If you like to visit a country that can offer diverse activities I dare say Georgia would be the best option. The country is rich with cultural monuments whether it is material or immaterial art. But to my mind gourmands and off-road and trekking lovers will be extremely satisfied with their holidays in Georgia.
The country is considered the motherland of wine. That is why wine is an integral part in Georgia and wine tours are too popular among the tourists. Wine tours in Georgia usually include other elements of the Georgian culture. During a wine tour you can taste delicious Georgian dishes that are admired by many foreigners and enjoy fascinating Georgian folk songs and dances.
Wine production is developed almost in every region but Kakheti is a leader in this industry.
The easy-going, wine-growing province of Kakheti, to the east of the capital – Tbilisi, is justifiably popular for wine tours. Here the landscape is composed with vineyards stretched over hectares spotted with historical monuments. One of the significant spot of Kakheti wine tour is the palace of the prince Al. Chavchavadze in Tsinandali and its famous winery founded by Al. Chavchavadze’s father in 1884. It can be visited by tour groups who can taste the dry wine, although not the 1814 vintage which is the oldest in the collection.
The wine tours offered by the Georgian travel company Progress Tour also include activities such as baking traditional Georgian bread and making of traditional Georgian sweet churchkhela. Besides, guests enjoy performances of folk ensembles and delicious Georgian dishes. Guests also will test various wines in wine factories equipped with modern technologies and attend traditional wine making process in local peasants’ wine cellars.
And it is not all… guests of the wine tours will visit ancient castles and monasteries date back to IX-XII centuries and cave monastery complex engraved in rocks.
The province gives access to Tusheti that is great for off road activities. The scenery is very spectacular here, with peaks up to 4,500 m, deep gorges and high waterfalls, and well-preserved pine forests. Most of the villages in Tusheti are abandoned today.
Jeep tours in Georgia start in Tusheti and last in Svaneti that is the remote region of Georgia. Svaneti is an area to which much mystery attaches itself. The foundations of the oldest defensive towers can be dated to 1st century BC. These towers are Svaneti’s most distinctive feature more elaborate than in Khevsureti, with fortified tops and roofs.
The scenery of Svaneti region is really fantastic. The stunning views of the high Caucasian mountains, deep gorges and high peaks Tetnuldi (4,974 m) and Shkhara (5,068 m). The jeep tours in Georgia include visiting Ushguli that is the highest settled point in Europe.
And more things are in Georgia you will find and enjoy. Breathtaking scenery, numerous cultural monuments, fantastic folk dances and songs, delicious food and wine and hospitable people… yes, it’s really worth of trying.
