Currently there seems to be a real buzz about travel to Georgia, Europe. Tbilisi has featured in several TV Travel programmes such as Race Across The World and Somebody Feed Phil, and more direct flights are available from the UK to the capital city. Tourism is on the rise (again) and it is a hot spot destination. However, it has not always been easy to travel here due to the country’s turbulent history. So plan a week in Georgia now to discover the warm Georgian hospitality, where local proverbs say that ‘Guests are a gift from God’.
Where East meets West, Georgia is a country of rich history, culture and incredible scenery. Be amazed at the mix of influences found in the food and the architecture, and the warmth of welcome you will receive. Oh, and it’s the birthplace of wine!
When I told people I was travelling to Georgia, it was usually met with hesitation whilst they wondered if I meant Georgia the country or the US state of Georgia – so that usually needed clarification.
It surprised me to learn that Georgia is not the real name for the country. The correct name is Sakartvelo, which is how the Georgians refer to their home country. Sakartvelo means ‘land of the Kartvelian people’ and the word originates from an ancient area of Georgia called Kartli.
When Persian traders came to the region in the 6th century, they called the country Gurj (‘land of the wolves’). Later, European travellers heard this as George, and related it to St George, the Patron Saint of Georgia. So, the name Georgia stuck for outsiders, not Sakartvelo is still used by locals.
Georgia is a transcontinental country sitting in Eastern Europe, at the edge of Western Asia. It borders Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to to the east, Armenia and Turkey to the south.
The magnificent Caucasus mountains run for 1,200 km (750 miles) across the north of the country, between the Black Sea (west) and Caspian Sea (east), forming a natural snowcapped barrier between Europe and Asia.
Georgia, Azerbaijan and landlocked Armenia sit in the South Caucasus region, whilst parts of Russia sit in the North Caucasus region.
It is therefore close enough to visit for a week in Georgia.
The ancient Silk Road trading route passed through both the old capital of Georgia, Mtskheta, and the newer capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. This meant that people of many different cultures passed through Georgia, exchanging not only goods but also ideas, and cuisines.
Over its turbulent history, the country has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt over 29 times – everyone wanted a piece of Georgia, including the Romans, Mongols, Persians, Ottomans and more recently the Russians.
Indeed, Georgia still has a delicate relationship with Russia and continues to look over its shoulder at its northern neighbour. The Russians invaded as recently as 2008 when they occupied 20% of the country; although they retreated but not before they took another slither of Georgian land.
Despite all the above infiltrations, Georgia has kept its own language, cultures and traditions, and spirit. Georgians can seem serious when you first approach them (they have been through a lot after all), but on our week in Georgia we found the locals to be very hospitable and welcoming to those wanting to explore their beautiful country, just as the proverb in the introduction promised.
As a result, whilst Georgia is in Europe it feels very different to Western Europe– a vibrant and exciting country with a touch of the exotic!
Couples – for couples, there is plenty to explore during a week in Georgia, and you can easily tailor a trip to the type of activities which you like doing together, whether it’s visiting museums, joining a cookery course, going dancing (see below).
Solo travellers – if you’re travelling solo but are happy to have some company, you could spend some time on your own and some time on organised tours and day trips depending on what suits you the best.
Young Adults – a visit to Tbilisi is perfect for Young Adults as Tbilisi feels like a young city with plenty of fun things to do – finding the cat graffiti, taking the cable car up to the Amusement Park on Mtsatsminda Mount, eating street food, and maybe trying a Chacha cocktail or two. If they’re old enough for clubs, there’s a lively scene at night, especially for electronic and techno music.
Empty Nesters and Midlife travellers – if you have more time on your side, then you could happily spend longer than a week in Georgia. Once you’ve settled in and got to know Tbilisi quite well, then head on out to the mountains and the wine regions. You could also visit the Black Sea resorts to the west or use Tbilisi as your base from which to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan; however, you need to return to Georgia in-between, as the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan is currently closed.
The shoulder seasons are most comfortable time to visit Georgia, Europe – either May and early June, or September and October. We visited for a week in Georgia in mid-June and the weather was ideal, just one grey day and then sunshine for the rest of the week, but cool enough for sightseeing and not humid.
Avoid July and August when it is too hot and the humidity will spoil your sightseeing. That said, if you’re heading to the mountains then it will be cooler there.
You can approach your time in Georgia in several different ways, such as:
Fly to Georgia with the intention of spending all your time in the country’s capital, Tbilisi. Treat your week in Georgia as a classic city break, staying in one place and really trying to get under the skin of the place.
I was blown away by the variety of things on offer to do in Tbilisi, hence my blog There’s Something for everyone on a Tbilisi City Break. The blog really concentrates on the main Tbilisi tourist trail and will help you put together a good itinerary for your visit, with plenty of time to relax in between activities, watch the world go by in a café, and soak in the vibrant atmosphere of the city.
Spend your week in Tbilisi getting to know the city but allocate a couple of days to exploration elsewhere. Book onto a couple of day tours through companies such as Get Your Guide. Whilst the day trips can make for long days out, they do allow you to see some of the delights outside Tbilisi, without the need to hire a car in Georgia (see below).
Some of the most popular day tours to consider:
Kazbegi in the Greater Caucasus mountains
The Kakheti Wine Region and Sighnaghi, City of Love.
Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Georgia with UNESCO sites.
Gori, the home of Stalin, and Uplistsikhe Cave City.
Georgia’s own Rainbow Mountain and David Gareji Monastery.
We found that there was a definite tourist circuit from Tbilisi, as other Brits we met in the capital, later turned up in the mountains at Kazbegi, and in the wine regions. We were very much following each other around!
Spending a week in Georgia gives you time for a shorter city break in Tbilisi, followed by a short road trip to get a better feel for the place. This is good if you are happy to drive in Georgia and want to explore under your own steam.
This allows you to drive the challenging Georgian Military Highway up to Kazbegi and the Russian border or visit Georgia’s largest wine region to sample some fantastic Georgian wine.
We decided to organise our week in Georgia in this way, as follows:
📌 City Break in Tbilisi (3 nights)
📌 Road trip to Kazbegi in the Greater Caucasus mountains (2 nights)
📌 Road trip to the Kakheti Wine Region (2 nights) – 1 night at the Giuanni Winery and 1 night in Sighnaghi, the City of Love.
Hiring our own car meant that we could take our time driving the Georgian Military Highway, stopping off whenever a viewpoint caught our eye, and stretching our legs when the hairpin bends got too much. It was a difficult but very memorable and rewarding drive.
Whilst we would both have appreciated a longer time in Tbilisi, we agreed that we would not have traded either the mountains, or the wine regions part of our trip. It was the perfect introduction to Georgia and provided the perfect mix of city, mountains and wine.
Try not to overschedule your activities as you need to allow for relaxed timings in Georgia, where life doesn’t get going until mid-morning and things tend to overrun. Booking back-to-back tours might not be a good idea!
From the UK, you can currently fly direct to Tbilisi, Georgia, with two airlines – BA from Heathrow, and EasyJet from Luton. This means you can be in Tbilisi within 5 hours, and with no flight changes required.
We took the EasyJet flight from Luton which left at lunchtime and arrived at 8.30pm Georgian time (+3 hours GMT). It couldn’t have been ‘easier’ – no queues at immigration, bags straight off the plane; it was all very efficient. That said, the return EasyJet flight back to Luton leaves Tbilisi at 21.00pm and that one was delayed, making for a very late night!
Tbilisi Airport is 30 mins outside the city centre.
Advice – during your week in Georgia, use the Georgian travel service GoTrip to book a private transfer/taxi from the airport to your accommodation, rather than picking up a regular taxi at the airport. GoTrip lets you hire a local driver and agree a set price for your trip, costing up to 40% less than normal cabs. You just need Georgian Lari (GEL) to pay the driver with at the end.
BOLT is the main taxi app used in Georgia, but using GoTrip is preferable.
Don’t forget to buy an eSIM before you arrive in Georgia as you’ll need it for transport bookings. We used HolaFly which worked well.
If you’re brave enough to hire a car in Georgia (more of that later), then prebook a car through your preferred car rental service before travelling. We booked a car through AVIS and for once, we got the make and model of car we requested (that never happens!), although the car did have 150,000 miles on the clock and a scratch on every panel. This should have been a warning sign…
Note – you don’t need a car for your time in Tbilisi as it’s easy to walk around or use the Metro. Pick up your hire car from the airport once you’ve finished your Tbilisi City Break, then you don’t need to drive in the city. You will also avoid wasting money on rental cars whilst you’re in Tbilisi.
There is a great range of accommodation available in Georgia. We used Booking.com to source hotels in Tbilisi and so on the road trip part of our journey.
If you want to keep costs down then you can consider staying in guest houses (home stays), where you will have direct contact with the locals, even if language might be a barrier. Tbilisi has some hostels – look at Fabrika, an old, converted Soviet-era sewing machine factory.
At the other end of the scale, there are several luxury hotels which have been converted from Soviet era buildings, such as The Telegraph (former Post Office with a rooftop Rolling Stone bar and Jazz club in the basement), Stamba (former publishing house), Rooms Hotel Tbilisi (former printing house). What these hotels have in common are brutalist architecture and high ceilings, as the Soviets liked their buildings big!
Check out the options on Booking.com and see what deals you can get.
We thought that the prices in Georgia were very reasonable compared to countries in Western Europe, although my understanding is that prices are on the rise as inflation grows and the country’s popularity increases. Unsurprisingly, Tbilisi was more expensive than outside the city, but it was still a very well-priced capital city.
There were several times during our week in Georgia when we commented that the price “would have been double back home” – once in relation to a meal for 2 in the wine regions, with lots of dishes, wine and some Chacha in a glorious vineyard setting which came to £40.00; secondly, in relation to the walking tour of Old Town Tbilisi with cost £8 for a 3 hour tour, compared with walking tours in London with cost at least three times that amount.
You could organise a visit to Tbilisi cheaply – staying in a guest house, eating street food (e.g. Khachapuri) for at least one of your meals, and enjoying the outdoor (free) sights of the city.
On the flip side, you could go wild in Tbilisi, stay in one of the luxury hotels, book lots of tours, eat at Littera each night (see my blog about Georgian Food), and still have change from a Western European trip. It’s currently the best of europe at half the cost!
Make sure to check the advice of your relevant government body before booking a trip to Georgia, Europe – the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) for UK residents.
Currently the FCDO advises against all travel to 2 parts of Georgia – South Ossetia and Abkhazia. However, these areas are not close to the typical tourist route in Georgia of Tbilisi, Kazbegi, Mtskheta, Gori and the Kakheti Wine Region.
Local protests against current government policy are taking place on a regular basis in the country, for example, outside the government building on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. Although we didn’t see any protests at all during our week in Georgia, the 1st of June apparently marked the 550th day of protests. So, the advice is to check FCDO advice regularly and be vigilant – stay out of the way if you encounter any protests on the street.
Crime – all that said, crime levels in Georgia are relatively low and our walking tour guide mentioned several times that you can leave your car and house unlocked and no one will steal anything. Whilst we weren’t about to test her theory, we simply followed the usual rules for exploring cities and tried not to have any desirable belongings on show (phones, watches, jewellery etc). We felt safe on our week in Georgia. Even in the early evening, it did not feel like a threatening city, which you might find elsewhere.
Passports – for British Citizens travelling on a full British Passport, your passport should be valid for the duration of your stay in Georgia.
Visas – You can visit Georgia without a visa for up to one year (for holidays). Work permits are required if you wish to work during this time.
Health and Accident Insurance – there is a requirement for all visitors to have appropriate insurance to cover all healthcare needs should they be required during your visit to Georgia (including medical treatment and repatriation).
Make sure you have details of your insurance policy to hand in case you are asked for proof as you enter the country. Your insurance coverage should be no less 30,000 Georgian Lari (approximately £8,600 on current exchange rates – July 2026) and be valid for the full duration of your stay in the country.
Driving in Georgia is not for the faint hearted, as the roads are a little ‘Wild West’ at times. That said, driving gives you the freedom to explore under your own steam and on your own timescales, so here’s what you need to know:
Side of the road – Georgian’s drive on the right side of the road. Make sure you rent a car with driver’s seat on the left which has better visibility for overtaking.
Documents – you should always carry your driving licence, passport and the vehicle’s passport (this document should be in the glove compartment) with you in the vehicle.
Seatbelts – are compulsory for the driver and passenger. Interestingly, when we picked up our hire car, it came with a seatbelt ‘stopper’ to plug in so the car thinks the seatbelt is plugged in!
Road conditions are mixed – most are sealed and in good condition, and others full of potholes. If for example you plan to drive the Georgian Military Highway, then I would recommend a 4WD to make the experience more comfortable and reduce the risk of punctures. We rented a Hyundai for our road trip.
Other drivers – the biggest hazards on the road really come from other drivers. Georgian drivers are very assertive and love to overtake on blind bends and into on-coming traffic. Have your wits about you, check your mirrors more than you would normally, and slow down, pulling over to the right in event of an on-coming car.
Livestock – the other potential hazard is from livestock on the road, cows in particular. We had to stop several times on the Georgian Military Highway to wait for cows to make their way slowly across the road so we could continue.
To deal safely with the over assertive driving and potential hazards, it’s best to drive with extra caution – take your time, and let fast moving cars go past, avoid night driving, and avoid driving in cities where the roads are busy and traffic is chaotic (‘You know who you are Tbilisi!’). The roads are much quieter before 9.00am, so if you’re an early riser, head off on your road trip before the rest of Georgia wakes up.
If you don't want to drive on the Georgian roads yourself, book a driver through GoTrip.
You don’t need any specific vaccinations to travel to Georgia, Europe. However, I will mention dogs at this point as there are free-roaming street dogs everywhere.
Each dog has a coloured tag in its ear to show that it is part of a city programme which safely captures the dog to give them a medical checkup, rabies jab and neuter or spay them. Yellow tags mean the dog has been vaccinated and fixed, green means it is vaccinated, fixed and friendly. However, the colour coding system is not foolproof so don’t rely on it when trying to work out if you can approach a dog; the best advice is to give all dogs a wide birth to avoid the necessity of needing a rabies jab during your holiday.
If you head to the Caucasus Mountains in the north of Georgia and wish to do some hiking or mountaineering, then consider the possibility of altitude sickness, and the need to acclimatise as you hike, as Mount Kazbegi reaches over 5,000 meters.
Georgia has its own language – Georgian. With an alphabet of 33 characters, it is in a linguistic family of its own. That the Georgian language has not been diluted over time, despite the number of invasions endured, is remarkable.
In most places, signpost names are presented in both Georgian and Latin alphabets.
Whilst English is widely spoken, be prepared for the need to use Google Translate in more rural or non-touristy parts of Georgia.
If you want to raise a smile from locals, then try your hand at some Georgian:
Hello.
Thank You.
Cheers (to Victory)!
What to pack depends on the time of year you spend a week in Georgia, and whether you plan to visit the mountains, but the broad guidelines are as follows:
We found organising our week in Georgia to be very straight forward. All accommodation could be booked through Booking.com and any tours booked through Get Your Guide. Tbilisi was a great city to explore; whilst the mountains and wine regions provided a great contrast to the city.
It was only the driving that proved challenging; however, we soon got into the swing of it and left more confident on the roads as time went on.
I would thoroughly recommend a week in Georgia (or even longer!), especially now, before it gets busier and potentially more expensive. At the end of our time in Georgia, I still had a long list of things to do should we return, which I very much hope that we will.
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