In autumn, Georgia celebrates the grape harvest festival – Rtveli. This is an old tradition that is honored in different regions of the country where the vineyards are located. In Kakheti, grapes are harvested until frost, so now is the time to go to where the streets are saturated with the intoxicating aroma of young wine from dawn to dusk. We have prepared a route for traveling around the region.
How to get there
Currently there are no direct flights between Russia and Georgia. It is most convenient to fly with transfers through Yerevan or Istanbul. To enter, Russians only need a foreign passport; they can stay in the country for 365 days without a visa. PCR tests and vaccination certificates will not be needed.
In the capital, you can hire a guide with a car or rent a car for an independent trip. There is also the option to use public transport: several buses run from Isani metro station to Kakheti. For example, you can go to the city of Tsnori, which is located not far from Sighnaghi, by minibus. However, we still recommend renting a car, since public transport does not always go between settlements.
Where to stay
After a long flight, we recommend resting for a day in the capital and only then hitting the road. Below is a selection of hotels in Tbilisi, which are located closer to the exit from the city, to the Kakheti highway.
Magic Hotel (rating 9 out of 10) – from 2,600 rubles* per night in a double room.
Golden Nugget Tbilisi (rating 9 out of 10) – from 3,000 rubles* for knocking in a double room.
Shota @ Rustaveli Boutique Hotel (rating 9 out of 10) – from 10,200 rubles* per night in a double room.
Itinerary around Kakheti for 2–3 days
Kakheti is a region in eastern Georgia, rich in diverse landscapes and ancient fortresses. The journey by car from Tbilisi to Sighnaghi will take about two hours.
The road itself is the first attraction of this route. A picturesque highway awaits you, where you will definitely want to stop to enjoy the views, taste sweet Kakheti tomatoes and crispy hot bread, and taste wine in one of the wineries. The proposed route can be traveled faster, but it is better to plan up to three days in order to fully feel the peace of these places and forever preserve this autumn in frames with the colorful shades of mountains and valleys.
Ninotsminda Cathedral
Ninotsminda Cathedral is one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Georgia. This is a castle on the way to Sighnaghi, which is worth a visit to feel like a hero from a medieval film. On the territory there is a functioning convent of St. Nino. The nuns take care of the flowers, mow the lawn and are sometimes willing to tell guests stories about the creation of the temple. Thousand-year-old architecture, remains of ancient frescoes, a functioning bell tower – all this is hidden behind a wall with towers, which is definitely worth a look.
Numisi Winery Museum
Kakheti is famous for its wine cellars, and one of the oldest is the 16th-century Numisi winery, which is located in the small village of Velistsikhe. This is not just a cellar, but a full-fledged museum that has preserved the atmosphere of Georgian traditions from ancient times. Treasures are hidden there: an arched wine storage and 33 clay jugs (qvevri) buried underground – they are used in Georgia for the production and storage of wine.
Here is a collection of copper, glass, pottery and wooden jugs, necklaces, rings, copper kitchen utensils from the 18th century, as well as carpets and furniture. One of the unique exhibits is an old French machine for pressing grapes from Marmonies.
On the territory of Numisi they conduct master classes on baking traditional Kakheti bread shoti and wine tasting.
City of love Sighnaghi
It’s worth coming here to stroll through the cozy streets, climb the main fortress of the city and admire the Alazani Valley, dine in a restaurant with a view terrace, and even get married. Sighnaghi is called the city of love for a reason – in the local wedding palace they organize an atmospheric ceremony for everyone. The registry office gives the newlyweds (in addition to maximum immersion in culture) a bottle of sparkling wine and a folk relic – the poem “The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger” by Shota Rustaveli. ;nbsp;
The ornate cobbled streets and red roofs of houses are reminiscent of typical European towns, the smoke from the stoves takes you back to childhood, as if to your grandmother’s dacha, and the fresh mountain air in the evenings makes you wrap yourself in blankets and warm up with hot drinks. Below is a selection of cafes that we recommend visiting.
The Terrace Signagi — a view restaurant with a terrace overlooking the Main Caucasian Range. We recommend having dinner here before sunset, when the light haze of the afternoon subsides and you can see the mountains, as if painted in watercolors. The terrace itself is surrounded by greenery, and you can ask the staff for a blanket. The menu has a variety of hot dishes, but we recommend ordering traditional shish kebab, snacks and a bottle of Kindzmarauli.
Dedeli Cafe – be sure to stop by this art cafe in the morning for a cup of tea or coffee. You can also ask the owner of the establishment about breakfast and try homemade pancakes with sour cream. This place is hard to avoid – the door is painted bright yellow, and there is a pink table and chair built into the wall.
Where to stay:
Guest House Loza (rating 9 out of 10) – from 1,400 rubles* per night in a double room.
Guest House David (rating 9 out of 10) – from 1,800 rubles* per night in a double room.
Boutique Hotel BelleVue (rating 9 out of 10) – from 2,400 rubles* per night in a double room.
Lavra David-Gareji
We suggest finishing your trip around Kakheti with a visit to the ancient city on the border with Azerbaijan. The road there winds serpentinely through red “prairies”, and on the roadsides there are small saucers of salt lakes. At the final point of the route, views of sandy-red mountain ranges, caves, cells and a functioning monastery open up.
The David Gareji complex includes hundreds of rooms carved into rocks – temples, cells, warehouses and rooms. Conventionally, it is divided into two parts: the first is located on the territory of Azerbaijan, the second – on the territory of the Georgian region of Sagarejo. Now you can see the monastery there, walk along the rocks on the slope, and also go down to the gorge with colored rocks.
*Prices are current at the time of publication.
