7 Days in Georgia 🇬🇪 | Exploring Tbilisi, Kazbegi, & Sighnaghi

7 Days in Georgia 🇬🇪 | Exploring Tbilisi, Kazbegi, & Sighnaghi

This isn’t a mountain range in Austria or Switzerland. This isn’t a French wine village. This isn’t your typical European old town. And no, this structure isn’t from an alien planet. This is Georgia. Located in the South Caucasus region, Georgia is one of the most underrated travel destinations in both Europe and Asia. Join us on this journey as we stroll through a charming town overlooking one of the world’s best wine-producing regions. Explore the capital city of Tbilisi with its majestic architecture. Hike through the absolutely breathtaking mountains in Kazbegi. And of course, taste all the unique dishes this country has to offer. Georgia truly surprised me in every way and I’m sure that after seeing this film, you’ll want to visit as well. Before exploring the capital Tbilisi, we’re going to make good use of this perfect weather and go visit a charming little town around 100 kilometers away. Today we’re taking a day trip from Tbilisi over to Sighnaghi. We’re at the Navtlugi Bus Terminal. It’s a very small and rather makeshift-looking bus terminal with all these marshrutkas. You simply look for the banner of the destination you’re going to and then you hop on. The bus will depart once it’s full or around every two hours. Every marshrutka will have a destination on it. The ones that usually tourists go to will also have English names on them as well. So just look out for those. The bus costs 10 lari per person one way. And after around one and a half hours, we have arrived in little town Sighnaghi. We’re going to spend the next four hours exploring this area. Sighnaghi is located in the Kakheti region in eastern Georgia and overlooks the Alazani Valley. If you like wine, you might know that Georgia is one of the oldest wine producers in the world. And Alazani Valley is the heart of the country’s wine industry. Maybe drinking wine in the morning isn’t the best idea, but perhaps we’ll try something else with wine in it later. At almost every angle in the town, you can spot the St. George Basilica bell tower. But since it’s not open right now, we’re heading instead to another iconic landmark, the city wall. It’s hard to find the entrance at first, but just climb up the hill from this ice cream shop. We were just wandering the area and we ended up at the very top of this old fortress looking out at this valley. Originally built in the 18th century, this four kilometer defensive wall had 23 watchtowers and 6 main gates. The structure we’re standing on now is one of the towers that give you the best view of both Alazani Valley and the town behind us. This staircase is actually very narrow. And it doesn’t look like there’s anyone maintaining it. I think very small children or elderly people should probably avoid climbing it. Because it’s quite an adventurous path. Very steep. Now we’re going to go walk a stretch of this four kilometer wall. When climbing up and down these towers, do be very careful. We’ve now reached the end of this short city wall section. Of course this is not the entire wall. There is still a long stretch of the wall over there. It looks like no one is climbing it. We’ve seen many old towns with city walls. They are all built in extremely strategic locations like on top of this high hilltop. Because it was originally used as a fortress, mainly for defense, the higher the terrain, the better. But in the distance, there is a flat and fertile valley. Hello, I have two ice creams with wine, please. I think today is the hottest day of our trip. So, of course, we got to sit down and have some ice cream. Here in Sighnaghi, one of the most popular ways to eat ice cream is with wine sauce. Wine with ice cream. Pretty good way to start the day. It’s a very mild alcohol taste. I’m pretty sure you won’t get drunk from eating this. It has gotten so popular that even the owner can say “thank you” in Chinese. But it really is delicious. Especially on such a hot afternoon, it’s incredibly refreshing. Definitely one of the most unique ice creams I’ve ever had. Sighnaghi really is a lot smaller than I expected. So right now, we’re taking a walk over to another viewpoint, around 20 minutes away from the central area. I guess this viewpoint is just at the other part of the old city wall. Over here, you can get an unobstructed view of Alazani Valley. I don’t know what I imagined it to look like, but it’s quite surreal to see a vast flat piece of land that seems to go on and on forever. On a clear day, you will actually be able to see the Caucasus Mountains in the back, but it’s just a little bit too hazy today. What we’re looking at here is one of the best wine producing regions in the world. So, of course, we’ve got to go buy a bottle to bring back. So that is it for our very short day trip here in Sighnaghi. Honestly, I feel like you can finish this town in around two to three hours. It’s still nice to walk here, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the very aesthetic town vibe. But I don’t think it’s necessary to stay overnight. So right now, it’s around 3PM. We’re going to head to the marshrutka station and take the bus back to Tbilisi. We got on the bus around one hour before it’s scheduled to depart, and it’s already half full. So if you want to take these marshrutka, do come early. Day two in Georgia, and today we’re going to explore the beautiful capital city. We start in the heart of old Tbilisi. For our first stop today, we’re going to head over to the famous clock tower. This tower is a very charming landmark here in Tbilisi. It kind of looks like it’s out of a storybook. It’s actually a puppet-inspired tower. There will actually be like a sort of mechanical puppet show on the clock tower. Designed by Georgian artist Rezo Gabriadze, this clock tower is part of his marionette theater and was inspired by both Byzantine and Georgian architecture. It’s made up of stones and bricks from other old abandoned buildings, as well as thousands of ceramic tiles. If you want to see the puppet performance on the tower, there are two times each day at noon and 7PM. Unfortunately, we just missed it. Besides the clock tower, this street is also filled with other amazing artworks such as sculptures and paintings. It makes the whole neighborhood feel very playful and relaxing. There doesn’t seem to be anyone selling the artworks. I think they’re just out here for public display. It’s really beautiful. I wish they can turn these into postcards. Some of these are more realistic looking. Some are whimsical and fantasy-like, sort of similar to the clock tower. Before we explore more of Old Tbilisi, we’re a bit hungry. So let’s go get something to eat. Whenever we come to a new city, of course, you gotta try its food. We had Georgian food before in Almaty, but one dish that we missed out on was Khinkali. What we ordered here is the Kalakuri Khinkali It has some beef, pork, and various herbs inside. Visually, it looks like a giant soup dumpling. The size is quite big and the wrapper looks quite thick as well. I’m really excited to see what this tastes like. I’m picking it up using the tip of the dumpling. Time to try. Oh, it’s really juicy. I didn’t expect it to have that much soup inside. The filling is very herby. You can taste the parsley, the coriander, and the filling is actually very generous as well. The wrapper is quite thick, just as I expected. I think the bottom part might even be too doughy, but the dumpling itself is really good. The filling is really so flavorful with the herbs. You really don’t need any extra sauce to eat this Khinkali with. The other dish we got is a Ojakhuri. Ojakhuri literally means family meal, so it’s not really a set dish. Usually, the main ingredients in Ojakhuri are potatoes, onions, and a choice of meat. We got ours with pork. There’s so much coriander inside, so much peppers. It smells really good, really fragrant. You can smell that caramelization from the onions, of the pork, of the potatoes. I’m gonna try a piece of the potato and the meat together first. That is really good. The meat is super tender. I thought it was gonna be a spicy dish because there’s so many peppers, but I think they’re just sweet bell peppers. The potatoes are, of course, super crispy on the outside, silky smooth on the inside. But they did put a huge pile of coriander cilantro on top. So if you don’t like that, maybe you can tell them to omit that. But personally, I’m fine with the cilantro flavor. Many people say Ojakhuri is like a symbol of Georgian cuisine because as a family meal, it represents bond, it represents community. And each family, each restaurant has a slightly different take on this dish. And the portion size here is quite big as well. It really is a dish for sharing. That was a very filling meal, a great first taste of Georgian cuisine here in Tbilisi. Now let’s go explore the rest of the old city. Right after trying some Georgian food, we stumbled upon this souvenir shop that turns these dishes into very interesting postcards. Georgians are really good at creating abstract art. These postcards are so creative, a fun way to showcase their cuisine. We got Khachapuri Airways and Khinkali Starry Night. If you don’t already know what Khachapuri is, take a guess from this image. We’ll also go eat it later on our trip. I don’t know why the weather suddenly got very cloudy. It was bright and sunny a few hours ago. It’s very interesting that the three South Caucasus countries have three different religions. The predominant religion in Azerbaijan is Islam. In Armenia, it’s a form of Oriental Orthodoxy. And here in Georgia, it’s Eastern Orthodox. In the Tbilisi Old Town, you can see many Eastern Orthodox churches. And this one behind me is probably the most important one, the Sioni (Zion) Cathedral. Named after Mount Zion in Jerusalem and first built during the 6th century, this cathedral is one of the most sacred churches in all of Georgia. Destroyed and rebuilt through invasions and natural disasters, it’s a resilient symbol of Georgian Orthodox. It’s also a prime example of Georgian religious architecture with a central dome set on a cross-in-square floor plan. You can find churches with this style of architecture all over Tbilisi, including the very grand Holy Trinity Cathedral, which we’ll go check out in the coming days. We have reached the riverside and the Bridge of Peace. But once again, there’s a little bit of disappointment because looking out on this view, we can see that the fortress is under renovation. Why is it that everywhere we go, some famous site is under renovation? Even though we cannot visit the Narikala Fortress, we’re still going to go up to check out another iconic landmark, the Mother of Georgia. We made our way over to Rike Park, and we’re going to head to the cable car station and take the cable car up to the Mother of Georgia. Just like using the buses and metros here in Tbilisi, you can directly pay with your contactless credit card, but you do get a 0.5 Lari surcharge. So it’s better to buy one of their transportation cards. We didn’t have time to get one yet. Anyways, it’s good that we can still go on the cable car. After a very short cable car ride, probably only around five minutes, we made our way up to Sololaki Hill, and of course, you get a panoramic view of Tbilisi. The weather today is not the clearest, but Tbilisi is still very beautiful. If you look down at the Old City area, it’s actually a lot bigger than you’d think. It’s a lot bigger than just the main touristy streets. Over there, you get the colorful orange tile roofs. Surrounding it, you see the more modern buildings. The most famous landmark up on this hill is the Mother of Georgia statue. We’re going to head over there right now. The Mother of Georgia, Kartlis Deda, stands towering over Tbilisi. She’s holding wine in one hand to welcome her friends, and a sword in the other to fend off the enemy. As a symbol of Georgian identity, surprisingly, it survived the Soviet era without being demolished. But it’s fortunate that this majestic statue is still here right now in Tbilisi. The weather report says it’s going to rain the next few days, so right now, the wind is already super strong. Since the cable car ride up was so short, we decided to walk this little trail back down to the Old City. This trail actually gives you a great front view of the Mother of Georgia statue. If you’re up on the hill, you can only see her back or her side. The hike down the hill is not difficult or steep at all, and every step of the way offers amazing views of the entire city. On our way back down, the sun came out for a very brief moment to give us some beautiful light. After passing by the church, we reached the Betlemi Street Stairs. Before the cable car was operational, this was a major pathway to go up the hill. So I highly recommend you take the cable car up and walk your way back down, so you can visit this very pretty staircase and alleyway. The next few days were windy and rainy as expected, so we stayed in our Airbnb and enjoyed some Georgian wine. As the weather improved throughout the week, today we can finally go out and explore Tbilisi again. First up, more Georgian food to try. I think the restaurant we’re looking for is down there in the basement. This restaurant looks like an art gallery. There’s so many paintings and sculptures on display. It’s actually located in the basement of TAFU, the Georgian Theater and Film Academy. So no wonder this place is so artistic. I think the decor alone makes it worth visiting. But most importantly, what about the food? We got a Shkmeruli, which is a chicken in garlic sauce, and also a Kubdari, which is a bread filled with meat. Let’s start with Kubdari. It’s a dish from the Svaneti region in northern Georgia. Think of it as a meat pie. You can really taste that coriander seed, cumin, peppery flavor inside the Kubdari. I feel like most of the dishes we tried in Tbilisi so far, the flavors are very strong. They season it with so many layers of herbs, spices. Now time to try the Shkmeruli. I’m really struggling with these Georgian dish names. But basically, it’s a chicken dish slowly simmered in a rich, milky, and garlicky sauce. It already smells super garlicky. Now that is one explosion of flavor, specifically garlic flavor. It’s like the garlic is infused inside the chicken, but there’s a little bit of freshness from the coriander as well. The sauce is quite liquidy. It’s not like a thick cream sauce. It’s more milky, I guess. So we gotta baste it a bit, pour the sauce on the chicken to make sure we get all that flavor in. Even though the garlic flavor is very strong, I wouldn’t say it’s completely overpowering. The creaminess to it and the freshness from the herbs really balances it out. Since the meat filling inside the Kubdari is so salty, in hindsight, we probably should have just ordered regular bread to go with the garlic chicken. But we wanted to try multiple dishes, so it’s fine. Out of these two dishes, I definitely highly recommend the Shkmeruli. After lunch, we made our way over to Dry Bridge Flea Market. It’s sort of just inside a park and on the side of the street. They have all sorts of retro products, antiques, and just random little things. The market itself began in the late 20th century on the so-called Dry Bridge, which got its name because the river underneath it was redirected and dried up. It started back in the day as a convenient place for locals to gather and sell their old belongings or collectibles for extra income. Now it’s more organized and has expanded to the two adjacent parks and streets as well. It’s open daily, but it’s busiest during the weekend. Today is a weekday, so there are fewer people, making it very nice to wander around. I feel like in every single former Soviet nation we visit, there’s always going to be some sort of antique market, and it’s cool to see all sorts of things they have on display here. Right next to the antique market is the Dedaena Park, literally means mother tongue in Georgian. And right behind me is a very cool monument. This monument is dedicated to Georgia’s fight to keep their national language and alphabet after the Soviets wanted to remove it as an official language. The monument features a child reaching up towards a bell and an open book to symbolize their pursuit of knowledge. On April 14th, 1978, the Georgian people rallied to keep their unique language and script. Eventually, the movement was successful. And even in present day, April 14th is known as the Day of the Georgian Language. I love that even in the city center, Tbilisi is filled with so much greenery. There are plenty of trees for shade, benches where you can sit and rest, playgrounds for children, and even a skate park. It’s these small mundane everyday things that make a city feel comfortable and special. After a short stroll through the park, we’re going to cross the Kura River and head to Sameba, the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Every underpass and bridge here is covered in graffiti and artwork. Some even telling stories of Georgia’s history. After around a 20 minute walk from Dedaena Park, we arrived on the western bank of the Kura River. Now it’s time to hike uphill to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, one of the most important landmarks in Tbilisi. The hike up there is quite steep. We have made it to the Holy Trinity Cathedral. This is actually a modern cathedral only finished in the 21st century in 2004. Visually speaking, I really like that it’s super symmetrical and it goes up layer by layer. On the outside, the architecture is actually very understated. It’s a very mild color and has some simple patterns. But of course, the most extravagant part is its gold dome. I’m not sure if you can tell by the video, but the wind today is just super strong. So let’s go check out the interior to save ourselves from this wind. Similar to the historical churches in Tbilisi, this cathedral follows a traditional Georgian cross-in-square design, but on a much grander scale. At 87 meters tall, it’s the third largest Orthodox cathedral in the world and of course the largest in Georgia. Just like the exterior, the interior of the cathedral is simple. Nothing flashy or overly extravagant. But I think that’s exactly what gives it its elegance. And the vast space makes it feel all the more majestic. The Holy Trinity Cathedral is a must-visit landmark in Tbilisi, but here inside the complex, is not the only place where you can get a stunning view of this building. Directly facing the cathedral in the distance is Mtatsminda Park. From up there, you can see the cathedral light up in Tbilisi’s skyline. Stay tuned for that incredible view when we head up there at the end of our trip. For now, let’s call it a day, because tomorrow we have another packed schedule ahead of us. Today, as you can probably tell by the landscape beside us, we are in the middle of nowhere. Actually, we’re next to Tbilisi Sea and we’re heading over to see a very strange monument, the Chronicles of Georgia. Even though it kind of looks like we’re in the middle of nowhere, you can actually come here by public transportation. Just take bus 360 from Station Square. We have made it to the Chronicles of Georgia. This really is such a staggering monument in terms of its scale. Just looking at the layout, it kind of reminds me of Stonehenge, just giant pillars stacked on top of each other. Every single pillar tells stories about Georgia, stories about the wars it fought, stories about its religion and its history. It is a celebration of Georgian culture. Walking in feels like stepping into a three-dimensional, immersive history book. Standing underneath it, looking up especially, is quite spectacular. The Chronicle of Georgia monument is absolutely insane. It truly feels like you’re walking through some sort of otherworldly structure. Even though it’s a bit far away from the most popular spots in Tbilisi, I think it’s well worth the trip out here. In contrast to the artistic, sort of alien-like design of the monument and the charming, intimate feel of Old Tbilisi, the buildings in the landscape here show a completely different side of the city. The outskirts of the city are covered in rectangular, boxy housing from the Soviet era, clearly built with function over form. But somehow, I think these concrete structures rising out of the natural greenery is still quite a sight to behold. On the other side of the landscape is another Soviet-era creation. The Chronicle of Georgia is located on a hilltop, and from this hill, if you look out in that direction, you can see the Tbilisi Sea. Well, technically speaking, it’s not a sea, it’s a man-made lake created during the Soviet era by damming a river. Right now, it’s this perfect turquoise blue. Since Tbilisi is not next to a body of water, this is a perfect place for recreation. There’s some water activities, there’s a man-made beach. It’s great for locals to enjoy aquatic activities without actually being next to the ocean. So right now, we’re going to walk our way down there and see what it’s like. From down here, Tbilisi Sea is not quite what I expected. Contrary to its name, it doesn’t feel like being next to the sea. With its rocky shore instead of a sandy beach, I guess it’s more like wild swimming in a lake or river. For me though, any large body of water just feels calming. And if you don’t want to swim, there’s a small path around the lake to walk along, which is still very soothing. While the Chronicle of Georgia is worth visiting, the downside is that there’s pretty much no restaurants out there. So after only having some snacks the whole day and a long bus ride back, we’re now in the city center to eat what many consider the national dish of Georgia. Tonight, we’re finally here to eat Khachapuri. We got the Adjaruli Khachapuri, which is shaped like a boat. This is not our first time having Khachapuri. We also had it when we visited Almaty, Kazakhstan. But last time, we got it with mushrooms. This time, we’re just going to try the most traditional, most basic version, where there’s only cheese, egg yolk, and some butter inside the middle. Gotta tear off a piece from the side and then dip it into that creamy sauce in the middle. Very cheesy, buttery, creamy. The cheese here is actually a little bit sour. Straight out of the oven, the bread is so crispy. For those of you who never tried Khachapuri before, let me try and describe it for you. It’s basically like a pizza with an ultra crispy crust. Usually when we have pizza, the crust is the boringest part. But here, the crust is the best part. And then instead of slicing it like a pizza, you peel off the crust and you dip it in the cheese in the middle to eat. Scoop up every bit of that cheesy goodness. But of course, Khachapuri is a very heavy dish. We ordered the smallest one already. And I already feel like two of us, we can’t finish it. After exploring the city for a couple of days, we need a getaway in nature. Today we’re taking an overnight trip to the place I’m looking forward to the most on this Georgia trip, Stepantsminda, or more commonly known by its historical name, Kazbegi. To get to Kazbegi, we’re here at the Didube Marshrutka station. It really is a huge mess here. It’s so chaotic. It’s like between two markets. There are hundreds of Marshrutka here, and you have to find the one that says Kazbegi on it. Just like most minibuses in this area, the timetable is just for reference, and they have to wait until the entire bus is full before it leaves. It should cost 15 Lari per person to get to Kazbegi, and five extra if you have luggage. We successfully got on the minibus to Kazbegi. It doesn’t actually depart on the hour. We came aiming for the nine o’clock departure. But it’s only 8:40 now, and it already departed once the bus was full. After two hours of constant bumpy roads, we finally arrive at our destination. We are here at Stepantsminda Kazbegi. Just look at those snow-capped mountains behind us. Even though it’s the beginning of summer right now, we still have to wear a jacket because this is high elevation, and it does get quite cold. It’s so beautiful here. This entire small village is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. You can tell why people want to come here. We can see our destination on the right side. It’s a lot taller than I expected. We have to hike all the way up there later. To start the hike, we need to head over there to the village of Gergeti, right across the Terek River. There are also many people here carrying more professional-looking hiking gear. It makes me wonder, are we a little bit underdressed for this? Well, we shall see. If you don’t want to do this hike, of course, there are so many day trips that you can take from Tbilisi. but as always, we want a bit more freedom. We want to explore on our own. If it wasn’t so windy, I think this would actually be a very relaxing hike, but this wind is making me very uncomfortable right now. I think if you don’t be careful, the wind today could literally blow you off your feet. But in a place this beautiful, a little bit of discomfort should be worth it. The trail we’re hiking today starts here in Gergeti and leads up to the iconic Gergeti Trinity Church. Don’t worry about getting lost. There’s really only one path, and the trailhead is clearly marked on Google Maps. Of course, you can also use the church as a visual indicator for which direction to go. We passed by two small villages, and now we’re finally at the trailhead. Look at all this nature. It’s super lush and green here. Let’s start the hike, and let’s see how long it takes for us to get up to the church. This really is so epic. The trail itself is not too difficult. To be honest, there’s a lot more people hiking this trail than I expected, but not to the point where it’s crowded. I don’t think I need to say anything about this view. The images speak for themselves. We started our hike around 12 o’clock, and now it’s 2PM so we finished the route in less than two hours. You can see the small path we took through the villages to get here. But of course, we stopped many times along the way to film and take photos, so I think you can finish the trail up to the church in about one and a half hours. Now, let’s go check out the Gergeti Trinity Church. Standing at over 2,100 meters above sea level at the foot of Mount Kazbek, this 14th century church has been an important place of worship for centuries. Its interior is very dark, with barely any light from the outside, only the soft glow of candlelight. We arrived at the church just in time to witness a prayer gathering. Now you might be wondering, why haven’t I shown you the exterior of the church? Well, that’s because it’s under renovation. Of course it is. I guess that’s the reality of traveling sometimes. By the time this video is out, I believe the renovation will still be ongoing. But repairs are important to make sure this landmark remains for centuries to come. Now let’s head back out to the slopes and continue exploring this absolutely gorgeous mountain. Yeah, the wind today is no joke, but luckily it got slightly better after a while. I feel like it’s been such a long time since I’ve seen so much green and so much nature. It really recharges you after being in cities for so long. If you choose to visit Kazbegi, I highly recommend taking the route that we did, and not a day trip. If you come on your own, you have the freedom to explore these mountains by yourself without a time limit. Since we’re not here for a pilgrimage or religious activities, I guess the destination, the church, is not the most important part of this trip for us. We’re here to immerse ourselves in the Georgian nature. The journey, the hike, and this mesmerizing landscape are what we came here for, and in that regard, it really delivered. Would I love to see this view without the scaffolding on the church? Of course! But in the end, the mountains offer so many breathtaking angles that the magic of being here remains the same. A dog! Why are you here? Literally have no idea what’s going on. This dog just walked over and laid down next to us. Where did he even come from? He seems to agrees that we chose a great spot with excellent feng shui to sit and rest. We want to go over to that hilltop. I wonder if he is leading the way for us. Other than the dogs roaming freely around the slopes, which is actually quite a common sight, these hills are also filled with cows and horses grazing the pasture. They don’t seem to mind us humans being here, but we’ll keep our distance just to be safe. Okay, it seems like the doggo found another hiker to go guide. Bye-bye! We also noticed many people in military uniform walking around the hills today. I thought it was some kind of military base, but it turns out it’s just a movie set. This really is the perfect backdrop to shoot a film. We stayed up on the mountain for around three and a half hours, but as the sun begins to set, it’s also getting very cold, close to 0°C. So we’re gonna make our way down the mountain. As we near the end of the trail, another random dog showed up to follow us around. Most of these dogs seem to have tags on their ears. I believe it’s because they’re neutered or vaccinated as a way to control their population without removing them. So hopefully they’re safe to be around. After six hours of trekking, we finally made our way back down the hill, just in time to see the light shine onto that village behind us. We really have seen so many different dogs here. Just then we met a French lady who is traveling and staying here for a while. She picked up (adopted) a dog here. But for some reason, that dog looks like a “wild Shiba Inu.” So cute! It feels like people here are quite loving toward dogs. Back in the village, we got some shawarma for dinner. Top tip, order the largest size, and when they cut it in half, the portion is big enough for two people. Ah, what a day. We finally got back to our guest house. This guest house is actually pretty nice. It’s called Green Yard. Our room costed us 75 Lari per night. Out the window, you can see both the sunset and the sunrise. Pretty nice view. So maybe tomorrow morning, we’ll wake up early to catch the sunrise. But right now, we gotta go eat our dinner. Dinner with a view. Good morning from Kazbegi. It’s around 6AM right now. We wanted to wake up to see the sunrise, but it turns out there are zero clouds in the sky, which means there’s not much color. But since we’re already awake, we might as well come out for a short walk. I guess nobody else had the same idea. The streets are completely empty. The animals are awake, but I guess no humans are awake yet. It really feels so nice walking in a small mountain town like this early in the morning, and nobody here to bother you. At first, we wanted to do another hike, but after doing that hike yesterday, our knees are not feeling too well. Probably because we didn’t hike for so long already. But even just doing this short overnight trip, it’s still super worth it. Of course, if you want to see other sights along the road, you can do a day tour from Tbilisi. There’s so many of those and they’re pretty standardized. But I highly recommend doing what we did, coming here on our own, exploring on our own. To go back to Tbilisi, we’re also going to catch a marshrutka near the main road. The timetable here is pretty random and they’re going to wait until the bus is full before it departs. Maybe next time we come to Georgia, we can return to Kazbegi and hike another route, for example, the Juta Valley. Or we could go explore a new area like the mountains around Mestia. I feel like there’s still so much Georgian nature worth exploring. When we have more energy, I believe we’ll come back again. The Caucasus Mountain Range really is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised because I knew it was going to be spectacular, but coming here in person, the scenery and the experience was even better than I imagined. I know for a fact we will want to come back to Georgia again in the future, and hopefully we’ll be able to explore all those other regions. Now, back to Tbilisi. It’s our last day in Tbilisi and we decided to take it easy today and only head out in the afternoon. But today is so windy that it seems like none of the cable cars are operating. The windy season here is pretty crazy. In the evening, we have one last place to visit, Mtatsminda Park, to see the best sunset and night view in the city. Luckily, there are other ways to head up even if the cable car is not operating. This evening, we made our way to Mtatsminda Park. Obviously, the most touristy way to come up here is by the funicular. But we decided to take the bus which is only around 25 minutes. The top of this hill is actually a small amusement park for children. But if you walk near the funicular station, you get the panoramic view of Tbilisi. From here, the most prominent figure on the landscape is definitely the Holy Trinity Cathedral. And you can even see the Mother of Georgia far into the distance. The best time to come up here is definitely around sunset and then you can wait until the city gets dark. If you want the best view of the sunset up here, I don’t think it’s at the funicular station. You gotta come underneath the ferris wheel. It’s now eight thirty in the evening. We finally waited until sunset. Because it’s summer, the night view and sunset here come especially late. The mountain where this amusement park is located, is much higher than the hill where we visited the Mother of Georgia. So the view is also much broader. You can also see the sun setting behind the mountains in a perfect egg yolk shape. I think the better viewpoint is on that small hill. There’s actually a location marked on Google Maps. But we don’t know exactly how to get to that hill from here. From the ferris wheel, there’s actually a small hiking trail here. So if you go a little bit off the beaten path, you can watch the landscape without any obstacles in the way. From this angle, we see that Tbilisi is still quite a big city. It’s very quiet here, blocking out the noise from some of the bars above. So we’ll stay here and continue enjoying the rose-colored sunset. As blue hour passes, we’re going to head back to the funicular station to see the other angle of Tbilisi. And of course, take the funicular back down to the city. Just before getting on the funicular, we noticed that the moon tonight is in a deep red color. There’s absolutely no filter on this. It turns out we’re here just in time to witness the so-called “Strawberry Moon.” We took the bus up here, but we got to experience the funicular at least once, right? It’s 12 Lari per person. But you cannot use a transportation card, you got to buy their park card, which costs an additional 2 Lari. The funicular runs every twenty minutes. Top tip, when you arrive, wait for the next one, so you can be the first in line, and sit at the very front of the funicular. This will give you an unobstructed view. What a perfect night to end our trip here in Georgia.

Located in the South Caucasus region, Georgia (the country) is one of the most underrated travel destinations in Europe and Asia. Join us on this trip as we stroll through a charming town overlooking one of the world’s best wine-producing regions, explore the capital city of Tbilisi with its majestic architecture, hike through the stunning Kazbegi mountain range, and of course, sample all the delicious dishes the country has to offer. Georgia truly surprised me in every way, and I bet that after seeing this film, you’ll want to visit too.

Visited During: June 2025

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VIDEO CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Introduction
00:52 – Sighnaghi
08:19 – Tbilisi City
28:25 – Chronicles of Georgia & Tbilisi Sea
34:07 – Kazbegi
53:13 – Mtatsminda Park

GEAR:
Main Cameras: Fujifilm X-H2s, Fujifilm X-T4, DJI Pocket 3
Lenses: Fujifilm 18-120mm f4, Fujifilm 35mm f2, Tamron 11-28mm f2.8
360 Cam: Insta360 X4
Phone: iPhone 14 Pro
Sound: DJI Mic & Deity D3 Pro