fascinating georgia | Visit Georgia

FASCINATING GEORGIA

Khertvisi Fortress The Grand and Little Caucasus, virgin nature, beautiful mountain resorts, the Black Sea coast, picturesque historical monuments and a lot more you can admire in this fascinating country.

-  Tbilisi – the capital of Georgia on the crossroads of East and West
-  Mtskheta – the ancient capital with 3000 years of history
-  Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park – one of the largest parks in Europe supported by WWF

- Vardzia Cave Town – the best monument of the Golden Age of Georgia
- The Grand Caucasus viewed from the Little Caucasus Mountains

Requirements: Technically easy mountain walking and climbing peaks. You will need to be in good health and fit for daily walking (average 4-6 hours). The tour requires friendliness and flexibility from participants.

Day 1: Departure for Tbilisi

Day 2: Tbilisi

Borjomi Kharagauli National Park

Arrive in Tbilisi and transfer to hotel. After breakfast we go on Tbilisi sightseeing tour, visit the Old Town and the State Museum Treasury.

Day 3: Tbilisi – Mtskheta – Gori – Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park

We drive to Mtskheta - the ancient capital and religious centre of Georgia and visit Jvari Monastery and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. Then we continue to Gori to visit the Stalin Museum. From Gori 1.5-hour drive through Meskheti region will bring us to Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. We camp in the park near Likani.

Day 4: Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park

We start our pleasant walk in virgin nature of the park. From Mt. Lomismta (2100m) we get superb views of the Caucasus Mountains. Overnight in the rangers' shelter.

?1370 m, walking time – 6 hours

Day 5: Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park - Vardzia

We spend most part of the day in the National Park. A careful and tiring walk will take us down to Kvabiskhevi valley. In the afternoon we drive to Vardzia Cave Town located near the Turkish border and camp there.
?1150m, walking time – 6 hours

Day 6: Vardzia – Abastumani

Beautiful chimes of the monastery bells will wake us up in the morning and we visit Vardzia – a magnificent cave town carved out in the Golden Age of Georgia. Here we walk among ancient caves and through tunnels, admire superb frescoes and the surroundings. From Vardzia we drive to Vanis Kvabebi Cave Complex. If you are brave enough you can venture to the little church located at the top. We then visit Khertvisi Fortress and via Akhaltsikhe continue to Abastumani (1650m) – the first mountain observatory in the former Soviet Union. We camp near the observatory. At night through the telescope we can have a look at the moon, Saturn, Jupiter and stars.

??100m, walking time – 2 hours

Day 7: Abastumani – Mt. Mamlismta (2489m)

Today we start our five-day walking. An 8-hour walk through forested hills takes us to the alpine zone of Mt. Mamlismta.
?280m, walking time – 8 hours

Day 8: Mt. Mamlismta – Mt. Mepistskaro (2850m)

We walk through alpine meadows and areas of rockslide and get to our campsite at the foot of Mt. Mepistskaro.

?570m, ?210m, walking time – 6 hours

Day 9: Mt. Mepistskaro – Mt. Gomistsikhe (2380m)

A walk to the very top of the mountain will reward us with a sight of the highest peaks: Elbrus, Ushba, Kazbegi, Shkhara, Tetnuldi and even Ararat. We then walk along the ridge with superb views of mountains on both sides until reaching our overnight campsite.
?180m,?650m, walking time – 7hours

Day 10: Mt. Gomistsikhe – Grdzelgori Village (2200m)

We continue our walk along the ridge before descending to the village of Grdzelgori.
?320m, ?140m, walking time – 7hours

Day 11: Grdzelgori Village – Bakhmaro Resort (2000m)

From Grdzelgori we continue down to Bakhmaro resort.
?200m, walking time – 5 hours

Day 12: Bakhmaro Resort – Black Sea

From high mountains we travel to the Black Sea coast and camp by the sea.

Day 13: Black Sea – Tbilisi

We travel to Tbilisi. In the evening farewell dinner in a Georgian restaurant with Georgian wine.

Day 14: Departure

Transfer to the airport.