5 ideas for guided tours in Georgia

• Tbilisi

  Leave for the Georgian capital where a multi-cultural atmosphere reigns. The city is surrounded on three sides by mountains and two banks of the river Kura which runs through it. The old city of Tbilisi still preserves the traces of its past, especially the fortress of Nariqala, which is more than 17 centuries old, with its small paved alleys, its old houses with wooden balconies.

  There are also beautiful green squares with many terraces, bars and restaurants. As in Budapest, you can relax in the baths of the Midan district. It is a multiethnic city, you can find old churches, mosques or synagogues. To get a better feel for the modern side of the city, take the main shopping avenue, Rustaveli Avenue, to discover the heart of the city.

• Kazbegi

  The village of Kazbegi, which has now taken back its old name Stepantsminda, is a must-see place for your visit to Georgia. It is located only 100 kilometers north of the capital Tbilisi near the Russian border.

  You can reach its monastery Gergeti, located at 2 400 meters. Not far away is Mount Kazbeg, which from its 5,047 meters dominates the whole Caucasus. The most athletic will be able to admire extraordinary views during a paragliding jump. There are plenty of hiking and biking trails in the area to visit the whole valley.

• Svaneti

  The beautiful and wild region of Svaneti has kept its traditions. Its picturesque villages are there to prove it. Nature keeps the power with beautiful green meadows at the bottom of high snow-capped mountains. As a kind of emblem of the region, there are many watchtowers called koshki.

  They served as a refuge for the villagers during the numerous wars and battles that the region has known, especially between the 9th and 13th centuries. Svaneti has innumerable sacred works of art, precisely icons of great value, which have been kept safe in private homes or in small thousand-year-old churches during the successive invasions that Georgia has known.

• Vardzia

  Vardzia is an 800 year old troglodytic city. At the end of the 12th century, the former queen of Georgia Tamar had a monastery built in the mountain. Almost 2,000 monks lived there and the place became a real holy city.

  This city built in the rock, with 6,000 rooms of shops, houses, and libraries, and that, on 13 levels. A drinking water system was also built there. Vardzia was home to 50,000 people. Unfortunately, an earthquake destroyed the city in 1283. Today, you can still see just a third of the buildings from that time, but the place remains fantastic.

• Batoumi

  The city of Batoumi located just next to the Turkish border is trying to keep its late 19th century look. Its development is such that it has become in only 10 years one of the most famous seaside resorts of the Black Sea. It has both old buildings very well preserved, but also an architecture oriented towards the future including the tower of the alphabet 130 meters high.

  The waterfront has expanded the ” Bulvar ” which now reaches 8 kilometers, with large hotels, swimming pools, shopping centers, casinos. In the completely renovated city center, 15,000 palm trees have been planted. The old town has seen the installation of many big brand stores.