Georgia Mountain Nights: Tbilisi, Kazbegi and Mtskheta, 6 Nights

You are met at Tbilisi International Airport and driven to your hotel in the city, where rooms are usually ready from early afternoon. The rest of the day is free. The streets around Meidan and the sulphur-bath quarter are an easy first walk, and there are wine bars and small restaurants on every corner of the old town.

A guided day in the old town. The cable car carries you up to Narikala fortress for the view across the river, then you walk down past the mosque to the domed Abanotubani sulphur baths, along Shardeni street and into the Anchiskhati Basilica, the city’s oldest church. The day ends at the tilted clock tower of the Gabriadze puppet theatre, with free time for shopping.

Onto the Georgian Military Highway, about 155 kilometres and three hours of driving. You stop at Ananuri’s fortress above the Zhinvali reservoir and at Gudauri, where a cable car ride is included when the weather allows. The road then crosses the Jvari Pass and drops to Stepantsminda. From December to March snow can close the pass; see the questions below.

A whole day in the mountains, which is the point of sleeping here. A 4x4 climbs to Gergeti Trinity Church, a fourteenth-century church alone on a ridge with the glaciers of Mount Kazbek behind it; going early or late means fewer visitors. The afternoon is free in Stepantsminda, the small town at the mountain’s foot, to walk, sit with a view or visit its museum.

Back over the pass and down the valley to Mtskheta, the ancient capital where the Aragvi meets the Mtkvari. You visit Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, the eleventh-century heart of the Georgian church, and the sixth-century Jvari Monastery on the hill opposite, looking down on the two rivers. It is a short drive on to Tbilisi for the evening.

A day trip of about 95 kilometres each way to the Tsalka plateau, where Dashbashi Canyon cuts down through the grassland to a river and a string of waterfalls. The Diamond Bridge crosses it with a glass floor; walking over is optional, and the rim paths give fine views either way. Back in Tbilisi for your last evening in the city.

Breakfast at the hotel and, depending on the time of your flight, a last walk or some shopping in the old town. Your driver collects you from the hotel and takes you back to Tbilisi International Airport. If your flight leaves late in the day, a late check-out can be arranged at extra cost.