Compare Georgia Uncovered - Treasures of the Southern Caucasus by Martin Randall Travel vs Accessible Georgia - 12 Days by Travel for All

Day 1

London to Tbilisi. Fly at c.11.55 from London Gatwick to Tbilisi via Istanbul. Arriving at c.22.30. Transfer to hotel in the heart of the city. First of four nights in Tbilisi.

Day 2

Tbilisi. The Asiatic Old Town set beneath the Narikala fortress remains a twisting maze of streets, caravanserais and ancient churches, adding contrast to the subsequent architecture erected by the tsars’ viceroys, by merchant princes, Bolsheviks and post-Soviet presidents’ favourite modern architects (the vast post-Soviet Sameba – Holy Trinity – Cathedral, rivals the ambition of the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages). Past the ancient bath district built on Tbilisi’s thermal springs, the church at Metekhi is set on cliffs above the Mtkvari River.

Day 3

Kakheti. Drive over the scenic Gomburi mountains to Tsinandali in fertile Kakheti, the country estate of the princely Chavchavadze family. Built by Alexandre (1786-1846) diplomat, poet and general, raised at the court of Catherine the Great – and one of the first to introduce enlightenment ideas and modern agricultural methods to Georgia – in 1854 the house was the scene of a notorious raid by the Imam Shamil’s Daghestani fighters. Today it is a small museum affording a glimpse of 19th-century Georgian noble life. Gremi the 16th-century capital of Kakheti, illustrates the trading wealth of this east Georgian kingdom.

Day 4

Tbilisi. Tbilisi’s Ethnographic open air House Museum conserves and displays examples of the architecture and ethnographic traditions of Georgia’s 14 different regions in a hillside park above the city. The National History Museum preserves its archaeological treasures, while its subterranean treasury is a highlight, demonstrating the remarkable skill of its smiths from the Bronze Age through to Antiquity. There is free time to explore Tbilisi’s pleasures: the enamels and icons of the Fine Art Gallery, the modern paintings of the Art Gallery, or perhaps Prospero’s Books, Tbilisi’s English language bookstore.

Day 5

Mtskheta, Gudauri. Just north of Tbilisi is the old capital, Mtskheta, scene of the country’s fourth-century conversion and still the religious heart of this strongly Christian country. Its spiritual landmarks include: the sixth-century Jvari (Holy Cross) Church, perched high above the town; the tiny fifth-century Antioch church; and the 11th-century Cathedral of Svetitskhoveli (the Living Column), symbol of Georgia’s Conversion. We follow the Georgian Military Highway, the route the Russians constructed at the turn of the 19th century to secure their hold on their Transcaucasian possessions. First of two nights at Gudauri in the high Caucasus Mountains.

Day 6

Gudauri. Drive over the Jvari pass to Stepantsminda on the headwaters of the Terek. The 14th-century Gergeti Sameba Church on the slopes of volcanic Mount Kazbek is in perhaps the most dramatic setting of any in Georgia. Then to the Darial Gates, a natural gorge, where the Terek cuts a narrow passage beneath cliffs that tower nearly 1,000 metres above. Legend has it that Alexander the Great set iron gates here to protect the settled lands of the Near East from the rapacious nomads beyond.

Day 7

Gori, Kutaisi. The cult of Joseph Stalin, Georgia’s most famous son, was officially abolished by Khrushchev in 1956, but at his birthplace in Gori the Stalin Museum continues to operate. Although Stalin is a source of embarrassment to many modern Georgians, this museum has been preserved as it was at the fall of the Soviet Union, a fascinating museum of the museum built by his henchman Beria. At Kutaisi we visit the world heritage sites of the 12th-century academy and monastery of Gelati, with its frescoed interiors, and the controversially restored 11th-century Bagrat Cathedral. Overnight Kutaisi.

Day 8

Nokalakevi, Batumi. The imposing ruins at Nokalakevi are the remains of the ancient capital of the west Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Egrisi-Lazika, whose massive fortifications date to a period when the region was a focus of Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry (4th to 6th centuries ad), but the site overlooking the Colchian plain, the ‘Land of the Golden Fleece’, has a much longer history. Excavations have been on-going since the 1970s and have uncovered buried remains through the Hellenistic period to the Late Bronze Age. Since 2001 our lecturer Ian Colvin has led an international team in a joint project with the Georgian National Museum. First of two nights at Batumi.

Day 9

Batumi. The Bathus Limen, or deep water port, of Greek settlers of the sixth-fifth centuries bc was a sleepy provincial backwater under the Ottomans, until the Russians annexed it in 1878. Subsequently international investment brought a railway and pipelines to bring Baku oil to an eager European market. While Nobels, Rothschilds and Mantashev’s invested in Batumi’s oil infrastructure, Stalin cut his teeth organizing their oil workers’ strikes. The elegant 19th-century seafront boulevard is undergoing an investment boom, but the architecture of the first great period of globalization pre-First World War remains, alongside the post-Soviet towers. The well-preserved Roman playing-card fortress of Apsarus at Gonio, is a site of such continuous strategic importance that one can see concrete WWII machine gun embrasures cut into the masonry of the 2nd-century Roman, then Byzantine, Genoese and Ottoman refortifications.

Day 10

Batumi to London. Fly at c. 10.35am from Batumi Airport to London, via Istanbul, arriving at Gatwick at c. 6.00pm (Turkish Airlines).

Day 1: Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia

Home for people with diverse cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. The name “Tbilisi” /warm/ was given to the city because of the area’s numerous sulphuric hot springs.

Meeting at Tbilisi airport

Transfer to the hotel

Breakfast at the Hotel

Spend the afternoon sightseeing, Visit Old Tbilisi :

Sameba -Trinity a magnificent cathedral erected on the top of Elia rock, the beautiful View where you can see all panoramas of all historical parts of Tbilisi

Artistic Theatre Square of The Gabriadze

The Bridge of Peace –Glass Bridge through the river see both side panorama of Tbilisi

The Asian- type coloured baths, built on hot sulphur springs – a favourite place of Tbilisi citizens and foreign guests (A. Pushkin, A. Duma, A. Tolstoy);

Visit Leselidze avenue where side by side locate Synagogue Georgian and Armenian churches and Mosque symbol religious diversity and tolerance

Georgian National Museum – you can see the sensational unique discoveries and artefacts of ancient period archaeological treasures; option

Optional welcome Dinner in a traditional Georgian restaurant with unforgettable folk music, dance and delicious Georgian cuisine or Diner in Tbilisi Funicular with beautiful park.

Day 02 : Tbilisi – Telavi – Kvareli --- Kakheti region

Meals: Breakfast & Dinner

Tbilisi - Telavi. - Kvareli ---Kakheti region

Breakfast at the hotel

Drive along the “Wine Route”, through the beautiful landscape of vineyards and wine-producing villages.

Town Telavi. Administrative and cultural centre of the region. The town sits on a hilltop above the Alazani valley with the Caucasus Mountains in the background. Telavi hosted The International Festival of classical music;

The Royal castle, the pantheon and the Persian-style Palace of King Erekle II (XVIII c.)

Lunch in Nadikvari Park – View of Caucasus Mountains.

Gremi castle – museum the royal capital city, the Royal Tower Ensemble. Historically, one of the important trading centres of this region.

Visit Wine Corporation “KHAREBA” wine degustation.

Overnight in Kvareli

Day 03: Kvareli – Sighnaghi- Tbilisi

Meals: Breakfast & Dinner

Sighnaghi Town of love is built on the right bank of Alazani River, on a higher hill. Royal fortified town with narrow streets surrounded by the defensive walls with 23 towers.  Here was   a place where the Georgian King used to join the army before the battle.

Dinner   the most delicious dishes are cooked with local, natural, fresh, seasonal product

Sighnaghi Historical-Ethnographic Museum where extraordinary ethnographic,      archaeological and medieval materials are kept.( expectable only first floor)

The defensive wall surrounding Sighnaghi. Because of the wall’s high location the beautiful view of Alazani Valley is well visible.

Gala dinner in Tbilisi

Overnight in Tbilisi

Day 04: Tbilisi-Borjomi-Aspindza

Meals: Breakfast & Dinner

Mtsketa – Town-museum. The ancient capital of Georgia. Known as “Hole Place”, is considered as the second” Jerusalem”. Situated on a plain at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, the ancient trade silk route ran here.

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral – The biggest Christian temple in Georgia. A sacred place, where the Christ’s robe is kept. UNESCO World Heritage site.

Town Borjomi – Borjomi mineral water park .A synonym for healthy, pure mineral water

Day 05: Aspindza - Vardzia

Meals: Breakfast

Vardzia (Georgian Petra) rock- cut town complex founded (12-13th cc) Golden Age period during the reign of Queen Tamar. There is – well fortified monastery with 600 apartments, 28 wine-houses, churches, library, storeroom of medicines, important political, cultural, educational and spiritual centre of the country.

Vardzia is not adapted, it is rock- cut down, but surround is very good view  and outside you can see all panoramas of these rocks town)

Overnight in Aspindza

Day 06: Aspindza - Tskaltubo

Meals: Breakfast

Rabat castle, the former  largest slave bazaar till XVIII c. –  The site of ethical and religious diversity,  historical symbol of Georgian tolerance, where you can see Georgian, Armenian and Moslem  buildings of public worship standing next to each other. Within the 7 hectare castle complex there is a church, a Mosque, a Minaret and a Synagogue.

Tskaltubo is little town a spa resort that is famous for its radon-carbonate mineral springs. This unique gift of nature was not without reason called the “Living Water”. Today, modern installations give us the opportunity to treat, prevent and improve body tone.

Overnight in Tskaltubo

Day 07: Tskaltubo

Meals: Breakfast

Breakfast at the Hotel

Free Time.  Spa Capsule: hydro massage (optional)

 Day 08: Tskaltubo- Batumi

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Breakfast at the Hotel

Batumi – one of the oldest sea-side cities in Georgia was inhabited from as early as the third century BC. Having all the resources necessary for the resort cities, at present days Batumi became the distinguished tourist center at the Black Sea cost. Batumi is always green and sparkling.

Sightseeing:

“Old Batumi” Small, white, mostly 2-3-storied 150 years old, buildings are decorated with mythical creatures with a lot of open cafes with  aromatic hot black coffee prepared on the heated sand.

PIAZZA Batumi is one of the most beautiful squares in whole Georgia is distinguished by its painting, as well as by its exquisite mosaics and stained glass windows. Piazza Square has already become the venue of numerous entertaining and cultural events.

Dinner plus an evening Batumi laser show and dancing fountains then overnight in Batumi

Day 09: Batumi

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Batumi

Visit Gonio fortress – Roman fortification in Adjara, on the Black sea, 15 km south of Batumi, at the mouth of the Chorokhi River. The village sits 4 km north of the Turkish border.

Visit Batumi Delphinium – you can swim and take pictures with Dolphins (option);

Batumi Seaside Boulevard.

Overnight in Batumi

Day 10: Batumi – Tskaltubo

Meals: Breakfast

Sightseeing

Batumi Botanic Garden is a unique place famous for its unique flora. It has a beautiful view on black sea and Caucasus Mountain.

Overnight in Tskaltubo

Day 11: Tskaltubo- Tbilisi

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Kutaisi   One of the most beautiful and ancient cities in West Georgia – Emeriti region. Kutaisi has contributed much to the process of Georgian unification. According to the legend Kutaisi was the final destination of the Argonauts.

Bagrati 10- 11th cc. Situated on the top of the hill, it was an ancient citadel, a royal palace and one of the most important castles from 6th to 17th c. nowadays it’s distinguished for its elegant proportions, grand size, facade composition, ornaments and relief carvings and included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site,

Rest and Lunch in Village Ubisa

Overnight in Tbilisi

Day 12: Departure

Meals: Breakfast

Transfers to the airport included