Georgia End to End: Tbilisi, Batumi and the Borjomi Spa Valley, 8 Nights

You are met at Tbilisi International Airport and driven to your hotel for the first four nights. Nothing is planned for the rest of the day. When you are ready, the old town is a short walk or taxi ride away, with its balconied houses, wine bars and bakeries turning out hot shoti bread from round clay ovens.

A guided day in the capital. The cable car lifts you to Narikala fortress for the view over the river and the rooftops, and you walk back down through the sulphur-bath quarter of Abanotubani, along Shardeni street and into the sixth-century Anchiskhati Basilica, the oldest surviving church in Tbilisi. The evening is free for dinner in the old town.

A long day north on the Georgian Military Highway, around three hours each way. You stop at Ananuri’s fortress on the Zhinvali reservoir and at the ski town of Gudauri, then cross the Jvari Pass to Stepantsminda and take a 4x4 up to Gergeti Trinity Church. From December to March snow can close the pass; if it does, we rework the day with you.

East to Kakheti, the country’s main wine region. Sighnaghi’s walls and towers look out over the Alazani valley, and the convent at Bodbe below it holds the grave of St Nino. In the afternoon you continue to Telavi and to Tsinandali, the estate of the poet-prince Alexander Chavchavadze, with its gardens and house museum. A winery visit is confirmed with your quote.

The longest day of the trip. It is about four hours west to Martvili Canyon, where the river runs turquoise between mossy limestone walls and a boat ride is possible when the water allows. Another two and a half hours or so brings you to the Black Sea, reaching Batumi in the evening rather than the afternoon.

A day in Georgia’s summer city. You see the Piazza, Medea Square and the moving steel figures of Ali and Nino on the seafront, and ride the Argo cable car for the view along the coast. The Botanical Garden on the Green Cape, just north of town, spreads its terraces of plants from around the world above the sea.

A gentler travel day of about 230 kilometres, turning inland from the coast and climbing into the Borjomi gorge, where the Mtkvari river runs between pine- and spruce-covered hills. You arrive in the early afternoon with the rest of the day free, which is the idea: an evening walk along the river is the best introduction to the town.

A slow day in the town that gave its name to Georgia’s best-known mineral water. The Central Park follows a side valley into the forest, with the pavilion where the warm, salty spring water can be tasted from the tap. Walking paths lead further up the valley. The rest of the day is free; spa treatments can be booked locally.

After breakfast your driver takes you from Borjomi to Tbilisi International Airport, a drive of about three hours, so a flight from late morning onwards works best. If your flight leaves from Kutaisi instead, that airport is about two hours away. We confirm which applies, and the timing, with your quote.