Top Tbilisi Day Trips

I was an actual zombie at breakfast and Tamara picked us up at 8:15 for our trip to the east of the country, towards the Russian border. This was a private tour which was great as it meant we could go at our own pace and focus on what we wanted to see. Tbilisi was actually quiet as we left, driving past a Chinese constructed hydro electric station to our first photo stop, the Zhinvali reservoir. This was built in the 80's and resulted in the drowning of several villages but now supplies Tbilisi with fresh water as well as hydro power. From here we drove for a couple of hours on largely untarmaced roads to the Gveleti Waterfall. This was very close to the Russian border and lots of the road was being repaired/upgraded so it was very slow going, especially as it was also used by all the trucks travelling each way. As we drove we passed donkeys, horse, cows and even pigs wandering along the roadside without a care in the world. We parked at the waterfall area and Deb and Tamara stayed in the café while I did the hike. This took about 30 minutes through a wooded valley to reach the waterfall. Now I have to be honest, I'm not sure if I reached the big or the little waterfall as I didn't see any deviation from the path or any signs to anything else so I just followed the main trail. I did walk into the stream for better photos but the rocks were so slippery I didn't want to fall in the middle of nowhere so I backed off back to the bank. As I walked back down the trail some 4*4s were trying to drive up it but not very successfully. The one at the front was stuck so there were about 12 backed up. I did try and warn other drivers heading up the trail but none listened so the queue got bigger. I met up with Deb and Tamara and we then drove the short distance up a winding road to Gergeti Trinity Church. The church sits on the shadow of the third highest peak in Georgia, Mount Kazbek. The church itself is at an altitude of 2000m and was built in the 14th century, the complex consisting of the church and a separate belltower. The inside of the church has some icons and paintings but I don't think it had any frescoes. The belltower was not open. I left the church and climbed the nearby observation mount for more views and photos but the light was not good and the church walls facing me were in shadow. The views of the mountains were spectacular and the village of Stepantsminda on the valley floor below felt like looking down at a model. It was about a 45 minute drive past the ski resorts to the Russian Georgian Friendship Monument, built in the 1980s. The monument is in a spectacular setting overlooking a gorge and surrounded by mountains. Although the friendship it was built to celebrate was somewhat upset by Russia's invasion of the country in 2008! There is still a huge amount of resentment against Russia and we saw lots of anti Russian graffiti pretty much everywhere we went. There were a few guys paragliding at the monument and there was the option of a 360 degree swing too but Deb wasn't keen! We continued our return trip, our final stop being the fantastic Ananuri Fortress Monastery. We had passed this earlier, the monastery now butting up against the Zhinvali reservoir although before it faced farmland and scattered villages. The setting of this 13th century fortress is beautiful and the exterior and interior are both well worth a visit. One of the two churches inside is closed but the larger one, built in the 17th century, allows photography inside. Before entering I crossed the somewhat rickety road bridge to get some views of Ananuri from a distance with the reservoir behind. The church had some wonderful carvings outside, full of symbolism, which Tamara explained. There was also an inscription in both Georgian and Russian although I might be getting that confused with somewhere else. Inside there were wonderful frescoes on the pillars and walls including one particularly graphic one of the Day of Judgement. I walked down to the lake to view the fort from there and it's odd crenelations before climbing the hill to meet Deb and Tamara, after pausing to play with a dog. Our final stop was a quick pause for food at a roadside bakery before we sat in traffic for a long while approaching Tbilisi. Tamara dropped us at Luca Polare for ice cream around 7, another long day. The tour was fantastic and showed us another area of the country with majestic scenery and churches. Religion really does dominate the landscape of the country, every hill seems to have a church or cross on it and most Georgians seem to cross themselves whenever they see a church or cross or enter a church. Tamara was a wonderful guide, educated and patient, despite the roadworks and traffic adding 3 hours to our tour length.

We had fun with Sandro and Sofia, our guides on the monasteries and wine tasting tour. They were professional and made us feel very comfortable communicating with them. Thanks to both of you, we felt like home in Georgia because of you. We strongly recommend this tour if you are in Georgia 🇬🇪

We can highly recommend this tour as we had an awesome day exploring the north region of Armenia. Our tour guide Anna was absolutely amazing and helpful, provided lots of information, was open to any question and made the day super entertaining. All sites we visited were interesting and beautiful and with some free time for each stop there was enough time to explore them. The lunch was delicious and really a lot! Also, the drives between stops and even to the border never were too long, which was actually also a reason why we decided for this tour instead of going all the way to Yerevan.

Marbella was a good guide, very friendly. She shared info about Georgia and their culture during the trip and did a nice job of getting us to interact with each other and get to know each other a bit. The whole thing was worth the ten-plus hours round-trip of drive time with traffic. A few things about this activity: the canyon boat ride is an additional $28 USD (70 GEL) and the caves is an additional $16 (40 GEL- without boat) even though the listed prices in this ad are much lower than that. Also there are four significant stops, not two: 1) the canyon; 2) a nearby waterfall with swimming; 3) lunch also at personal expense, at a well-priced and authentic resto; and 4) the cave. Note that lunch doesn't happen until around 2pm. Nowhere in this ad does it mention a waterfall and swimming. Everyone else on the tour knew about it and had swimsuits because they booked this activity through a different site. I missed out because I didn't have anything with me. There are 900 steps in the cave - but - they are not all up (I would say 45% are up and 55% are down) and they are spaced out along the 1.5 km walk, making it manageable. The cave was beautiful and the boat ride and canyon were as well. Definitely worth it, although a bit pricey once it's all added up; I personally think $28 for the canyon was ridiculous but I'm not sorry I did it. Last note: I'd recommend the boat in the cave as well, although I don't know how much more it cost. I didn't get a very good explanation, but the boat happened at the exit - it was as if you could either walk out of the cave, or instead you could boat out. They both ended at the same parking lot.

Be prepared for a long day in a van/minibus but totally worth it. You get to see so many sites and visit another country without extra hotel and air travel. Our guide Paata was extremely knowledgeable about all of the stops and the history of the whole area!

Group cookery lesson on table to side of the St Bunny bar/restaurant. Our host explained why we would be cooking and talked us through each stage. Drinks were available - first one included in price of session. Others to pay for at the end. We enjoyed meeting fellow travellers, sharing stories and eating what we had made. Maybe not the best khinkali in town, but they were ours!!

Gabriel is a 10/10 guide who deserve a shout-out for his amazing tour to Kazbegi from Tbilisi. I really enjoyed the tour and learning more about Georgia/Sakartvelo from a local guide who loves and knows his country. This tour is well organized and the car is very comfortable. You get to see amazing beautiful mountain and taste different flavors of chacha and honey. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who is visiting Tbilisi.

Our day trip to Kazbegi was amazing! The landscapes were stunning and the entire experience was very well organized. Ana was an exceptional guide — friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. She made the journey enjoyable and informative from start to finish. Highly recommended!