Silk Road to the Caucasus

Your adventure begins at Tbilisi International Airport where your guide greets you with a warm “gamarjoba” (hello). After a scenic transfer through neighborhoods where Soviet architecture meets modern towers, check into your hotel in Old Tbilisi.

Tonight: a welcome dinner at a Georgian supra — tables overflowing with vibrant salads, walnut-stuffed eggplant, fresh breads, and heartfelt toasts led by a tamada (toastmaster). In Georgia, a meal is never just food — it’s theater, philosophy, and friendship combined.

A 3-4 hour walking tour through Tbilisi’s layered history — narrow lanes of the Old Town, wooden balconies, sulfur bathhouses, Narikala Fortress, the colorful Peace Bridge, Sioni Cathedral, and Rustaveli Avenue.

Lunch at Funicular Café with panoramic views stretching to the Caucasus. Afternoon free to browse markets, sample churchkhela (walnut-stuffed grape candy), or relax at a neighborhood café.

Journey into Georgia’s ancient heartland. Visit Mtskheta’s Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (11th century) where Christianity took root in 337 AD. Explore Uplistsikhe, a 3,000-year-old rock-hewn town with ancient streets, temples, and a rock-cut theater.

Return to Tbilisi by evening.

Head east to Kakheti, where viticulture has flourished for 8,000 years. Explore Telavi Bazaar overflowing with spices and churchkhela. In the Alazani Valley: tread grapes in a wooden satsnakheli vat (just like the movies!), accompanied by live Georgian polyphonic singing.

Later, take a hands-on masterclass baking shoti bread in a traditional tone (clay oven).

The road winds south through vineyards to Sighnaghi, the “City of Love” perched above the Alazani plain with sweeping Caucasus views. Walk the restored 18th-century fortress walls, visit the Pirosmanashvili Museum.

Then to Bodbe Monastery, burial place of St. Nino who converted Georgia to Christianity. Lunch at a local restaurant with valley views. Return to Tbilisi.

Drive north along one of the Caucasus’s great road journeys. Photo stops at the Friendship Monument and Gudauri viewpoint at 2,000m. Arrive in Kazbegi and ascend by 4×4 to Gergeti Trinity Church (2,170m) — a solitary 14th-century church with Mount Kazbek soaring behind.

Lunch with a mountain family and spice masterclass. Dinner and overnight in Kazbegi.

Trek to Gveleti Waterfalls cascading down moss-covered cliffs in a verdant gorge. Perfect setting for our mountain picnic lunch, surrounded by raw Caucasus beauty.

Afternoon free to relax, visit a local tea house, or sit in contemplation of the world’s most dramatic landscapes.

Wind your way back to Tbilisi with time to enjoy the afternoon — treat yourself to a sulfur bath, visit the open-air ethnography museum with 70+ traditional dwellings from across Georgia, or shop for last-minute souvenirs.

Transfer to Tbilisi International Airport. Leave with full hearts, lasting friendships, and memories of a land where every meal is a feast and every stranger becomes family.