Wind through the wild serenity of the Caucasus Mountains and experience the sheer excitement of white water rafting on two of Georgia’s best rafting rivers – the Aragvi and the Mtkvari, get back to nature and wander your way through fantastic landscapes – remote villages, mysterious cave-towns and snow-capped glaciers.
Tour Highlights:
- Walk in the Caucasus Mountains
- Ancient Cave-towns and towers
- White rafting on mountain rivers
Type of the Tour: Adventurous / Wildlife Discoveries /Rafting
Best Time: April-October
For individuals and small groups
Tour Duration: 7 days/ nights
This morning we will visit the historic neighbourhood of Tbilisi and explore different religious and secular monuments of the Old Town – the Metechi church of the Virgin Mary (13th century), Narikala castle, the Silk Road District and old Caravanserai as well as the famous Sulphuric Baths and the local synagogue.
Afterwards, we drive along Georgia’s famous Great Military Highway and through beautiful deciduous forests and remote villages where we stop at Pasanauri to enjoy our first white rafting adventure on the Aragvi river covering 13 km. (1.2hrs) after which we continue our trip higher up to the heart of the Great Caucasus Mountains and arrive in the town of Stepantsminda
Overnight in Stepantsminda
In the morning we will enjoy our leisure walk up to Gergety Trinity church (Round trip – 3.5 to 4 hrs) from where spectacular views of different snow-capped glaciers and canyons open up. Weather permitting, we may also be able to catch a glimpse of one of the highest glaciers in the Caucasus – Mt. Kazbegi (5047m). We take small village backstreets to walk down to the town and head to a local hunter’s house to enjoy home–made dishes as well as observing and learning the secrets of Georgian cuisine as we will be shown cooking and baking process of local delicacies: Khinkali and Khachapuri.
After lunch we drive through the dramatic Dariali gorge up to the Georgian-Russian border and on the way take a walk up to Gveleti waterfalls.
Overnight in Stepantsminda
We will leave the mountains this morning and start the drive to South Georgia. En route we visit Ulistsikhe – an ancient town with palaces, alleyways, streets and amphitheatres carved into the massive mountain slope. Established in the 2nd millennium B.C as a pagan temple-town, it later became an important base for Silk Road traders on their way from China to Europe.
We reach the small spa-town of Borjomi in the early evening and take a gentle walk in its mineral water park dating back to 1850.
Overnight in Borjomi
In the morning we will drive to one of the largest national parks of Europe – Borjomi-Kharagauli and take a 3 km. long eco-trail through deciduous forests and sub-alpine meadows after which we follow the Mtkvari river upstream, passing the impressive Khertvisi fortress erected on the top of the cliff and after following small countryside roads we reach one of the most impressive landmarks of Georgia – the cave-city of Vardzia and enjoy adventurous walk in 12th century complex, cut into the towering cliff.
Overnight in Vardzi
This morning we will enjoy a rafting trip on the Mtkvari river and then continue the drive to the Javakheti region famous for its alpine meadows and volcanic lakes. We arrive in Tbilisi in the evening.
