7 Days in Georgia: Tbilisi, Kazbegi, Kakheti

Why seven days, and why in this order

Georgia is small in a useful way. From Tbilisi the high Caucasus is three hours off and the wine valleys two, so one week buys a capital, a mountain and a wine region without a single day lost entirely to transit. Very few countries in this part of the world hand you that ratio.

The order matters more than the list. Two nights in Tbilisi at 400 m to land and adjust, two at Stepantsminda at 1,740 m while the legs are fresh, two in Kakheti at 550–790 m to finish slowly, then a short run back to the airport. People who reverse it and go straight from the plane to the mountains spend the best day of the trip half asleep at altitude.

This route deliberately skips Svaneti, and that is the one decision readers argue with. The short version: nine to ten hours each way, on a road and a night train that both need a buffer day around them. On a seven-day trip that is a two-day tax for a region which needs three nights to make any sense at all. It gets its own section below, and it deserves its own trip.

Everything here is by road and rail. There are no internal flights on this itinerary and none are needed. Times are door to door on the actual road, not distance divided by an optimistic average, and prices are 2025, in lari, and they move.

Gergeti Trinity at 2,170 m: the morning that pays for the whole week.

The route in one line

Three bases, six nights, one loop that ends where it began. Only one leg crosses a mountain pass, and only one — the transfer to Kakheti — runs longer than three and a half hours.

No base gets fewer than two nights. That rule sounds soft and is not: one night means you arrive, sleep and leave, and you have paid for a bed rather than seen a place. Two nights buys one whole day, and one whole day is the floor for everywhere on this list.

Nights 1–2 Tbilisi, 400 m. Sulphur baths, the old town on the right bank, the Dry Bridge market and the best eating between Istanbul and Tehran. Nights 3–4 Stepantsminda, 1,740 m. Gergeti Trinity at 2,170 m, the Dariali gorge, and Kazbek at 5,047 m over the roofs. Nights 5–6 Sighnaghi (790 m) or Telavi (550 m). Qvevri cellars, the Alazani plain and the Caucasus wall on the far side of it. Day 7 Back to Tbilisi, two hours, and out. Sighnaghi to the airport is about 2 h 15 without stops. Total road About 9 h across the week in three legs: 3 h, 4–4.5 h, 2 h. No day is spent entirely in the car. Flights None internal. Everything on this route is marshrutka, hired car or your own hire car.

Days 1 and 2 · Tbilisi

Tbilisi sits at 400 m in the gorge of the Mtkvari, which is why it feels enclosed and why the old town is vertical — stairs, carved balconies hanging off brick, brick sulphur domes at the bottom of the slope and a fortress on the ridge above.

Day one should not be ambitious. Land, drop the bags, walk the right bank between Meidan and Abanotubani, and give an hour to the sulphur baths. They are not a spa: they are hot, municipal and functional. A private room is GEL 50–120 an hour for two (2025), a public hall from GEL 5. Doing this on arrival day is the cheapest thing you can do to improve the rest of the week.

Day two takes the things that need energy: the funicular to Mtatsminda for the whole gorge laid out below, Rustaveli and the National Museum — two hours, and the Soviet occupation floor is the part people remember — then the Dry Bridge, where Soviet cameras, medals and family silver are sold off trestle tables. Finish in a wine bar in Sololaki or Vera and ask for dry qvevri amber, not red.

Day 1 Land, old town, baths Airport bus 37 to the centre for GEL 1, or a Bolt for GEL 30–40 (2025), 25–35 min. Walk the right bank, then Abanotubani: private room GEL 50–120 an hour, public hall from GEL 5. Day 1 eve The first supra Khinkali, pkhali, badrijani, a jug of amber. GEL 40–70 a head with wine (2025). The toasts run long and the tamada will not be hurried. Day 2 Mtatsminda and Rustaveli Funicular from Chonkadze, about GEL 15 return with the card. Then the National Museum on Rustaveli, GEL 15, allow two hours. Day 2 pm Dry Bridge, then wine The flea market runs until dusk. A glass of dry qvevri amber in Vera is GEL 8–15; a decent bottle to take north, GEL 25–40. Day 2 · decision Fix the mountain day tonight Confirm the driver or the marshrutka before bed and look at the Jvari pass forecast. If snow, fog or roadworks are flagged, flip the week: Kakheti on days 3–4, mountains on 5–6.

Tbilisi: wooden balconies bolted to brick, and the sulphur domes at the bottom of the hill.

Days 3 and 4 · Kazbegi

The drive north on the Georgian Military Highway is three hours and it is the best road in the country. It follows the Aragvi past Ananuri fortress on its reservoir, climbs through Gudauri, crosses the Jvari pass at 2,379 m and drops into the Terek valley at Stepantsminda, with Kazbek — an extinct volcano of 5,047 m — filling the windscreen on a clear day.

The pass is the caveat that never goes away. In December to March it closes for days at a time for snow and avalanche work; in summer it is single-lane through roadworks and can hold you for an hour; and fog can arrive in June. Check the road agency status the night before and again at breakfast, and keep the Kakheti days as the fallback — they swap in without breaking anything.

The reason to sleep here rather than day-trip is Gergeti. The fourteenth-century Trinity church stands alone on a spur at 2,170 m above the village: ninety minutes up on foot, twenty in a 4x4. At eight in the morning it is yours; by eleven the vans from Tbilisi have arrived and it is a car park with a church in it. Day two is the valley — Gveleti falls, the Dariali gorge, the travertine terraces of Truso if the road and the border checkpoint allow — or nothing at all, which Stepantsminda is very good for.

Day 3 North on the Military Highway, 3 h Leave Tbilisi by 09:00. Ananuri at 70 km, the pass viewpoint at 2,379 m, Stepantsminda by 13:00. Marshrutka from Didube GEL 15–20 (2025), roughly hourly 07:00–17:00, 3.5 h. Day 3 pm Do very little You have gained 1,300 m in three hours. Walk the village and the Terek bank, eat early, sleep. Headaches at 1,740 m are common and pass overnight. Day 4 Gergeti Trinity, at eight 90 minutes up, 400 m of climb to 2,170 m, or 20 minutes in a shared 4x4 for GEL 50–60 a head return (2025). Shoulders and knees covered inside. Day 4 pm Gveleti or Truso Gveleti falls 20 min north towards Dariali, easy walk from the road. Truso needs a 4x4 and passport for the checkpoint; GEL 150–250 for the car (2025). Day 4 · decision Long leg tomorrow, or split it Kakheti direct is 4–4.5 h. If nobody in the car enjoys long drives, sleep in Tbilisi tonight instead and go out to Telavi in two hours in the morning — same week, one hotel change.

Kazbek, 5,047 m, over Stepantsminda: two nights here, never one.

Days 5, 6 and 7 · Kakheti and out

Kakheti is where wine was invented, and that is not a marketing line: grape-wine residue in clay vessels here has been dated to around 6000 BC, and the qvevri method — fermenting on the skins in beeswax-lined clay jars buried to the neck — went onto the UNESCO intangible heritage list in 2013. Some five hundred native grape varieties survive, most of them nowhere else.

From Stepantsminda it is 4 to 4.5 hours across, back down the Military Highway, round Tbilisi and over the Gombori pass to Telavi. There is no direct marshrutka: you come into Didube and cross the city to Isani or Samgori, which costs an hour of the day. This is the one long leg of the week and the one worth paying a driver for if there are three or four of you.

Two nights covers the valley honestly. Sighnaghi is the postcard — a walled hill town at 790 m with four kilometres of rampart and towers you can walk, and the Caucasus standing up across the plain at sunset. Telavi is the working town: better food, lower prices, less charm. Between them lie the cellars, from a family marani where the grandfather pours to estates with tasting rooms and a card machine. Day seven is two hours back to Tbilisi and the airport.

Day 5 Across to Kakheti, 4–4.5 h Marshrutka Stepantsminda–Didube GEL 15–20, then cross town to Isani or Samgori: Telavi GEL 10, Sighnaghi GEL 8–10 (2025), 2–2.5 h. A hired car does it door to door for GEL 250–350. Day 5 pm The walls at Sighnaghi Four kilometres of eighteenth-century rampart, twenty-three towers, and the Alazani plain below with the main Caucasus ridge behind it. Best in the last hour of light. Day 6 Two cellars, not five One family marani, one serious estate. Tastings GEL 15–30, with a plate of food GEL 40–70 (2025). In September book both ahead — Rtveli fills the good ones. Day 6 pm Bodbe and the valley The monastery 2 km below Sighnaghi, free entry, cypress avenue and a terrace over the plain. Dinner with whatever you liked at the second cellar. Day 7 Back to Tbilisi, 2 h Sighnaghi–Tbilisi marshrutka GEL 8–10, roughly every 90 minutes until about 18:00; the airport is 25 min further. Late flight? Mtskheta on the other side of Tbilisi is worth the extra hour.

Kakheti: eight thousand years of qvevri wine in one long valley.

How you actually move

Three ways to do this week, and they suit different tempers. A hired driver for the mountain leg is the one most people end up grateful for: three hours each way on a pass road with stops at Ananuri and the viewpoint, GEL 250–350 for the car (2025). Split between three or four that is small money for a day.

Self-driving is straightforward on the main routes and hire is cheap, but the Military Highway is a working freight corridor with trucks on blind curves, and local overtaking habits take a day to get used to. If you have not driven mountain roads before, this is not the week to learn on a pass at 2,379 m.

Marshrutkas cover every leg on this route for a few lari and are how the country actually travels. They leave from fixed yards in Tbilisi — Didube for the north, Isani and Samgori for Kakheti — and the ride is fine, provided nobody needs the day to start at a particular minute.

Hired driver GEL 250–350 for the car for the Tbilisi–Stepantsminda day with stops (2025). Split four ways it is GEL 65–90 each. Rental car GEL 100–180 a day (2025). Fine on main roads; the Military Highway has freight, blind curves and summer roadworks. Marshrutka north Didube to Stepantsminda, GEL 15–20, about 3.5 h, roughly hourly 07:00–17:00. Leaves when full. Marshrutka to Kakheti Isani or Samgori to Telavi GEL 10, Sighnaghi GEL 8–10, 2–2.5 h, every 60–90 min until early evening. The Jvari pass 2,379 m. Closes for days between December and March, single-lane through summer roadworks, fog any month. Check the road status the night before. Total road time About 9 h across the week in three legs. Nothing longer than 4.5 h in one sitting, and that leg can be split in Tbilisi.

On the marshrutka A marshrutka leaves when it is full, not at a published time, and there is no booking. Morning departures fill fastest, afternoons can sit for forty minutes. If somebody in the party needs a fixed departure, the train is the only thing in Georgia that keeps one.

What the week costs

Per person per day, excluding international flights, measured in 2025 and outside the fortnight around New Year. Each figure covers a bed, three meals, internal transport, entry fees and a tasting or two. Roughly GEL 3 to the euro, and the lari moves.

Georgia remains among the best value in the region, and the mid-range line is where most of that value sits: a guesthouse with breakfast, dinner with a bottle, and a share of a driver for the mountain day. The backpacker figure is real but assumes marshrutkas throughout and dorm beds.

The single biggest variable is the mountain leg. A car and driver for the Stepantsminda day is GEL 250–350 whether one person or four are inside it, so a group of four pays a quarter each. That one decision swings the weekly total more than anything else on this page.

Backpacker GEL 90–130 a day (~€30–43). Dorms, bakeries, markets and marshrutkas. About GEL 700 (~€230) for the week. Mid-range GEL 180–260 a day (~€60–86). Guesthouses with breakfast, dinner with wine, a shared driver once. About GEL 1,500 (~€500) for the week. Comfortable GEL 360–550 a day (~€120–180). Boutique hotels, a private driver throughout, estate tastings. GEL 2,700+ (~€900) for the week. Guesthouse night GEL 60–140 (2025), usually with breakfast and often dinner for GEL 25–35 more. Standards in the mountains are high. Dinner with wine GEL 40–70 a head in a normal restaurant (2025). Considerably less at a family table in Kakheti, where dinner is often part of the room. Cellar tasting GEL 15–30 at a family marani, GEL 30–60 at an estate with a tasting room and a card machine (2025).

When to do this week

May, June, September and the first half of October are the honest answer. All three regions work at the same time, the Jvari pass is reliably open, and the temperature is bearable at both 400 m and 2,170 m on the same day.

September is the pick if you have the choice, and that is exactly why it is the hardest month to book. The heat has left Tbilisi, the mountains are clear, and Rtveli — the grape harvest — turns the Kakheti days from a tasting into a participation. September and early October fill first: guesthouses in Stepantsminda and the better cellars in Kakheti are gone two months out.

July and August work, but Tbilisi at 35 °C in a river gorge is genuinely unpleasant and everyone who can leaves for the mountains. Winter is the real caveat: the pass closes for days at a time from December to March and this route depends on it entirely, so plan the swap before you need it.

May – Jun Green, mild and everything open. Wildflowers above Gergeti, snow still on the ridge, no crowds yet. Sep – early Oct The pick, and the first to sell out. Clear mountains, a cool capital and Rtveli in Kakheti. Book beds and cellars two months ahead. Jul – Aug Workable, but Tbilisi is 35 °C in a gorge and Kakheti hotter. The mountains are the relief; book them early too. Nov Quiet and cheap, with first snow on the pass and short days. A gamble on the mountain leg rather than a plan. Dec – Mar The Jvari pass closes for days. Swap Stepantsminda for Gudauri, which sits below the pass and stays reachable. Apr Mud season above 1,500 m and unreliable weather. Tbilisi and Kakheti are fine; the mountain days are not guaranteed.

Why Svaneti is not in this week

Svaneti is the most spectacular part of Georgia — medieval tower houses under 4,000-metre walls, and glaciers you can walk to from a village. Nobody who has been there argues about that. The argument is only about arithmetic.

Tbilisi to Mestia is roughly 470 km and nine to ten hours by road, with the last two hours on a mountain road that rockfall and snow can shut. The civilised alternative is the night train to Zugdidi, which leaves Tbilisi around 21:30 and arrives near 06:00 (GEL 25–40, 2025), then a marshrutka onward, three more hours. There is a small plane from Natakhtari to Mestia for about GEL 70, but it seats nineteen, sells out weeks ahead and cancels for weather with no notice — you cannot build a week around it.

Then Mestia needs three nights to justify the journey: one for Chalaadi glacier or the Koruldi lakes, one for Ushguli up the valley, one for the weather to fail. Add the two travel days and Svaneti costs five of your seven. That is not a shortened version of this route — it is a different trip with Tbilisi as an airport.

So the honest advice is to leave it out, and come back. On ten days it fits at the end, entered by the night train and left by a morning flight from Kutaisi. On seven, adding it means arriving somewhere every second day and seeing none of it properly.

Svaneti: the best region in the country, and a two-day tax on a seven-day trip.

Six variants of the same week

The structure survives large changes because what holds it together is the order — arrive low, go high, come down for the wine — not the particular stops. These are the six we are asked for most.

No mountains Swap Kazbegi for Borjomi and Vardzia: mineral springs, a twelfth-century cave city and no pass to worry about in winter. More wine Three nights in Kakheti instead of two, based in Sighnaghi, with one day in the Alazani valley cellars and one at Bodbe and Gremi. Winter version Tbilisi, Gudauri for the skiing and Kakheti. Gudauri sits below the pass, so it stays reachable on days Stepantsminda does not. Ten days Add Svaneti properly at the end: night train to Zugdidi, three nights in Mestia, fly home from Kutaisi. Do not squeeze it into seven. With children Two bases instead of three — Tbilisi and Kakheti — with Mtskheta and Ananuri as day trips. Shorter legs, more pool. Marshrutka only Entirely possible, about GEL 700 (~€230) for the week. Accept approximate departures and mornings that start slowly.

The six mistakes

Five of the six we have made ourselves. The first costs a whole day and the second costs the trip.

Mountains on day one You land tired, drive three hours uphill and sleep through the best day. Two nights in Tbilisi first, then go up. Adding Svaneti Nine to ten hours each way, plus three nights to make it worth it. A comfortable seven days becomes a punishing ten. Gergeti at midday The Tbilisi vans arrive around 11:00. Leave at eight and the church at 2,170 m is yours for an hour. Five cellars in a day Two, maybe three. After that nobody is tasting anything and the question of who is driving stops being funny. Ignoring the pass The Jvari pass at 2,379 m closes for days in winter and crawls through roadworks in summer. This route depends on it entirely. One-night stops You arrive, sleep and leave. Two nights minimum everywhere, or you have bought beds rather than seen places.

The questions that always come

Six that reach us weekly, and none needs a long answer.

Do I need a car? No. Marshrutkas cover every leg for a few lari, and a hired driver for the mountain day is GEL 250–350 for the car (2025). A rental only earns its keep if you want the Truso valley or the smaller Kakheti cellars at your own pace. Is a week really enough? For these three regions, yes, and comfortably — nine hours of road in total. It is not enough for Svaneti as well, which is the single most common way people ruin this itinerary. What if the Jvari pass is closed? Check the road agency status the night before. If it is shut, do Kakheti on days 3–4 and try the mountains on 5–6; if it stays shut, Gudauri sits below the pass and Mtskheta plus Ananuri make a good substitute day. How much Georgian do I need? Very little in Tbilisi, more than you expect in villages. Russian is widely understood over forty, English under thirty, and a few words of Georgian are received with disproportionate warmth. Is the wine all sweet? No — that reputation is a Soviet export legacy. The distinctive thing is dry amber wine fermented on the skins in qvevri, and it tastes like nothing else. Ask for qvevri and dry, and ignore the semi-sweet reds unless you want them. Is it safe? Georgia is ordinarily straightforward for visitors and every region on this route is normally travelled. The exceptions are the administrative boundary lines with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which should not be approached. Check your own government's current advice before you travel.

In short Arrive low, go high, come down for the wine Two nights in Tbilisi to land and adjust, two in the mountains while the legs are fresh, two in Kakheti to finish slowly. Nine hours of road across a whole week, no internal flights, nothing that needs booking more than a fortnight ahead — except in September, when it needs two months. All destinations All guides

Seven days in Georgia, day by day