Georgia in 10 Days

This ten-day route crosses Georgia from east to west. It is for travelers who want the capital, the cave towns, the tower villages of the high Caucasus and a couple of days on the Black Sea. The pace is moderate, with two long road days balanced by multi-night stays. You’ll rely on marshrutkas and trains between cities, shared taxis for the canyon and cave sites, and 4x4 jeeps in Svaneti.

Days 1-2: Tbilisi

Spend your first days in Tbilisi on the city’s modern side. Walk Rustaveli Avenue, browse the Dry Bridge flea market, where Soviet medals sit next to hand embroidery, and end up in the Fabrika courtyard, a converted sewing factory full of cafes. On Rustaveli, the Georgian National Museum holds gold jewelry from ancient Colchis and the 1.8-million-year-old Dmanisi hominid skulls, which give the rest of the trip a deep backstory.

Days 3-4: Gori, Uplistsikhe and Kutaisi

Day 3 breaks the trip west into sensible pieces. Stop in Gori, an hour from Tbilisi, and take a taxi 10 kilometers east to … read more 👉

This ten-day route crosses Georgia from east to west. It is for travelers who want the capital, the cave towns, the tower villages of the high Caucasus and a couple of days on the Black Sea. The pace is moderate, with two long road days balanced by multi-night stays. You’ll rely on marshrutkas and trains between cities, shared taxis for the canyon and cave sites, and 4x4 jeeps in Svaneti.

Days 1-2: Tbilisi

Spend your first days in Tbilisi on the city’s modern side. Walk Rustaveli Avenue, browse the Dry Bridge flea market, where Soviet medals sit next to hand embroidery, and end up in the Fabrika courtyard, a converted sewing factory full of cafes. On Rustaveli, the Georgian National Museum holds gold jewelry from ancient Colchis and the 1.8-million-year-old Dmanisi hominid skulls, which give the rest of the trip a deep backstory.

Days 3-4: Gori, Uplistsikhe and Kutaisi

Day 3 breaks the trip west into sensible pieces. Stop in Gori, an hour from Tbilisi, and take a taxi 10 kilometers east to Uplistsikhe Cave Town. This settlement of halls, wine presses and a theater was carved into the sandstone above the Mtkvari and inhabited from the early Iron Age into the Middle Ages. Continue to Kutaisi for two nights. It is a slower, greener city, and its riverside old quarter is easy on the feet after the capital.

Day 4 is for the countryside around Kutaisi. Go early to Gelati Monastery, founded in 1106 by King David the Builder, where a gold mosaic of the Virgin fills the apse. In the afternoon, visit Prometheus Cave near Tskaltubo, a lit walking route of about 1.4 kilometers through stalactite halls, with an underground boat ride at the end when water levels allow.

Days 5-7: Martvili Canyon and Mestia

Day 5 is the first long travel day, so start early. Stop at Martvili Canyon on the way, where a boardwalk and a rubber-boat ride take you between mossy limestone walls. Then continue through Zugdidi and climb about 3 hours up the Enguri gorge to Mestia.

Three nights in Upper Svaneti let the mountains set the pace. On Day 6, take the jeep ride to Ushguli, a cluster of villages at around 2,100 meters where stone defensive towers stand against the white wall of Shkhara, the country’s highest peak. Day 7 is a gentler hike to Chalaadi Glacier, about 3 to 4 hours round trip through birch forest from a trailhead a short drive outside Mestia.

Days 8-10: Batumi

Day 8 brings you back down the gorge and along the coast to Batumi, about 6 hours in total, which is why it follows three nights of staying put. The city is an entertaining mix of Belle Époque facades and glass towers, with a seafront promenade that runs for roughly 7 kilometers. Walk Batumi Boulevard at sunset, when families crowd around the dancing fountains and the Alphabetic Tower lights up.

On Day 9, catch a local bus south to Gonio Beach, a pebble strip below the walls of a Roman-era fortress, for a swim. On Day 10, fly out of Batumi or take the train back to Tbilisi.

For an extra day near Batumi, ride into the Adjara hills to Makhuntseti, where a tall waterfall pours down beside a medieval stone arch bridge over the Acharistsqali River.