Nine days deep in Georgia's western highlands, following a route most visitors never find. We begin with the mythic Katskhi Pillar — a 40-metre natural limestone monolith with a medieval monastery on top, visible from the road but still feeling completely off the map. Through Imereti to Kutaisi, then Martvili Canyon's emerald boat ride and Prometheus Cave's illuminated stalactite halls. The road north climbs past the Enguri Dam and the glacier cone of Mt. Ushba before arriving in Mestia, the capital of Svaneti. Two full days here: alpine lakes, the Chalaadi Glacier trail, Tetnuldi's cable car, and a complete day to Ushguli — Europe's highest inhabited village, ringed by UNESCO-listed medieval towers and the 5,193-metre Shkhara glacier. The tour then turns east into Racha, Georgia's quietest wine region: the Lajanuri and Shaori lakes, an evening dinner with local Rachvelians in Ambrolauri, and the wine of Khvanchkara — a semi-sweet red that Soviet leaders reserved for themselves. The final day leads through Nikortsminda Cathedral and the Nine Crosses viewpoint back to Tbilisi. Three bottles of Georgian wine are included every day — because in this country, wine is not an extra, it is the point.
Day 1: Day 1 — Arrival in Tbilisi (26 Sep)
Your driver meets you at Tbilisi International Airport (TBS) and transfers you to your hotel in the historic centre. The evening is yours — walk the lit-up old town lanes, find a wine bar in Fabrika or Vera, and prepare for nine days of mountain roads, ancient monasteries, glaciers, lakes and more Georgian wine than you thought one trip could hold.
Day 2: Day 2 — Tbilisi to Kutaisi: Katskhi Pillar, Modinakhe Fortress & City Tour (27 Sep)
We leave Tbilisi and drive west through Imereti, making a stop that will dominate the memory of the whole trip: Katskhi Pillar. Rising 40 metres from the Kvirila River gorge, this natural limestone monolith has a small monastery on its summit — reachable only by a steel staircase fixed to the rock face — and is still an active retreat for monks who are winched up supplies. The adjacent Modinakhe …
Day 3: Day 3 — Martvili Canyon, Prometheus Cave & Otia's Cellar (28 Sep)
Three very different Georgian wonders on one day. We start early at Martvili Canyon — a 2 km emerald gorge where the Abasha River has carved through pale limestone, explored on a flat-bottomed wooden boat that drifts past hanging vines, mossy ledges and small waterfalls in permanent cool shadow. Then Prometheus Cave: 1.4 km of illuminated stalactite halls named for the Titan chained to a Caucasus…
Day 4: Day 4 — Kutaisi to Mestia: Enguri Dam & Mt. Ushba Viewpoint (29 Sep)
Check out from Kutaisi and begin the climb into the mountains. We drive north through Samegrelo, stopping at the Enguri Dam — at 272 metres one of the tallest arch dams ever built, an extraordinary feat of late-Soviet engineering that impounds the Inguri River at the foot of the Greater Caucasus. Beyond the dam the road enters the Svaneti valley: a single-lane mountain track that winds through be…
Day 5: Day 5 — Koruldi Lakes, Chalaadi Glacier & Tetnuldi Cable Car (30 Sep)
A full day exploring the natural jewels above Mestia. We begin early with Koruldi Lakes — a group of small alpine lakes at 2,700 m reached by 4x4 and a short uphill walk, ringed by the peaks of Ushba, Tetnuldi and Shkhara. The views justify every step. In the afternoon we drive to the start of the Chalaadi Glacier trail: an easy 4 km out-and-back walk (total 1.5–2 hours) through a larch forest to…
Day 6: Day 6 — Love Tower, Ushguli, Shkhara & Lamaria Church (1 Oct)
The crown day of Svaneti. We begin at Mestia's Love Tower — a restored Svan Koshki tower that now serves as a viewpoint over the village and the surrounding mountain ring. Then the unpaved 4x4 track (roughly 45 km) leads through the Inguri gorge to Ushguli, a cluster of four villages at 2,200 m that is the highest permanently inhabited settlement in Europe. The medieval tower-houses here are insc…
Day 7: Day 7 — Mestia to Ambrolauri: Lajanuri, Shaori & Racha Welcome (2 Oct)
We check out from Mestia and head east into Racha — Georgia's least-visited wine region, a horseshoe valley between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus ranges that most travellers miss entirely. The route takes us along two stunning highland lakes: Lajanuri Reservoir, whose vivid blue surface reflects the surrounding ridge line, and Shaori — a larger natural lake at altitude fringed with autumn birch…
Day 8: Day 8 — Ambrolauri to Tbilisi: Nikortsminda & Nine Crosses (3 Oct)
The final drive across Georgia. We leave Ambrolauri and stop at Nikortsminda Cathedral — an 11th-century church in the Racha hills whose exterior is covered in a continuous carved stone relief of extraordinary quality: biblical scenes, hunting motifs and ornamental borders that experts compare to the finest stone-carving in the Caucasus. The interior has preserved fragments of medieval frescoes. …
Day 9: Day 9 — Departure from Tbilisi (4 Oct)
After breakfast your driver transfers you from the hotel to Tbilisi International Airport (TBS) in good time for your flight. Saqartvelo gemshvidobit — nine days, eight nights, four wine regions, two UNESCO sites, one glacier you walked to and a limestone pillar with a monastery on top. We hope you'll be back.
