Georgia is still an unspoiled country without any mass tourism and many facinating areas to explore! The beautiful country in the Caucasus is around 70.000 square kilometers big and has around 3,7 million inhabitants. The hospitality in Georgia is great and whats more then amazing is the stunning mountains and lakes with its awesome panorama views and finally we have to mention the incredible delicious food, you have to try it!

The cultural highlights are of course the very old churches like in Armenia, but for us it was also the landscapes and the great food! The climate can change very fast because of the the different elevation. In the valley the temperature can climb up to 40 degrees and in the mountains you have relaxing spring temperature around 15°.

Our journey through Georgia

From Gyumri Armenia we crossed the border to reach Georgia! For the first time we were not passing one border we are even passing two borders! As we reached  the first border (Armenian) it was really easy, we only had to show them our passports and got the stamps. 200 meters further we had to pass the Georgian border, first of all they wanted to check all our luggage which was of course in our car, so we had to put everything out for the check! But to cross the border it took us maybe 15 minutes so it wasn´t such a big deal. Entering Georgia we saw impressive landscapes, gorgeous mountains and fields full of vegetables and grass that had sheeps and cows grasing. The road connecting Georgia and Armenia is rough, so drive careful and pay attention at all time but it will get better.

Cavetown in Vardzia 

Our first destination of the day was the World Heritage, the cave town in Vardzia. One amazing fact is, you still have monks living inside the caves! It is also an area were there is no tourism allowed, but you visit all the other caves are public. Unfortunately parts of the complex were destroyed by the big earthquake.

In this great rock- cavecomplex they were carving small tunnels below the ground, so that they had a direct access to the church. The church is also build inside the rock and you can even admire a beautiful pond. You will need to know that at times it can get very dark and tight inside the tunnel, so not very pleasent if you have claustrophobia.

After visiting cavetown we headed to Borjomi. People go to spend their summers to escape the heat of Tbilisi. This amazing spa town guarantees a great rest for the whole family it is known for his clean air and great climate because it is located 860 meters above the sea level!

The city has a wonderful spring with holy water, during the day we could watch people drinking holy water. The citypark in Borjomi is like a amusement park everywhere you can find trampolines and attractions for children and lot of small booths with great food. At  the end of the park is a beautiful forest where you can enjoy the nature. After 3 kilometers you reach an area with several natural pools containing the holy water. A cool place for backpackers, because it is the great place for camping directly at the river.

The next day we drove from Borjomi to Gori to visit the native city of the  former Soviet Union dictator Josef Stalin and of course the Stalin Museum. The museum opened during Stalins time and it closed again after the fall of Stalin. The history of Stalin and his heritage is still a difficult situation for Georgia. To this day the people believe in Stalin. We saw a luxury train cabin (Stalins time) and also his former house of birth, it was quite interesting to visit these places. Inside of the museum we could admire a lot of art paintings and also portraits of Stalin and his family. Unfortunately everything is written only in Russian and Georgian and not translated in english.

The house where Stalin was born in 1878 and lived for four years is located in front of the museum.

Ananuri 

One of the most beautiful sites in Georgia, the fortress is an amazing condition and belongs to one of the most impressive historical buildings. We had an incredible view from the bell tower as the sun was reflecting of the deep turquoise water. Absolutely breath taking. We can only recommend this unique place.

Paragliding in Gudauri

Absolutely our highlight in Georgia, in this incredible mountain landscape we had the chance to fly over. Thanks to Fly Caucasus!! It was such a great experience and more then worth it, when you visit Georgia you have to try it! We can highly recommend the team from Fly Caucasus they were very competent and even our lovely guide Vrezh had a chance to do it for the first time in his live! We were picked up on time by an Suzuki SUV convertible from our hotel and were driven up to 2800 meters, the air was getting thinner and thinner and of course we getting more and more excited as well. As we reached the top of the of the mountain we got instructions from our tandem partners. It went by very fast within a few minutes we were sitting belted in and ready to go. It was really incredible to fly over the beautiful landscape. All you could here was the wind and enjoying the breast taking views. And all of this experience was filmed by the GO PRO 4.

We didi it!

Mtskheta-Mtianeti

This place is a suburb of the capital Tbilisi. We were visiting the great Svetitskhoveli Cathedral which was build between 1010 and 1029 and history is saying that an angel was helping to build the cathedral. It is free of charge to visit the church but you have to cover your hair and your knees, if you are a female! You can get a cover free of charge. Our stay inside of he church was short since it was incredible hot.

Tbilisi

From Mtskheta we were driving only a couple of kilometers to reach Tbilisi the capital of Georgia. The suburbs or the first districts are not so nice but the city center is incredible beautiful. As we reached our hotel we took a shower to get ready for Tbilisi. We started with a walk through the beautiful old town. To get a nice overview we bought a one way ticket for the cable car to drive up to the Rieke-Park till the Narikala -Fortress which is located on a hill. From the top of the hill you have the best views over the whole city. Tbilisi is such great city it seems all very modern but also offers a lot of great history. The bridge is build over the Kura river and it is connecting the old town in the Rike-Park. Named listening bridge of peace, but also nickname Always Ultra. Behind the bridge is the concert hall and the exhibition hall has a quite cool architecture. The mix of modern and history makes the city so interesting and really unique.

Tbilisi panorama

The bottom line Georgia country is really nice, we felt save and well taking care of, and all the people were very kind. We would love to visit the amazing country again. The skiing, the history also the chance to eat incredible foods for amazingly cheap.

Infobox

Visa:

For Germans visa-free

>Informations at the embassy links<

Currency:

Georgian Lari GEL

The current course you can look up at Oanda

Language:

Georgian

Russian

Local Time:

You can read the local times here

High Season:

The best time for Georgia here

Health:

The vaccination passport should be checked by a doctor and refresher courses such as tetanus, yellow fever and hepatitis A, B, C may be performed.

You can read more about this here.

Safety:

You can find all entry requirements at the listed embassies

Embassy:

For US Embassy: link
For UK Embassy: link
For AUS Embassy: link

Information about the tour guide

Name:

Vrezh Nazaryan

Language:

English

Russia

Contakt:

vrezhnazaryan@gmail.com

Website:

http://www.adventurearmenia.com

“You can also combine it with Armenia”

About Vrezh

Thank you soo much for the great tour Vrezh!!! You made our trip through Armenia really more than unforgettable! We had a lot of fun with you. We can highly recommend to visit Georgia and travel around with our friend Vrezh! Everything was more than what we hope for. You picked lovely guest houses with amazing people and food!! The combination with Armenia was awesome!!!

Thank you again for the great time!