Georgia Coast to Caucasus: Tbilisi, Kakheti, Batumi and Kazbegi, 7 Nights

You are met at Tbilisi International Airport and driven to your hotel, about half an hour away. The day is yours to recover from the flight. When you feel like it, the old town is close by: a walk across the Peace Bridge and a first glass of Georgian wine make an easy introduction to the city.

A guided day on foot and by cable car. Narikala fortress gives you the whole city from above; below it lie the brick domes of the Abanotubani sulphur baths, the café-lined lanes of Shardeni, the sixth-century Anchiskhati Basilica and the leaning clock tower of the Gabriadze puppet theatre, where an angel strikes the bell on the hour.

East into Kakheti, where Georgians have made wine in buried clay jars for thousands of years. You walk the walled hilltop town of Sighnaghi, visit the convent at Bodbe where St Nino is buried, and continue to Telavi and the nineteenth-century Tsinandali estate, with its house museum and gardens. A winery visit is confirmed with your quote.

A long day across the country: about 380 kilometres, or seven to eight hours with stops. The motorway runs west past Gori and over the Rikoti Pass to Imereti, where Prometheus Cave near Kutaisi leads through lit halls of stalactites and underground pools. The last stretch follows the lowlands to the Black Sea, reaching Batumi in the evening.

A day by the sea. The tour takes in the Piazza with its clock tower, Medea Square, the seafront boulevard and the slowly turning steel figures of Ali and Nino. The Argo cable car climbs above the city for the view along the coast, and the Botanical Garden spreads over the Green Cape just north of town, its terraces looking down on the sea.

Another long road day of seven to eight hours with stops. About two and a half hours from Batumi you reach Martvili Canyon, where a short boat ride follows the turquoise river between mossy limestone walls, weather and water levels permitting. The drive then continues east for around four and a half hours, reaching Tbilisi in the evening.

North on the Georgian Military Highway, about three hours each way. You stop at Ananuri’s fortress above the Zhinvali reservoir and at Gudauri, then cross the Jvari Pass to Stepantsminda, where a 4x4 takes you up to Gergeti Trinity Church below Mount Kazbek. From December to March snow can close the pass; if it does, we rework the day with you.

Breakfast at the hotel and, depending on the time of your flight, a last walk in the old town or a visit to the Dry Bridge market for paintings, enamel and Soviet-era curios. Your driver then takes you back to Tbilisi International Airport for the flight home.