Anyone been to Georgia on holiday, country not state?

[JulietteHasAGun]

So me and Dd are going to go next summer and I need to get planning. She really wants to see a /church in the north of the country which looks quite remote. Gergeti Trinity Church. ChatGPT has recommended a website where you can hire private drivers for trips so think we’d probably do that to get there.

Has anyone done their own DIY trip round Georgia and how did you find it? Did it feel safe?

And bonus points if you can tell me what the food is like,e for a vegetarian coeliac?

Can't help with the country, but I ate a Georgian restaurant in Moscow once and that meal alone has made me desperate to visit the country ever since.

Kachapuri (likely misspelt), a bread boat filled with melted cheese and egg, and delicious dumplings filled with broth.

Thanks. The photos do look very nice.

My mother is going in 2 weeks. Age 82, so I think they’ll be using drivers. Will report back!!

I can't be much help unfortunately as I've only been to Tbilisi, but there was a lot of meat and wheat products (bread and dumplings etc) when I was there. One of the people I was travelling with accidentally ate gluten in a fruit based local speciality that the restaurant didn't specify had wheat in it until she asked how it was made because she loved it so much.

Following as DS and gf are going later this year. Very adventurous for someone who hasnt been out of the country since he was 4.

It was safe and welcoming. No driver needed in Tbilisi, but we used one in the rest of the country. Food for a vegetarian - okay, lots of salad options. Food for a coeliac - much more difficult, it's heavy on dough. Beautiful country and would recommend but I have to say we got through a lot of Imodium on our visit - perhaps just unlucky.

A friend went with teen DC and had a brilliant time.

I would look at the Foreign office travel advice for Georgia on a regular basis . They are advising not to travel to the region of South Ossetia or to places near that region.

Thank you. Will definitely check and keep checking.

Eeek, will pack Imodium (and sick bags for Dd).

Just check how close to the no travel zone it is. Tbilisi is suppose to be fabulous though and the food delicious.

That’s amazing, I hope I’m still that adventurous at that age. Hope she has a great time.

Thanks. We are meticulous about asking and take printed cards in the local language when we travel explaining what Dd can’t eat and about cross contamination.

Georgia is fantastic!!! We hired a driver once, it was arranged by the hotel, who took us up into the mountains. We had planned on going to one spot but he suggested a couple of other places as well. It was a magical day and cost us £50 in 2019. We also bought the driver lunch and drinks while he waited for us at the various spots.

Georgian wine is rightly famous. Tbilisi sits over a geothermal area so there are hot springs and Turkish style baths.

The Georgians themselves are very kind. We visited a lake outside of Tbilisi to go swimming one day. We took a taxi out but couldn’t find where to get one back. We tried asking around for advice and one guy just took us back in his car. He didn’t speak any English so at every red light he wound down his window and asked people in other cars if they did so he could work out where we wanted to go. We honestly thought he was a taxi driver, but we n the end he refused to take any money.

The food is fantastic. They make a walnut and herb paste and roll it up in slices of roasted aubergine and courgette. There are cheeses and I still remember the beans in a pot fondly. If you’re vegetarian you won’t have a problem

I have never been, I’d love to. It has been all over social media recently presumably because there is a new flight route I believe from Luton? Like others, I’ve eaten in a Georgian restaurant and it was incredible.

My daughter visits regularly for work and loves the country . She’s vegetarian and eats very well there, but I can’t help re coeliac dishes.

We went a few years ago. We flew into Kutasi in the west with a ridiculously cheap Wizz Air ticket. We went to Akhaltsikhe, Tbilisi, Gori and somewhere I’m afraid I don’t remember up in the mountains. It is very beautiful and interesting. Akhaltsikhe has a beautiful fortress. If you saw the recent Race Around the World it’s where Margo has a day to herself. Tbilisi has lots of hot spas and an interesting museum of ethnography. Gori was strange - it is Stalin’s birth place and there is a whole museum dedicated to his glorious soviet career (no mention of any of the bad stuff!). You can see the train he used to travel across the USSR. Food wise it is a bit hit and miss. Lots of meat dumplings (kluklini?). We found most breakfasts in hotels were stale bread and boiled eggs. There’s a bright green tarragon flavoured fizzy drink I’ve never seen anywhere else. Try the wine! It claims to have one of the oldest winemaking traditions in the world. I had a sweet red wine which was delicious, treat the strong homebrew wine/ perry with extreme caution.

Haven’t seen the recent Race Across the World, didn’t realise they’d gone there. Will have to watch.

Went in October to visit daughter who lives there. Very safe, people left cars running outside shops and they don’t get pinched. We loved Tblisi and also Kakheti wine region. Food is plentiful and cheap but no idea how it is for coeliacs.
You may find this useful. A blog written by an Australian living in Georgia.
wander-lush.org/

That website looks great for ideas, thanks @Fiddlesticks1

Before you go download Bolt it’s the equivalent of Uber.

I went to Tbilisi and sorry but I hated it. The food was very stodgy - lots of potato stews with boiled eggs on top. I did not find the people very welcoming at all- I dont think they meant to be rude its just they have a very gruff and direct way of communicating.

The taxi drivers (and driving in general there) was terrifying - one driver got out mid journey to have a punch up with another motorist and another one was hiding a beer can under his seat which he was trying to drink from when we weren't looking.

Its not a place I would ever choose to go back to

They featured Georgia on the recent series of ‘Race across the world’. Possibly also visited on a previous series.

There currently, we are travelling as 2 couples and arranged a driver guide who picked us up at airport and taking us out each day. Having George (most common male name due to St George) has been great, he has developed itinery around what we want to do and offered different vehicles (van, saloon, four wheel drive) for the different days all at different prices.
Lots of options to book once you arrive if that works better for you: we booked George based on personal recomendation from 2 lots of friends who had visited previously . Not cheap if travelling alone but if you want his details pm me.