Why this Caucasus gem should be at the top of your travel list before everyone else catches on
You know that feeling when you discover a brilliant restaurant before it gets written up in the Sunday supplements? Or stumble upon a perfect beach that isn’t plastered all over Instagram? That’s Georgia right now. And I’m talking about the country wedged between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, not the American state famous for peaches.
Georgia is that rare thing in modern travel: a destination that’s genuinely interesting, stunningly beautiful, ridiculously affordable, and, here’s the kicker, still relatively undiscovered by the masses. Yes, a few intrepid travellers have cottoned on, but you won’t find yourself queuing for two hours to see a church or dodging selfie sticks at every turn.
Let me tell you why you need to visit Georgia before the secret gets out.
A Country That Rewards the Curious
Most people couldn’t point to Georgia on a map. Even fewer could tell you anything about it beyond vague associations with Joseph Stalin or perhaps a fuzzy memory of the 2008 conflict with Russia. This geographical confusion is actually Georgia’s greatest asset as a travel destination, it means the country hasn’t been sanitised, packaged, and sold to the highest bidder.
What you get instead is the real deal: ancient churches perched impossibly on mountainsides, cave cities carved into cliffs, bustling markets where locals haggle in rapid-fire Georgian, and a food culture so rich it’ll ruin you for lesser cuisines. All without the crowds, the inflated prices, or the feeling that you’re ticking boxes on someone else’s bucket list.
Tbilisi: Where East Meets West (And Actually Gets Along)
Let’s start with the capital. Tbilisi is a proper city, not a theme park version of one. The Old Town is a glorious jumble of pastel-coloured balconies overhanging cobbled streets, art-covered underpasses, and the occasional medieval church squeezed between Soviet-era apartment blocks. The 4th-century Narikala Fortress looms above it all, offering views that’ll make you understand why this crossroads between Europe and Asia has been fought over for millennia.
But Tbilisi isn’t stuck in the past. The Peace Bridge, a glass and steel architectural statement, connects old and new, quite literally. You’ll find excellent coffee shops (the Georgians take their coffee seriously), contemporary art galleries, and restaurants serving innovative takes on traditional dishes. And yes, you can still find the legendary sulphur baths where everyone from Alexander Pushkin to Marco Polo apparently took a dip.
The brilliant thing about Tbilisi is that it’s genuinely lived-in. This isn’t a city that’s been Disneyfied for tourists. Old ladies still argue over tomatoes at the market, teenagers hang out in the parks, and if you smile at someone on the metro, they’ll probably smile back. Revolutionary stuff, I know.
Mountains That’ll Take Your Breath Away (Literally)
Head north from Tbilisi and you’ll find yourself on the Georgian Military Highway, one of the world’s genuinely great road trips. This isn’t hyperbole, the route winds through the Caucasus Mountains, past medieval fortresses, over dramatic mountain passes, and alongside rivers so clear you can see the stones on the bottom.
The star of the show is Gergeti Trinity Church, a 14th-century stone church perched at 2,170 metres beneath Mount Kazbek. Getting there involves either a steep hike or a bumpy 4×4 ride, but the view from the top – endless mountains, alpine meadows, and a church that looks like it grew out of the rock – is worth every jarring moment. On a clear day, you can see the snow-capped peak of Mount Kazbek looming behind the church like something from a fantasy novel.
This is proper dramatic scenery, the kind that makes you stop the car every five minutes to take another photograph (none of which will do it justice, but you’ll try anyway). And because Georgia isn’t on the mass tourism circuit yet, you might actually have the place relatively to yourself.
Cave Cities and Castles That Time Forgot
If you thought cave dwellings were primitive, prepare to have your assumptions challenged. Vardzia is a 12th-century monastery complex carved into the face of a cliff in southern Georgia. And when I say “complex,” I mean it, at its height, Vardzia housed 2,000 monks in its 6,000 rooms spread across 13 levels. It had wine cellars, a chapel with stunning frescoes, and a sophisticated irrigation system.
Walking through Vardzia’s tunnels and chambers, you get a genuine sense of what medieval monastic life might have been like, minus the extreme asceticism, thankfully. The views over the Mtkvari River valley don’t hurt either.
Then there’s Rabati Castle in Akhaltsikhe, a beautifully restored fortress complex that’s seen Georgian, Ottoman, and Russian rule over the centuries. Unlike Vardzia, which remains atmospheric in its semi-ruined state, Rabati has been given a proper makeover. Some purists grumble about it being too polished, but there’s something rather wonderful about being able to wander through a medieval castle without constantly worrying about falling through rotten floorboards.
The Black Sea (Without the Package Tourists)
Batumi, Georgia’s main seaside city, is an odd but charming mix of Belle Époque elegance and Vegas-style glitz. The Old Town is all 19th-century facades and Art Nouveau buildings, whilst the new seafront area features Dubai-style architecture including the Alphabet Tower (celebrating Georgia’s unique alphabet) and a building shaped like a bottle (because why not?).
But here’s the thing, unlike most beach destinations that have sold their souls to mass tourism, Batumi still feels like a place where actual Georgians go on holiday. Yes, there are casinos and slightly tacky attractions, but there are also excellent seafood restaurants, wine bars tucked into historic buildings, and locals taking their evening stroll along the boulevard.
The surrounding area is gorgeous too. Martvili Canyon, with its emerald waters and waterfalls, offers boat rides through scenery that looks like something from Jurassic Park (minus the dinosaurs). Meanwhile, the Prometheus Caves, vast caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites, prove that nature is still the best interior designer.
Wine That Predates Everything
Georgian wine culture isn’t just old, it’s the oldest. Archaeological evidence suggests Georgians have been making wine for over 8,000 years, which means they were fermenting grapes when most of humanity was still trying to figure out agriculture.
The traditional method involves fermenting wine in clay vessels called qvevri, which are buried in the ground. UNESCO recognised this as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is the sort of official validation that usually precedes places getting swamped with tour buses. But for now, you can still visit family-run wineries in the Kakheti region, taste wines you’ve never heard of (because they don’t export them), and hear stories about winemaking techniques passed down through generations.
The wine is distinctive, often amber-coloured, tannic, and absolutely nothing like what you’d find in your local supermarket. It’s an acquired taste, but it’s also the real deal, undiluted by commercial pressures or international palates.
Food That Deserves Its Own Paragraph (At Minimum)
Georgian food is criminally underrated. Whilst the rest of the world has embraced sushi, ramen, and tacos, Georgian cuisine remains Georgia’s delicious secret. Where do we even start?
There’s khachapuri, bread stuffed with molten cheese and topped with an egg and butter. It’s heart attack food that somehow feels wholesome. Then khinkali, dumplings filled with spiced meat and broth that require a specific eating technique (grab the top, bite carefully, suck out the juice, then eat the dumpling). Pkhali, vegetable pâtés flavoured with walnuts and herbs. Badrijani, aubergine rolls stuffed with walnut paste. Churchkhela—walnuts threaded onto string and dipped in grape juice until they’re coated in a sweet, chewy shell.
And that’s just scratching the surface. Every region has its specialities, every grandmother has her secret recipe, and every meal comes with endless toasts (if you think the Italians toast a lot, wait until you attend a Georgian supra, a traditional feast where the tamada, or toastmaster, leads increasingly elaborate and heartfelt toasts throughout the evening).
The best bit? A fantastic meal in Georgia will cost you less than a mediocre sandwich in most Western European cities.
The Katskhi Pillar: Because Georgia Does Religion Differently
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Georgia throws you a curveball like the Katskhi Pillar, a 40-metre-high natural limestone monolith with a church perched on top. Yes, on top. A monk lived up there for 20 years, accessible only by a vertigo-inducing ladder bolted to the rock face.
These days, the pillar is home to a small monastery (still accessed by ladder), and whilst tourists can’t climb up, you can visit the base and marvel at the sheer audacity of it all. It’s the sort of place that makes you question what you know about architecture, faith, and health and safety regulations.
The People (Who’ll Feed You Whether You Want It or Not)
Georgian hospitality isn’t a tourism board slogan, it’s a genuine cultural trait that can be almost overwhelming for reserved Brits. Georgians take their duties as hosts seriously. Expect to be offered food, wine, and more food with an insistence that brooks no refusal.
This isn’t the scripted friendliness of service industry workers, it’s real, warm, and often leads to spontaneous invitations to family dinners, impromptu tours of someone’s village, or lengthy conversations about everything from politics to football to why you absolutely must try their aunt’s homemade chacha (Georgian grappa).
The language barrier can be challenging (Russian and English are spoken in tourist areas, but Georgian dominates everywhere else), but somehow it doesn’t matter as much when someone’s stuffing you full of khinkali and toasting to your health.
The Untravelled Paths Georgia Experience
Look, I could go on. I haven’t even mentioned the Svan towers in the mountain villages, the polyphonic singing traditions (recognised by UNESCO), the quirky Chronicles of Georgia monument on the outskirts of Tbilisi, or the fact that Georgia has its own unique alphabet that looks like an elegant system of loops and swirls.
If you’re thinking this all sounds rather brilliant, the Untravelled Paths Georgia Experience pulls all these threads together into one properly memorable trip. Starting in Tbilisi, you’ll explore the capital’s mix of ancient and contemporary before heading north to the Kazbegi Mountains and that iconic Gergeti Trinity Church.
From there, you’ll journey south to Borjomi (famous for its mineral waters) as your base for exploring Vardzia’s cave monastery and Rabati Castle. Then it’s off to Batumi on the Black Sea coast for sun, seafood, and a refreshing dip, before discovering the natural wonders of Martvili Canyon and the Prometheus Caves.
The trip wraps up with a visit to the Katskhi Pillar, because how else do you follow up canyons and caves, before heading back to Tbilisi. It’s eight days of proper adventure, stunning landscapes, excellent food, and the kind of experiences you’ll actually remember (unlike that beach holiday where all the days blurred into one).
Why You Should Go Now
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Georgia won’t stay under the radar forever. The travel industry has a knack for sniffing out authentic destinations, packaging them up, and selling them to people who want Instagram-worthy experiences without the hassle of actually exploring.
Georgia’s infrastructure is improving, which is brilliant for travellers but also means it’s becoming easier for mass tourism to take hold. International hotel chains are eyeing up Tbilisi. Budget airlines are adding routes. Travel influencers are discovering that Georgian scenery photographs rather well.
None of this is inherently bad, Georgians deserve the economic benefits tourism brings, but it does mean the window for experiencing Georgia in its current state is closing. Soon enough, you’ll need to book the Gergeti Trinity Church visit weeks in advance and jostle for space at Vardzia with coach loads of tourists.
Right now, though? Right now, Georgia is still that brilliant restaurant before it gets Michelin-starred and becomes impossible to book. It’s still offering the real, unvarnished version of itself, warm, chaotic, beautiful, and utterly unlike anywhere else.
The Bottom Line
Georgia is the destination for people who are tired of the same old European city breaks, who want their travel to involve a bit of discovery and perhaps mild disorientation (in the best possible way). It’s for people who’d rather eat where the locals eat than at restaurants recommended in guidebooks. For people who appreciate that the best experiences often come from the unexpected, a spontaneous toast with strangers, a detour down a mountain road that reveals a 12th-century church, or a conversation that starts with asking for directions and ends with an invitation to a family feast.
It’s the sort of place that reminds you why you started travelling in the first place, not to tick off landmarks, but to experience something genuinely different.
The travel bloggers will catch up eventually. They always do. But for now, Georgia remains gloriously, wonderfully under the radar.
And that’s exactly how you want it.
Practical Information
Best time to visit: Spring (March-May) for blooming valleys and pleasant weather, or autumn (September-October) for harvest season and stunning vineyard colours.
Getting there: Multiple airlines fly to Tbilisi from major European cities. It’s easier than you think.
Visa: UK citizens can enter Georgia visa-free for up to one year. Yes, really.
Language: Georgian (unique alphabet and all). English is spoken in tourist areas, Russian more widely, but a few Georgian phrases go a long way.
Currency: Georgian Lari (GEL). Very affordable compared to Western Europe.
Safety: Georgia is considered one of the safest countries in the region. Solo travellers, including women, generally feel very comfortable here.
Ready to explore Georgia before everyone else does? The Untravelled Paths Georgia Experience runs from April to November, taking in Tbilisi, the Kazbegi Mountains, Vardzia, Batumi, and all the spectacular bits in between.
Written by James Chisnall
The post Georgia: The Country Even Travel Bloggers Haven’t Ruined Yet appeared first on Untravelled Paths.
from Untravelled Paths https://blog.untravelledpaths.com/blog/georgia-the-country-even-travel-bloggers-havent-ruined-yet/
