Georgia travel guide

Svaneti is a picture-perfect mountainous region. Here you can find traditional villages with strange soaring defensive towers set in lush valleys on a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. The alpine scenery here can easily compete with the crowded Alps. The main town in Svaneti is Mestia which can be reached by a winding mountain road or a often-cancelled flight. From here there are plenty of good trekking opportunities (pick any direction), either just day treks or, for those with the right gear, multi-days treks to, for example, the base of some of the highest peaks in Caucasus. You can also continue further to the UNESCO World Heritage enlisted town of Ushguli at the foot of Mt Shkhara (5068 m), the highest mountain in Georgia.

Svaneti is slowly but surely turning into a hot travel destination for nature lovers, trekkers and backpackers, and Mestia is already gearing up for the boom. It got a new (tiny) airport, ancient Svaneti towers are getting restored, homestays and even hotels are shooting up and the town square is getting totally rebuilt. So come to Svaneti, the sooner the better.

Tbilisi is very easy to fall in love with. The old quarter is stuffed with old crooked balconied houses where none seem to have been built the same year, or even from the same materials. The hillside that overlooks the city is lined with churches, a fortress and a wickedly lit-up TV-tower. Walking down the fashionable shopping street of Rustavelis gamziri could make you think you have been transported to Vienna or Budapest, until you catch a view of the giant statue of Mother Georgia. There are funky cafes, outdoor bars and dungeons serving the best Georgian food for pennies. To top it all off, the river front has been through a total makeover so the sparkling new Peace Bridge doesn't seem too out of context.

High above Mestia village, crowns a cross that is just barely visible to the naked eye. It is a hard 2.5-3-hour trek up there and the same back, but the views (on a clear day ) are just spectacular. From the cross (2193 m), the most prominent peaks you have in view are the twin peaks of Mt Ushba (4700 m), Bachgurani (3837 m), Tetnuldi (4858 m) and, across the valley, Mekhnazhi (3559 m) and Lahili (4008 m). There are several trails up to the cross, but the jeep trail that winds around the backside is probably the most rewarding since the view just gets better and better as you walk up. There is apparently an alpine lake 2-3 hours (one way) further trekking towards Mt Ushba, but you need to start early to be able to make it back before dark.