Georgia, a small country that takes far longer than the map suggests
Georgia is the size of West Virginia and holds a wine region, a Black Sea coast, two serious mountain regions and a capital people keep extending their stay in. Nine days covers the country most visitors come for. Twelve reaches the high mountains. Three weeks adds Armenia.
Plan my Georgia trip Read the complete guide
- Best time to go
- May to June, September to October
- The mountains
- July to September only
- How many days
- 9 to 12
- Entry
- Visa-free for many nationalities
The reason it takes longer than the map suggests is elevation. Tbilisi to Ushguli in upper Svaneti is 250 miles (400 km), and a two-day journey.
Why plan Georgia with us
We are straight about how we operate here. GO EAST staffs its own offices in Japan, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. Georgia is not one of them. We run it through a Tbilisi partner of many years, whose drivers, guides and mountain fixers meet you on the ground. We would rather name who is there than imply an office we do not have.
Our founder has led trips here. Doron Reichman has run groups in the field in Georgia, on the Tusheti road and in Svaneti, which is why our mountain sections carry specific timings rather than optimism.
A named specialist, not a queue. Your file belongs to one person: our Head of Consulting Mai Est, or our Caucasus and Central Asia specialists Osnat Angerman and Paz Prosianoy.
We will tell you the unwelcome thing. That Tbilisi in August is genuinely hot. That the Abano Pass into Tusheti is a rough single-track road with drops and no barrier, and some people should not do it. That guesthouse standards in the high villages are simple, and that is the region rather than something we can fix by spending more. Our rating is 4.9 from 93 reviews largely because of that.
A WhatsApp group while you travel. Your consultant here, our Tbilisi partner there, from take-off until you land home.
The short answers
| Question | Short answer | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Best time to go | May to June, September to October | Late September is the Kakheti wine harvest, the best time to be in the east. |
| The mountains | July to September only | Tusheti is usually open from around June to early October and the dates move with the snow. |
| How many days | 9 to 12 | Under 8 means Tbilisi, Kakheti and one mountain valley. Over 14 opens the Black Sea or Armenia. |
| Entry | Visa-free for many nationalities | A long list of passports, for an unusually long stay. We confirm the current rule for yours before we quote. |
| Getting around | Private car with a driver | Distances are short and the driving is not. We do not recommend self-drive here. |
| Typical budget | $110 to $520 per person per day | Land only, excluding international flights. Mountain days cost more because of the vehicles. |
The full breakdown is in our complete guide →
Eight ways to travel Georgia
Every route below is one we actually build, day by day, with honest drive times. Start from one and we rebuild it around you.
- Classic Georgia in 9 days, Tbilisi, Kakheti, Kazbegi, Mtskheta
- Georgia with children, 10 days, short legs, castles, caves
- Svaneti and Tusheti, 12 days, the two high regions, walked
- Romantic Georgia, 8 days, Sighnaghi, a marani, three slow nights
- Wine and food, 10 days, qvevri cellars and Tbilisi kitchens
- Boutique Georgia, 9 days, four buildings worth the rate
- Georgia in 14 days, Svaneti, Kutaisi, the Black Sea
- Georgia and Armenia, 21 days, two countries, one land border
Georgia in the magazine
Georgia month by month · What a supra actually is · Qvevri wine explained · The Tusheti road, honestly · Tbilisi in three days
Georgia itineraries
Every one of these is a starting point, not a fixed departure. We change the length, the pace and the hotels to fit you.
Classic Georgia in 9 days: Tbilisi, Kakheti, Mtskheta and Kazbegi
The first-visit route. Three nights in Tbilisi at the start, the old capital at Mtskheta as a half day, two nights in the Kakheti…
Georgia with children in 10 days: caves, castles and short drives
Georgia is an easier country to travel with children than most people expect. Children are welcome everywhere, including at dinner at ten at night.…
Svaneti and Tusheti in 12 days: the two high regions, walked
Georgia has two mountain regions that are genuinely different from the rest of the country and from each other. Svaneti, in the north-west, has…
Romantic Georgia in 8 days: three rooms, no rushing
Eight days is short, so this route does the opposite of covering ground. Three places, three nights each in the first two, and days…
Wine and food in Georgia: 10 days in Kakheti and Tbilisi
Georgia has been making wine for around eight thousand years, which is as far back as the evidence goes anywhere on earth, and it…
Boutique Georgia in 9 days: four buildings worth the rate
Georgia is not a country with a deep bench of great hotels. It has perhaps twenty properties we would put a client in at…
Georgia in 14 days: Svaneti, Imereti and the Black Sea
Two weeks is the length at which Georgia stops being a city and a wine region and becomes a country. This route runs east…
Georgia and Armenia in 21 days
Two countries that share a border, an alphabet family, a mountain range and almost nothing else. Georgia is green, wine-drinking, Orthodox in a Byzantine…
What is in every Georgia trip we build
- Real drive times on real road surfaces, not straight-line estimates
- A road-status check before you travel, and a written alternative for every seasonal pass
- Vehicles matched to the road, up to a mountain 4x4 with a driver who does that pass for a living
- Family wine cellars rather than tasting rooms, so you sit with the person who made the wine
- Honest accommodation notes, including which nights have a shared bathroom and a stove for heat
Planning Georgia, in detail
What we would skip in Georgia
This is the article that costs us money and earns the trust, so we write it carefully.
What to eat in Georgia, and how a supra works
Georgian food is one of the two reasons to come to Georgia, and the other one is the wine that goes with…
Tbilisi in three days
Most people give Tbilisi a day and a half and treat it as the city with the airport in it. Then they…
Svaneti or Tusheti: which one to walk
Georgia has two high regions worth building a trip around, and almost everybody who asks us about them has read the same…
How many days do you need in Georgia?
The honest answer is nine, and the reason is arithmetic rather than taste.
Georgia with children
Georgia is one of the warmest countries towards children that we work in anywhere, and it is one that families rarely think…
Frequently asked questions
Is Georgia safe?
When can we get to Tusheti and upper Svaneti?
How good is the wine, really?
Can we combine Georgia with another country?
Tell us roughly what you want. We will tell you honestly what works.
A named consultant in Tel Aviv, our own people on the ground, and a written plan you can argue with before you commit to anything.