Where to go in Georgia

According to legend, King Vakhtang Gorgasali was hunting in the 5th century when his falcon caught a pheasant that fell into a hot spring and was cooked. He founded a city on the spot and named it after the warm water: tbili means "warm". Fifteen centuries later Tbilisi is a city of carved wooden balconies, Persian-style sulphur baths, Orthodox churches, a mosque and a synagogue within a few streets of each other, and bold modern architecture.

Don't miss

• Old Town and Abanotubani, the brick-domed sulphur baths; book a private room for an hour.
• Narikala Fortress, reached by cable car from Rike Park, and the Kartlis Deda (Mother of Georgia) statue.
• Holy Trinity (Sameba) Cathedral, one of the largest Orthodox cathedrals in the world.
• Rustaveli Avenue, the opera house and the Georgian National Museum, with its gold of ancient Colchis.
• Bridge of Peace and Rike Park at night.
• Fabrika, a Soviet sewing factory turned into a hostel and courtyard of bars, and the Dry Bridge flea market.
• Mtatsminda by funicular for the best panorama; Chronicles of Georgia monument above the Tbilisi Sea.

The capital of the kingdom of Iberia for nearly a thousand years and the place where Georgia became Christian in the 4th century. It sits where the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers meet and is the spiritual heart of the country.

Don't miss

• Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (11th century), traditionally the burial place of Christ's robe.
• Jvari Monastery (6th century) on the hill opposite, with the classic view of the river confluence.
• Samtavro Monastery, linked to Saint Nino.

Getting there: marshrutka from Didube, 30–40 minutes. Jvari is best reached by taxi.

The Georgian Military Road climbs north from Tbilisi over the Jvari Pass (2,379 m) to the village of Stepantsminda, beneath Mount Kazbek (5,054 m). In Greek myth, Prometheus was chained to this mountain for giving fire to humans. The image of the tiny Gergeti Trinity Church against the glacier is the best-known view in Georgia.

Don't miss

• Ananuri Fortress on the Zhinvali reservoir, on the way.
• Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument viewpoint near Gudauri.
• Gergeti Trinity Church (14th century): a 1.5-hour hike up or a 4×4 ride.
• Gergeti Glacier hike, Juta valley and the Truso valley with its mineral springs.

Getting there: marshrutka from Didube (3 h) or a driver, stopping on the way.

The eastern region of vineyards, where most Georgian wine comes from, with the Caucasus as a wall along the horizon. Family cellars, large estates and monasteries all make wine here. September and October bring the rtveli, the grape harvest celebration.

Don't miss

• Sighnaghi, the "city of love": an 18th-century walled hill town with views over the Alazani Valley.
• Bodbe Monastery, burial place of Saint Nino.
• Telavi, the regional capital, and the Tsinandali estate of the poet Alexander Chavchavadze.
• Alaverdi Cathedral and the Gremi royal citadel.
• Tastings of Saperavi, Rkatsiteli, Kindzmarauli and amber qvevri wines.

One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and once the capital of Colchis, the land of the Golden Fleece in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Later it was the royal capital of united Georgia.

Don't miss

• Gelati Monastery (UNESCO), founded in 1106 by King David the Builder, with superb mosaics and frescoes.
• Bagrati Cathedral above the river.
• Prometheus Cave and Sataplia, where real dinosaur footprints are preserved.
• Martvili and Okatse canyons, with boat rides and hanging walkways.

Georgia's lively seaside city mixes Belle Époque streets with futuristic towers, palm-lined boulevards and a pebble beach. The subtropical climate makes it green all year.

Don't miss

• Batumi Boulevard, the Ali and Nino moving sculpture and the Alphabet Tower.
• Batumi Botanical Garden at Green Cape, one of the largest in the former USSR.
• Gonio Fortress, a Roman-era stronghold.
• The mountains of Upper Adjara, Machakhela and Makhuntseti waterfall, and Adjarian khachapuri in its home city.

A remote highland region where families built defensive stone towers between the 9th and 13th centuries. Svaneti was so isolated that it kept its own language and protected the treasures of Georgian churches during invasions. Ushguli, at about 2,100 m, is one of the highest permanently inhabited settlements in Europe.

Don't miss

• Mestia and its Museum of History and Ethnography with medieval icons.
• Ushguli beneath Shkhara, Georgia's highest peak (5,193 m).
• Chalaadi Glacier, the Koruldi Lakes and the four-day Mestia–Ushguli trek.
• Skiing at Tetnuldi and Hatsvali in winter.

The main town of Samegrelo (Mingrelia) in western Georgia was the seat of the Dadiani princes, who ruled the region for centuries. Today it is a green, relaxed city of wide boulevards and the natural stop on the way to Svaneti: the mountain road to Mestia begins here.

Don't miss

• Dadiani Palace, the 19th-century residence of the princes of Mingrelia, now a museum of history and architecture. Its collection includes family portraits, icons, archaeological finds and objects linked to Napoleon Bonaparte, which came to the family when Princess Salomé Dadiani married Achille Murat, Napoleon's grand-nephew.
• Zugdidi Botanical Garden, laid out around the palace by the Dadiani family in the 19th century, with old subtropical trees, magnolias, palms and long shaded paths.
• Megrelian cooking, the spiciest in Georgia: elarji (cornmeal with cheese), gebzhalia (cheese rolls in mint sauce), Megrelian kharcho and the original Megruli khachapuri.
• The Enguri Dam on the road to Svaneti, one of the highest concrete arch dams in the world, and the Black Sea beach at Anaklia.

Getting there: train or bus from Tbilisi (about 6 hours), or 1.5–2 hours by car from Kutaisi airport.

A 19th-century resort in a forested gorge, famous for its salty mineral water, exported across the former Soviet world. The Romanov family had a summer palace nearby at Likani.

Don't miss

• Borjomi Central Park, the mineral springs and the warm sulphur pools.
• Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, one of the largest protected areas in Europe.
• The little Kukushka narrow-gauge train to the ski resort of Bakuriani.

A cave city carved into the cliffs of the Mtkvari valley in the 12th century under Queen Tamar. It once had hundreds of rooms on many levels, with churches, wine cellars and water channels. The Church of the Dormition still shows a rare fresco portrait of Tamar. Combine it with Rabati Castle in Akhaltsikhe and the Khertvisi fortress.

Uplistsikhe, "the fortress of the lord", is a rock-hewn town begun in the Early Iron Age and used for more than two thousand years, with streets, a theatre-like hall and pagan temples cut into sandstone above the river. Nearby Gori has a medieval fortress and a museum devoted to Joseph Stalin, who was born there.

Georgia's main ski resort sits at about 2,200 m on the road to Kazbegi, with wide open slopes, freeride terrain and good-value passes. In summer it is a base for paragliding over the valley and for hiking.