Two years ago, mentioning Georgia in a travel conversation required the clarification: the country, not the state. Today, the clarification is rarely necessary. Georgia — Sakartvelo to its citizens — has become the destination that every frequent traveler mentions with the particular enthusiasm reserved for places discovered just before the crowd arrives.
The crowd is arriving. Here is why — and how to experience the country before the narrative hardens into cliché.
Tbilisi — the city that reinvents itself nightly
Georgia’s capital is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and one of the youngest in spirit. The Old Town — domed sulfur baths, crooked balconies, churches on every corner — sits beside brutalist Soviet blocks, beside glass towers, beside wine bars that would feel at home in Copenhagen.
This layering is not gentrification. It is Tbilisi’s permanent condition: a city that absorbs invaders, empires, and trends without losing its specific gravity.
What to do:
- Soak in the Abanotubani sulfur baths — private room, hot water, scrub optional, centuries of ritual
- Ride the cable car to Narikala Fortress at sunset
- Eat khinkali ( soup dumplings) and khachapuri ( cheese bread) at a local tavern — budget $5–8 for a feast
- Explore Vera and Sololaki neighborhoods — art galleries, natural wine bars, the Tbilisi that locals inhabit
- Visit the Dry Bridge Market for Soviet ephemera and antique chaos
Where to stay: Guesthouses in Sololaki or Vera. Avoid the tourist-concentrated Old Town unless you value location over authenticity.
Natural wine — Georgia invented this
Georgians have made wine for eight thousand years — longer than any other region on earth. The method, unchanged: grape juice fermented in qvevri, large clay vessels buried underground through winter.
The natural wine movement that swept Brooklyn and Berlin was, in effect, rediscovering Georgia. Today, visiting means tasting qvevri wines at source — amber, cloudy, alive with flavor that industrial wine cannot replicate.
Where to taste:
- Vino Underground in Tbilisi — the natural wine bar that started the conversation
- Pheasant’s Tears in Sighnaghi — winery and restaurant in Kakheti wine country
- Ramaz Nikoladze — small-production qvevri wines worth seeking out
A day trip or overnight to Kakheti (east of Tbilisi) is essential. The Alazani Valley in autumn — harvest season — is among the great food-and-wine landscapes in the world.
Svaneti — the mountains that time respects
The Svaneti region in northwest Georgia is where the Caucasus Mountains reach their most dramatic — medieval stone towers in valleys below glaciers, villages accessible by road only in recent decades, a culture that preserved its language and traditions through isolation.
Mestia is the base — a small town of Svan towers, hiking trails, and guesthouses that cost a fraction of Alpine equivalents. Ushguli — reportedly Europe’s highest permanently inhabited settlement — is a day trip or multi-day trek through landscape that makes Switzerland feel manicured.
Practical note: Svaneti is remote. Allow three days minimum. Roads are improved but mountain weather is not negotiable.
Kazbegi — the postcard that delivers
Three hours north of Tbilisi, Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) sits beneath Mount Kazbek — the peak that inspired Prometheus mythology. The Gergeti Trinity Church on the hillside above town is the image that appears on every Georgia travel article, and it earns its fame.
Day trip is possible. Overnight allows morning light on the church before clouds arrive.
The food case
Georgian cuisine is having its global moment — and unlike many “discovered” food cultures, it delivers at every price point.
Essential dishes:
- Khachapuri — bread, cheese, egg (Adjarian style), butter. The national comfort food.
- Khinkali — pleated dumplings eaten by hand, broth inside. Technique matters.
- Pkhali — walnut-based vegetable spreads. Vegetarian excellence.
- Churchkhela — grape must and nuts on a string. The original energy bar.
A full meal for two at a local restaurant rarely exceeds $15. At the high end, Tbilisi’s fine dining scene — Barbarestan, Keto and Kote — competes with any European capital at half the price.
Why now, and why carefully
Georgia’s tourism growth is explosive — visitor numbers have doubled since 2019. Infrastructure is catching up. English is increasingly spoken in Tbilisi. The visa situation is generous for most nationalities (often visa-free for a year).
The risk is the Instagram fly-through: two days in Tbilisi, one photo at Gergeti, departure. Georgia deserves more. It is a country, not a backdrop.
The travelers who will speak of Georgia with genuine love in five years are the ones who stayed long enough to be invited to a supra — the traditional feast where a tamada (toastmaster) leads hours of eating, drinking, and storytelling that no restaurant replicates.
A two-week itinerary
- Days 1–4: Tbilisi (with Kakheti wine day trip)
- Days 5–7: Kazbegi / Stepantsminda
- Days 8–11: Svaneti (Mestia, Ushguli)
- Days 12–14: Batumi (Black Sea coast) or return to Tbilisi for depth
Or simply: arrive in Tbilisi with no plan, accept every invitation, and discover why everyone is going.
Field Notes is edited by Camille Laurent.