DAY 01: OVERNIGHT FLIGHT TO GEORGIA

Fly to Tbilisi’s Rustaveli International Airport.

DAY 02: INCLUDED TBILISI TOUR

Upon arrival, meet your tour manager and transfer to your hotel, where your rooms will be ready for you. After the chance to rest and have breakfast, enjoy an afternoon’s guided tour of the compact, historic Georgian capital.

The country’s capital for over 1500 years, Tbilisi sits beside to the Mtkvari River in a dramatic gorge, next to a natural spring and beneath the vast, imposing Narikala Fortress. For centuries, it was the most important trading centre in the Caucasus, a key stop on the ancient Silk Road. Its colourful old town – a cosmopolitan mix of cultures and faiths living in harmony and watched over by the statue of its founder, King Vakhtang Gorgasali – boasts a delightful maze of narrow streets lined with shops, stores and an increasing number of modern bars, cafés and restaurants catering to visitors.

Your tour will also include a chair-lift ride up to the Narikala Fortress above to take in the views of the city, and this evening dinner will be served in a restaurant, accompanied by some traditional Georgian singing and wine.

DAY 03: INCLUDED DAY TRIP TO GORI, THE STALIN MUSEUM & UPLISTSIKHE

Re-board the coach today for the journey west out of the city and into the beautiful, rolling countryside, heading first to ancient Gori, beneath its own imposing fortress, and famed as birthplace of Soviet leader Josef Stalin. A fascinating museum houses over 60,000 exhibits, including the house in which the dictator is said to have been born, and the train in which he travelled.

You’ll also visit the ancient cave town of Uplistsikhe, where dwellings, some from the 1st century BC, as well as temples and whole streets with houses and merchants’ shops, are hewn from the barren rock, and enjoy an included lunch.

Return to Tbilisi for the evening, to dine at your leisure.

DAY 04: INCLUDED VISITS TO BODBE MONASTERY & WINE TASTING IN SIGHNAGHI

Today’s tour takes you east to the picture-book Alazani valley, overlooked by impossibly pretty hilltop town Sighnaghi, and offering spectacular views of the towering Caucasus beyond. Here, you’ll pay a visit to 9th-century Bodbe Monastery, where the remains of Georgia’s Patron Saint, St Nino, are enshrined, before heading to Sighnaghi. This being the centre of the Kakheti wine-growing region, you’ll also enjoy a pleasant lunch and tasting of traditionally grown organic wines at a local wine cellar, and learn about life in rural Georgia through the ages before returning to Tbilisi this evening.

DAY 05: JOURNEY IN TO THE CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS

On a remarkably scenic day, you’ll head north towards the foothills of the mighty Caucasus, pausing first at the former capital of the Georgian kingdom, Mtskheta. The country’s cultural and spiritual home, and cradle of its Orthodox Christianity, riverside Mtskheta stood at the crossroads of the Roman, Persian and Byzantine empires, and boasts sacred Svetiskhoveli cathedral (burial place of kings) and the Jvari Monastery of the Cross among its UNESCO-listed treasures.

Journeying further north, you’ll pass beneath striking Ananuri castle in its commanding position above the Aragvi River, to arrive in the village Gudauri for an included dinner at your hotel.

Continue north to the mountain resort of Stepantsminda, still more commonly known as as Kazbegi, which is surrounded by some of the most beautiful peaks of the Caucasus, including towering Mount Kazbek. Upon arrival, we switch to four-wheel-drive vehicles for the short journey to the hilltop Gergeti, ‘Trinity’ Church, which offers sensational views, on clear days, of the Terek river valley and the towering flanks of Mount Kazbegi.

A wonderful day ends with a visit to a local artist, for the chance to admire intricate felt work and to taste teas and other delicacies. Dinner is at your hotel this evening.

DAY 07: FAREWELL LUNCH IN TBILISI

Bidding farewell to your Stepantsminda hosts, today, you’ll return to Tbilisi, where you’ll enjoy a last included lunch – your final taste of Georgian hospitality.

DAY 08: FLY BACK TO THE UK

Transfer back to the airport to board your daytime flight home, at the end of a marvellous Georgian holiday.