti. The best time for the wine day, and the busiest.
• Georgian lari is the only currency most small restaurants take, though cards are widely accepted in Tbilisi.
• The package runs with a minimum of two travellers. A solo-traveller supplement applies.

Questions

• Days 3 and 4 are both long. Can I slow it down?

  Yes. Day 4 can become a free day in Tbilisi with Kakheti moved to an optional add-on, or the Kazbegi day can end with a night in the mountains rather than the drive back. Say which you would prefer when you enquire.

• How long is the Kazbegi day?

  Nine to ten hours door to door. Most of it is driving with stops rather than walking, and the only demanding part is the 4x4 up to Gergeti, which is a rough track rather than a hike.

• I don't drink. Is the Kakheti day still worth it?

  Sighnaghi and Bodbe carry the day on their own — a walled town on a ridge and a monastery looking down the Alazani valley to the Caucasus you were standing in the day before. Say so when you book and the tasting can be dropped.

• What happens if the Jvari Pass is closed?

  It can close at short notice in winter. We will tell you when you book if your dates carry that risk, and if it closes on the day the itinerary is reworked rather than simply dropped.