Georgia 7-Day Itinerary: Tbilisi, Kazbegi and Kakheti

About 20 minutes on foot from the historic center, the Bridge of Peace is the first stop because it links the hotel area to the Mtkvari riverside without any rush on arrival day. Crossing it round trip takes 15 minutes, and late afternoon is the best time, when the glass-and-steel structure lights up in slowly shifting tones.

Opened in 2010 and 156 meters long, the pedestrian bridge connects the old town to Rike Park and was designed by Italian architect Michele De Lucchi. There is no ticket and no line: just walk across and linger by the river.

On the other side of the Bridge of Peace, Rike Park is the natural quick stop before the cable car: 10 to 15 minutes walking past lawns and the modern sculptures that line the riverbank, with Queen Darejan’s palace visible in the distance.

The cable car from Rike Park takes four minutes up to Narikala Fortress, the fastest way up with no steep stairs involved. Set aside at least an hour for sunset, when low light washes over the old town and the Mtkvari River below.

The fortification has stood since the 4th century and was rebuilt several times by Persians and Ottomans, until an earthquake toppled part of its walls in 1827. Next to it, the 20-meter Kartlis Deda (Mother Georgia) statue holds a sword for enemies and a cup of wine for guests, summing up the country’s spirit rather well.

Start the day in Avlabari, on the left bank: Sameba opens at 9am and is worth setting aside an hour for. It is Georgia’s largest Orthodox church, completed in 2004 after ten years of construction, standing 84 meters tall with room for 15,000 worshippers.

Headscarves are required for women and available at the entrance, and photos are allowed in the main nave, though not during services.

Walking down from Avlabari takes about 15 minutes, still on the left bank, and Metekhi Church sits on a cliff that is the old town’s most photographed viewpoint, fronted by an equestrian statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali. Fifteen minutes is enough for a look around and photos.

Cross the Metekhi Bridge and five minutes later you are in Abanotubani: set aside an hour and a half for a bath. The brick domes cover pools of naturally occurring sulfur water at around 40 degrees Celsius, with a choice of a private room or the much cheaper public section.

The name Tbilisi comes from here: tbili means warm in Old Georgian, a reference to the hot springs that drew King Vakhtang Gorgasali here in the 5th century. The kese-glove scrub offered at the more traditional baths stings a little and is worth it.

Ten minutes on foot from the baths, climbing back up through the old town, the leaning clock tower of the Gabriadze Marionette Theatre is a 10-minute stop: on the hour, a small door opens and a bronze angel strikes a bell, watched by everyone passing along Shavteli Street.

In mid-afternoon, about 15 minutes on foot from the tower along the riverbank, the Dry Bridge Market is a one- to two-hour outing: Soviet medals, samovars, paintings and porcelain spread over tarps along the river, sold by people who still remember prices in rubles.

Haggling is expected and polite, and it is worth carrying lari in cash, since few sellers take cards.

Start Day 3 by going up Mount Mtatsminda: the funicular has run since 1905 and takes about five minutes to the hilltop park, 770 meters up. Ride it at opening, 9am, while the air over the city is still clear and the queue is short, and set aside two to two and a half hours for the panoramic Ferris wheel and the viewpoint.

A one-way ticket costs around 5 lari, and the same rechargeable card works for the amusement park rides, a mix of Soviet-era nostalgia and newer attractions.

The funicular comes down a few minutes from Rustaveli Avenue, and the National Museum along it deserves at least two hours: it holds the Colchis gold treasure, with pieces up to 3,000 years old, and a whole wing on the Soviet occupation, with photos and objects left out of school textbooks.

An adult ticket costs 10 lari, and the 1929 neoclassical building once housed the Georgian Parliament.

To close the day, Fabrika is the right call for dinner: a former Soviet textile factory converted into a courtyard of bars, restaurants, a hostel and Georgian design shops, about 20 minutes on foot from Rustaveli, over in the Chughureti district.

There is no entry fee, and things pick up after 7pm, with live music on several nights of the week.

Leaving Tbilisi early, the first stop on the day trip is Jvari Monastery, perched on a cliff with the best view of the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers: set aside 45 minutes, no ticket needed, and go early to beat the mid-morning tour buses.

Built in the 6th century, it is one of the oldest and best-preserved examples of Georgian cross-church architecture, and it inspired the poem Mtsyri by Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov.

Heading down to Mtskheta, 20 minutes by car from Jvari, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral calls for an hour: it is Georgia’s second-largest religious building and, by Orthodox tradition, holds Christ’s robe buried beneath the altar.

A Unesco World Heritage Site since 1994, its stone walls hold 17th-century frescoes and the tombs of the last kings of the Bagrationi dynasty.

Already on the Georgian Military Highway, about an hour and a half past Mtskheta, Ananuri Fortress is a quick 30- to 45-minute stop beside the turquoise Zhinvali reservoir: you can climb the main tower and look down at the water with no line at all.

The last stretch of road, climbing into the mountains, ends in Stepantsminda, where a 4x4 (hired on the spot in the village, no booking needed) takes 15 minutes up to the plateau of Gergeti Trinity Church, at 2,170 meters. Those who prefer to walk should plan about two hours uphill.

Built in the 14th century, the church stands alone with no village around it, snow-capped 5,047-meter Mount Kazbek behind it on a clear day. Set aside at least an hour there, and bring a jacket even in summer: it is windy at 2,170 meters.

About two hours from Tbilisi, Sighnaghi is the first stop of the Kakheti day: set aside an hour and a half to walk the 18th-century walls, built against raids from Dagestan, with nine towers and views over the Alazani valley and the Caucasus mountains in the distance.

The town is small enough to walk around in a morning, with cobbled streets and wooden balconies that feel more like an Italian hill town than the rest of Georgia.

Five minutes by car from Sighnaghi, Bodbe Monastery holds the tomb of Saint Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia in the 4th century: set aside 45 minutes for the church and for the walk down to the sacred spring in the woods, about 15 minutes downhill on foot.

Telavi, Kakheti’s historic capital, is 30 minutes from Sighnaghi and takes up two and a half hours: the Batonis Tsikhe fortress of King Erekle II, plus a tasting at a traditional winery that still ferments wine in qvevri, clay amphorae buried in the ground, a method Unesco recognized as intangible heritage in 2013.

The Kakheti region produces around 70% of Georgian wine, and a tasting of three to five glasses with a cheese-and-walnut plate usually costs between 40 and 80 lari per person.

About an hour and a half from Tbilisi, Uplistsikhe is Georgia’s oldest cave town, inhabited since the Bronze Age: set aside an hour and a half to two hours to climb through the rock-cut chambers, including an ancient throne hall and an open-air wine press.

The ticket costs 15 lari, and closed shoes help: the stone is smooth and slippery after rain.

15 minutes by car from Uplistsikhe, Gori Fortress (Goris Tsikhe) is a quick 30-minute stop: the climb up to the ruined walls gives the best view over the city of Gori and the Mtkvari river valley.

On the last morning, Dezerter Bazaar, near the railway station, is a 45-minute to one-hour stop to buy churchkhela and spices before leaving: it is Tbilisi’s largest producers’ market, far more local than touristy, with no souvenir markup.

Back in the center, Kashveti Church on Rustaveli Avenue is a 20-minute stop before heading to the airport: the stone-carved facade, from the 1910s, echoes the style of 11th-century Georgian churches, and the interior holds modern frescoes by painter Lado Gudiashvili.