Tbilisi, Mtskheta and Jvari: 5-day sightseeing tour

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day 1

   Arrival in Tbilisi and transfer to the hotel — the road takes about half an hour, if traffic does not interfere. Check-in is after 15:00, and until that time the day is completely yours: you can walk along the nearest streets, find your first coffee shop and simply get used to the city. This is a day without a program and without haste — only the flight, the road and free time.

2. Day 2

   A sightseeing walk around Tbilisi — the most packed day of the trip. You start at the Tsminda Sameba Cathedral with its golden dome, then walk past the Rezo Gabriadze Theater with its crooked tower and bronze angel, and look in at the ancient Anchiskhati Church. Then — the glass Bridge of Peace, Shardeni Street with wine cellars and coffee shops, the Abanotubani sulfur baths and the unexpected Fig Waterfall right in the middle of the city. The pace is fast, but on foot: almost everything is nearby, and this is the main impression of the day — a city that flows from antiquity into modernity without a seam.

3. Day 3

   A day about spiritual Georgia and about a view that takes your breath away. First you go up to the Jvari Monastery on the top of the mountain — from here you can see how the Aragvi and the Kura meet, and in clear weather Kazbek appears in the distance. Then you go down to Mtskheta: narrow streets, shops with sweets and honey, the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral with its semi-darkness and flickering candles. The pace is calm, there are few transitions, the day feels like a pause between two active trips out.

4. Day 4

   The longest day and the only fork in the route: either Borjomi with the cave city of Uplistsikhe, or Kazbegi with the Ananuri Fortress, the Zhinvali Reservoir and the Arch of Friendship is confirmed. In the Borjomi option you stroll through the City Park, try water from the spring and climb the stone steps of Uplistsikhe, from where the Mtkvari valley opens up. In the Kazbegi option — the road upward, a stop in the village of Mleta for lunch at an extra charge and, in good weather, a jeep ride up to the Gergeti Church, also at an extra charge. Both versions are about mountains, air and a long road, and both end with a return to Tbilisi.

5. Day 5

   Breakfast, the room must be left by noon, and then you are taken to Tbilisi airport — the car is sent for the flight you are departing on. The day is short and businesslike: no new places, only packing and the road. Behind you are four nights in one city and three trips out, each with its own character.