7 Great Places to Visit in Georgia (the country) and things to do
For many years I had heard amazing things about all the places to visit in Georgia, so when I spent almost a month travelling over there I was already expecting great things, and it didn’t disappoint!
Located in the far east of Europe or West Asia, although it’s considered part of Europe, this country in the Caucasus offers incredible mountains, a long and rich history (did you know they invented wine? Thank you Georgia!), a delicious cuisine and overall lots of beautiful places to visit.
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My very first impressions of the people were mixed as I found them a bit cold and not smiling even among them, but they eventually proved me wrong and I met many honest and genuinely kind people.
Things to know when you travel in Georgia
Language
The language spoken in the country is Georgian, and they have their own alphabet. Most young people I found spoke pretty good English whilst the older generations would only speak Russian.
As I always recommend before going to any country, as long as you go with a smile and learn how to say hello and thank you then you’re almost guaranteed to have a great time.
Here are some common phrases in Georgian:
Hello: Gamarjoba
Thank you: Madloba
Yes: Ki
No: Ara
How much does this cost?: Ra ghirs?
Delicious: Gemrielia
Currency in Georgia
The Lari is the currency in Georgia, and its code is GEL so you may see prices listed as 5 GEL but people would say 5 Lari.
The currency is fairly strong but the prices across the country are pretty low and it’s one of the cheapest countries to visit in Europe (not the cheapest but very cheap)
Although I was able to pay with my card in some places, it’s important to have cash with you as cards are not accepted everywhere.
I found ATMs in most places I visited but always aim to use ATMs as little as possible as the conversion rates and fees can pile up quickly when you travel the world.
Transport
I found the country really safe and very easy to travel. There are not too many trains but the entire country is well covered with Marshrutkas which are mini buses with set routes but that you can stop them anywhere you want.
The Marshrutkas are an experience of their own, most of the ones I took would drive crazy fast but I never saw an accident. They’re pretty cheap too, here are some sample prices of what I paid for transport:
Marshrutkas:
Kutaisi Airport to Kutaisi: 5 GEL
Kutaisi to Tskaltubo: 2 GEL
Kutaisi to Borjomi: 20 GEL
Borjomi to Alkhatsikhe 5 GEL
Akhaltsikhe to Tbilisi: 15 GEL
Tbilisi to Yerevan (Armenia): 50 GEL
In Tbilisi there’s metro which is 1 GEL per journey, and you need to buy a rechargeable card that cost 2 GEL.
Food in Georgia
One of the best things to do in Georgia is to eat! Georgian cuisine is comfort food as its best, I didn’t find any new flavours per se, so no surprises or new things, but everything I had was always delicious.
Think of a lot of cheese, breads, stews and Khinkalis which are Georgian dumplings. The most popular dish is the Khachapuri Adjaruli, I had it lots of times and it never disappointed!
You can easily have a full dinner, with wine, at pretty decent traditional restaurants for US $5-10 so it’s pretty cheap to eat everywhere in the country.
Let’s dive into the list of Great Places to Visit in Georgia
I’ll list these great places in the order I visited them so you can get an idea of an itinerary in Georgia but the order would obviously change depending on your port of arrival.
Kutaisi
I landed in the third largest city in Georgia as it was the cheapest flight I found, and it was a great introduction to my adventures travelling in Georgia.
I stayed at the Bao Hostel which had a cool atmosphere for meeting other fellow backpackers and has an unbeatable location.
One of my favourite things to do in Kutaisi was actually out of town as it was visiting the abandoned Soviet sanatoriums of Tskaltubo. There are quite a few of them to explore and whilst some are officially closed to the public you can squeeze yourself in and admire the grand architecture that has slowly been reclaimed by nature. You can also join a tour of the sanatoriums if you don’t want to squeeze in between fences 😉
In town you can also visit the Green Bazaar, hike to the Motsameta Monastery and admire the sunset from the Gelati Monastery.
I had my very fist Georgian dinner at the Magnolia restaurant right by the red bridge and the Rioni river and found it really tasty, great value and a cool medieval decoration.
Borjomi
From Kutaisi I took a marshrutka to the resort town of Borjomi.
Known for its mineral waters and a the Borjomi National Park, this is a great place to go for some short and beautiful hikes.
I stayed at the Besarioni Guesthouse, which is managed by a lovely family.
Some of the best things to do in Borjomi are to go hiking to the National Park (there are several one day and multi day hikes), visit the Sulphur Pools, climb up to the Crosses that can be seen on top of the small mountain next to town. You can also join some adrenaline adventures as there are a few tours in town.
Borjomi can feel a bit touristy as it has been a popular destination since Soviet times, but it’s definitely worth a visit and spend at least a couple of days relaxing in town.
There are lots of places to go to eat but I recommend you to go to the Cafe Tourist which is managed by an old couple. The restaurant almost feels as if you’re entering a Soviet grandma’s house and the food was great!
I spend a great day hiking in the national park, you can catch a bus to go there and hitchhike on the way back as the buses are not very frequent.
Akhaltsikhe
I took yet another marshrutka from Borjomi to Akhaltsikhe mostly because I wanted to visit the Vardzia Monastery.
I didn’t find Akhaltsikhe to be super exciting, the Rabati Castle is cool to visit although it has been restored extensively so what you see is not necessarily too historic. There are some parts of the castle that you can visit for free and you need to pay a ticket for other areas.
I stayed at Hotel LukaRabati which was a nice guesthouse managed by a lovely family.
As in pretty much any town in the country, there are a few temples to visit in town but I didn’t visit them in Akhaltsikhe as I didn’t stay long over there.
Vardzia
The Vardzia-Khertvisi Monastery is a Unesco World Heritage Site and it’s a pretty cool one to visit.
You can go from Akhaltsikhe via mini bus which cost 8 GEL each way, and the ticket to enter the Monastery is 15 GEL.
This 12th century mini city was carved straight from the mountain rock and it has about 600 rooms, including royal chambers, wine cellars, stables, pharmacy, etc. You can easily spend 2-3 hours wandering all over the place and also admiring the views of the valley.
It’s really one of the coolest places to visit in Georgia.
Tbilisi
When I finally made it to the Georgian capital I fell in love almost instantly. Tbilisi is such a cool city to explore that I spent 2 weeks over there.
I stayed at the Hostel Nomad which is really clean and has a great location to explore lots of places by foot.
In Tbilisi you can catch the metro and there are also lots of buses to take you all over the place.
Some of the best things to do in Tbilisi are to go hiking from Mtatsminda Park to the Turtle Lake (watch out for snakes!), visit the Holy Trinity Cathedral (even if you’re not religious I found it cool), visit the Chronicles of Georgia, wander around the Dry Bridge Market, explore the Old Town, go to the Royal Sulfur Baths, there are so many things that I need to write another post specifically for Tbilisi!
Among the many places to eat in Tbilisi, there was one I went a few times as I simply loved it. Mafshalia is a well-know restaurant so it’s not a hidden gem, but it’s extremely cheap, really delicious and it has a character of its own. The staff can seem rude as they seem to never be able to take a rest as it’s always full but that’s part of the charm.
Mtskheta
I visited Mtskheta as a one day trip from Tbilisi and this is what I’d recommend you to do as one day is enough.
The mini bus to go there costs 2 GEL each way and there run fairly frequent but I did have to wait about 40 min on the way back.
Mtskheta is a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world.
The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is the most famous site to visit in this small town, and it’s surrounded by a handcraft market which is nice for a wander.
There are a few other temples in the nearby hills, I didn’t have time to hike to them but you could join a tour if you’re interested in visiting Georgian temples.
I improvised a hike by the river and was a nice way to explore the town, but beware of snakes as I saw a couple of them, there are some venomous snakes in Georgia although I don’t know if the ones I saw were.
Sighnaghi
One of the first fun facts you learn when you travel in Georgia is that they invented wine, so it’s almost mandatory to go for a visit to the wine region of Kakheti.
There are a few places you can go for this, and you can also just take a one day wine tour from Tbilisi. But I decided to go for a couple of days to Sighnaghi and was really pretty.
I stayed at the Lilia Guesthouse which was pretty decent and had a big breakfast, one neighbour from the guesthouse even invited me to their home to try their homemade wine which was a really sweet gesture for them as I didn’t even ask for it.
Sighnaghi is also called the city of love and it offers postcard perfect views in many places.
The Sighnaghi city wall is one of the first sights you should visit and the Bodbe Monastery is also a popular attraction although when I went it was partially under renovations so it was not my fav place to visit because of that.
One random tip that I got from the family where I was staying was to visit the cemetery, I went there to see what it was about and the peculiarity of cemeteries in Georgia is that on the gravestones they engrave a photo of the deceased so it was kind of a weird gallery to explore.
You can also join wine tours in Sighnaghi, some of which are pretty affordable.
Other places to visit in Georgia
There were a few popular places that for different reasons I couldn’t visit.
Batumi is the second biggest city but I didn’t go as all the travellers I met told me it was pretty random and tacky.
Mestia and Ushguli definitely looks super beautiful, but I had to go on the other direction of travel as I had other plans.
Vashlovani National Park was named by a Georgian friend as his favourite place in the country, but you must go with a car as there’s no public transport.
Telavi is another alternative to Sighnaghi in the wine region.
Stepantsminda looks like another gorgeous place to go hiking, I didn’t make it there as there were road closures by the snow so sadly I had to miss it.
Are you ready to travel in Georgia?
I hope you found this guide of places to visit in Georgia useful, if you have traveled over there and have other recommendations to share with fellow travellers please drop a message below!
This is still one of those European countries that hasn’t been spoiled by mass tourism so you can be sure to have an incredible time when you visit.
Happy adventures!
