Georgia's Mountain Splendour

The Georgian Caucasus Mountains

Seventy percent of Georgia is mountainous, so to miss out on the mountains is to miss out on the very essence of this incredible country.

The Jhinvali dam and reservoir are just a small entrée for a feast of spectacular mountain scenery. 

Ananuri Fortress stands as testimony to the long and often fought-over history of this nation.

Our tour continued through the stunning mountain vistas of Gudauri to the Georgian-Russian friendship monument. This monument was designed to commemorate Russia's help in ridding Georgia of Ottoman and Persian invaders. However, the friendship is stretched a little thin, since Russia quashed Georgia's European Union dreams by invading and stealing some of its territory.

The astonishing views of the Gergeti Trinity Church and Kazbegi Mountain were the biggest highlights of the trip. The adventure of ascending the steep mountainside in a local 4x4, before gazing in awe through the cold winds at the amazing view around us, is something that will stay with us for a long time.

The tour also featured a delicious Georgian lunch with local wine and honey tasting.

If you are in Georgia, this tour is a must-do.

Ananuri Church, inside the Fortress

How to get there

British Airways and EasyJet have direct flights to Tbilisi from London. EasyJet is currently by far the cheapest (by around 50%!). Other airlines may also have indirect flights, but are likely to be much more expensive.

Transport in Tbilisi is very cheap. The hour-long bus ride from the airport costs 1 GEL (£0.28). 

There are a lot of tours from Tbilisi to Kazbegi, and many of them follow the same route and go to the same attractions. If you come across one that includes a photo stop from the veranda of the Rooms Hotel in Stepantsminda, you should definitely snap it up.

The Rooms Hotel and its glorious mountain view

How we did it

Due to timing to fit it neatly into our annual leave, we flew from Glasgow to Geneva and picked up the flight to Tbilisi the next day. On the way back, we flew via London Luton. There is quite a long layover between the flights on the way back, so you may want to book a hotel in Luton or change flights in Geneva.

Hotel: Citadel Narikala, through Expedia. This is a very unique hotel with a top-notch breakfast which we heartily recommend—except if you have mobility issues as it's on a steep hill.

Flights: EasyJet

Transport: TTC

Tours: Our tour was provided by Ushba Travel, booked through Viator.

Our top tips

• Bring a camera. You're definitely going to need it.

• Pay the extra for the lunch and to ascend to Gergeti Trinity Church. Both are unmissable.

• Even if Tbilisi is warm when you leave, make sure you layer your clothes and have an adequate winter jacket. It is very cold up at Gergeti Trinity Church.

Want to see where we visited? Click here.