The best two-week route through Georgia
There is one two-week route through Georgia that we build more than any other, and this article is the argument for it. It is not the only good route and we will name the alternatives, but if you gave us fourteen days and no other instructions, this is what we would write.
The shape is: capital, wine country, one mountain region on a paved road, one mountain region on a rough one, the western monasteries and canyons, and out. Six bases, five hotel changes, and no day where you drive for more than five hours.
The route in one table
| Nights | Base | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Tbilisi | The city needs three days and it is where you land |
| 2 | Telavi or Sighnaghi, Kakheti | Wine, the Alazani valley, and a supra in a house |
| 2 | Stepantsminda, Kazbegi | Two chances at the weather under Kazbek |
| 3 | Mestia, upper Svaneti | Towers, glaciers, and the Ushguli day |
| 2 | Kutaisi | Gelati, the canyons, and the drive east |
| 1 | Tbilisi | Departure, and one more dinner |
Thirteen nights, fourteen days. Our fourteen-day route is the day-by-day version, and it swaps in the Black Sea for people who want it.
Days 1 to 3: Tbilisi
Three days, not one, and by district rather than by checklist.
Day one is the old town: Abanotubani and the domed sulphur bathhouses, the Narikala ridge with the cable car up and the walk down, and dinner in Sololaki. Day two is the other Tbilisi: the art nouveau streets in Sololaki and Vera, the Dry Bridge flea market, the Georgian National Museum, and the Chronicle of Georgia on its hill at the end of the afternoon. Day three is Mtskheta, forty minutes out, with Svetitskhoveli cathedral in the town and the sixth-century Jvari monastery on the hill above the confluence of two rivers.
We put a guide on day one and day three and leave day two free. Tbilisi in three days is the full version.
In July and August, invert these days: mornings and evenings out, middle of the day indoors or in the car. Tbilisi in August regularly reaches the mid nineties Fahrenheit (about 35°C) and the old town is stone with no shade.
Days 4 and 5: Kakheti
Two hours east. Base in Telavi if you want the valley and the working wine towns, in Sighnaghi if you want the view and the walls above the Alazani.
Day four: two family cellars rather than four, with lunch at the second one, and the Alaverdi monastery, which is an eleventh-century cathedral that still makes wine in qvevri in its own cellar. Day five: Sighnaghi and the Bodbe monastery in the morning, then nothing, then a supra in a private house in the evening, arranged by our Tbilisi partner with a family they have known for years.
If you can be here in the second half of September you are here during the rtveli, the grape harvest, and the whole region changes character. That fortnight is the best time in Georgia and also the most expensive, which Georgia month by month sets out.
Days 6 and 7: Kazbegi
Three to three and a half hours north from Kakheti, or from Tbilisi, up the Georgian Military Highway over the Jvari Pass at about 7,815 feet (2,382 m). This is the main road to Russia so it carries freight, and it is paved and straightforward outside winter.
Two nights, and the reason is weather. Mount Kazbek at 16,512 feet (5,033 m) is behind cloud roughly half the time in summer, and the Gergeti Trinity Church on its shoulder at about 7,120 feet (2,170 m) is the image everyone has seen. One night gives you one chance. Two gives you two, and the second day fills easily: the Truso valley walk to the mineral springs and travertine terraces, the Gveleti waterfall, or the Juta valley under the Chaukhi towers, which is the best short walk in the region.
Walk up to Gergeti rather than driving it if you are able. About an hour and a half of steady ascent, and the church is a different thing when you have earned it.
Days 8 to 10: upper Svaneti
The long leg of the trip. Kazbegi back down and west to Mestia is eight to nine hours, so we split it with a night in Kutaisi or Zugdidi, or we use the small aircraft from Tbilisi to Mestia in season, which saves most of a day and cancels in weather. We treat that flight as a bonus rather than a plan.
Three nights in Mestia. The Zugdidi to Mestia road is paved and normal, which is the reason Svaneti rather than Tusheti sits in this route: it does not cost you two days of driving.
Day one in Svaneti: Mestia itself, the Svaneti museum, which holds a serious collection of icons and manuscripts, a tower house you can climb, and the Chalaadi glacier walk, which is about four hours return on an easy track. Day two: Ushguli, two hours for 30 miles (48 km) in a 4×4 on a part-surfaced, part-rough road, with the tower villages and Shkhara at the head of the valley. Ushguli sits at about 7,200 feet (2,200 m) and is usually described as one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Day three: the Koruldi lakes walk above Mestia, which is a long steep day with the finest view in the region at the top, or a slow day if the weather has other plans.
Accommodation in the high villages is simple. A clean twin room, sometimes a shared bathroom, hot water that depends on the generator, and heat from a stove. There is no luxury option in Ushguli at any price, and the food in those houses is usually the best you eat in Georgia.
Days 11 and 12: Kutaisi and Imereti
Four hours down from Mestia into the green, humid centre of the country.
The Gelati monastery is the reason to stop: a twelfth-century foundation on the UNESCO list, with the finest medieval interior in Georgia. The canyons at Martvili and Okatse are a good half day, best in May and June when the water is high from snowmelt. The Kutaisi market on a weekday morning is one of the best food markets in the Caucasus.
Two nights here also breaks the drive back to Tbilisi, which is three and a half hours.
Day 13 and 14: Tbilisi and out
Back to the capital for a final night, a last dinner and whatever you did not fit in on days one to three. Most departures from Tbilisi are early or late rather than in the middle of the day, so we hold the room accordingly.
The alternatives, named
Swap Svaneti for Tusheti. This is the version for people who want the emptiest place in the Caucasus and will pay two of their days for the drive. The Abano Pass at about 9,350 feet (2,850 m) is single-track gravel with drops and no barrier, four to five hours each way for 45 miles (72 km), summer only, usually from around June until the first heavy snow in early October. It is genuinely rough and some people find it frightening. The reward is Omalo, Dartlo and Shenako, and almost no infrastructure. Svaneti or Tusheti compares them properly.
Swap Imereti for the Black Sea. Two nights on the coast instead of Kutaisi. We would only do this if you want the oddity of Batumi, a casino and skyscraper city with a pebble beach, or the good part of Adjara, which is inland: the Machakhela and Khulo valleys, the arched stone bridges and Mtirala national park, which is genuine temperate rainforest and rains accordingly.
Swap Kazbegi for Vardzia and the south. The twelfth-century cave city cut into a cliff, plus the Rabati fortress at Akhaltsikhe, which has been rebuilt so thoroughly that it reads as new. Vardzia needs a night at Akhaltsikhe.
Add Armenia instead of a third week in Georgia. Past fourteen days, this is what we would do. The land border at Bagratashen and Sadakhlo is a normal crossing and the drive from Tbilisi to Yerevan takes most of a day with the Debed canyon monasteries on the way. Our 21-day route does it properly. One planning fact worth stating: Armenia’s land borders with Azerbaijan and with Turkey are closed, so there is no overland route between Armenia and Azerbaijan in either direction. Georgia is the connecting country in the South Caucasus. We say that as a practical matter and take no view beyond it.
What we cut from this route, and why
- Vardzia, on a fourteen-day route that includes Svaneti. It is a long day from anywhere and the route already has enough driving.
- Davit Gareja, the cave monastery complex on the semi-desert border. The access situation has been changeable and we check it before we plan around it.
- A second Kakheti day at commercial estates. Two family cellars teach you more than four tasting rooms.
- One-night stops anywhere. Every one costs a packing morning and an unpacking evening. Five hotel changes in fourteen days is already the ceiling.
Plan this trip
Tell us your dates and we will send you this route rebuilt around them, with real drive times and a written alternative for every seasonal road. Free first outline, no obligation.
Keep reading
- Georgia: the complete guide to planning your trip
- How many days do you need in Georgia?
- Svaneti or Tusheti: which one to walk
- What we would skip in Georgia
- Georgia in 14 days: Svaneti and the Black Sea
- All our Georgia trips
Frequently asked questions
Is fourteen days too long for Georgia?
When should we do this route?
Could we self-drive it?
How many guided days does this route need?
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