Quick answer
Sleep three nights in Tbilisi, two in Stepantsminda (Kazbegi), one in Sighnaghi, one more in Tbilisi, one in Kutaisi, three in Mestia and two in Batumi, then take the morning train back to Tbilisi on day 14. Days 1 to 8 are our ten-day route without the second Kutaisi day; days 9 to 11 are Svaneti (the drive up, Ushguli, Koruldi Lakes); day 12 is the long road down to the Black Sea; day 13 is Batumi and the beaches south of it. By marshrutka, shared transfer and train the long legs cost about 285 GEL (about $110) a person; a GoTrip driver for every leg is from 1,712 GEL (about $655) per car plus the train; a Localrent compact is from $26 a day with no deposit, though it cannot go to Ushguli in October. Best from June to early October; the Svaneti days need the mountain roads open.
- Nights
- 13 in 7 beds
- Public transport, all legs
- 285 GEL
- Driver, all legs, from
- 1,712 GEL
- Best months
- Jun to Oct
Our 7-day itinerary is Tbilisi, Kazbegi and Sighnaghi. Our 10-day itinerary adds two nights in Kutaisi and the option of flying home from there. Both pages tell you not to squeeze Svaneti or the coast into the spare days, because each is a full day from Tbilisi in each direction. Two weeks is when that advice flips. From Kutaisi, Mestia is a morning on the road and Batumi is an afternoon, so the west becomes a loop rather than a detour: Tbilisi, the mountains of the north, the wine country, then Kutaisi, Svaneti, the coast, and a fast train home. Nothing on this route is a dead end, and no leg is longer than the six-hour van up to Mestia.
The days are numbered from your arrival day. The sample dates we priced start on Saturday 10 October 2026 and end on Friday 23 October, which puts Mestia on a Sunday to Wednesday and Batumi midweek, when both are quiet. If you come in July or August, book the Mestia rooms and the Batumi train two to three weeks ahead; everything else can wait.
The two weeks at a glance
| Day | Where and what | Sleep |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tbilisi. Land, settle in, an evening walk to the bath domes and a first khinkali | Tbilisi |
| 2 | Tbilisi. The Old Town on foot, an hour in a private sulfur bath, a wine bar in Sololaki | Tbilisi |
| 3 | Mtskheta and Tbilisi. Svetitskhoveli and Jvari in the morning, Dezerter Bazaar and the left bank after lunch | Tbilisi |
| 4 | Kazbegi. Van or driver up the Military Highway, Ananuri on the way, the walk up to Gergeti Trinity Church | Kazbegi |
| 5 | Kazbegi. Truso valley or Juta by taxi, a guesthouse dinner | Kazbegi |
| 6 | Tbilisi to Sighnaghi. Morning van down, afternoon van out to Kakheti, sunset on the town wall | Sighnaghi |
| 7 | Sighnaghi and Tbilisi. Bodbe convent, a family cellar, the 13:00 van back, the Tbilisi dinner you missed | Tbilisi |
| 8 | Kutaisi. Morning van west, the Green Bazaar, the river and the bridges, Bagrati at dusk | Kutaisi |
| 9 | Mestia. The long road up through Zugdidi and the Enguri gorge, towers in the evening light | Mestia |
| 10 | Ushguli. Shared van to the four hamlets under Shkhara, Lamaria church, the tower museum | Mestia |
| 11 | Above Mestia. Koruldi Lakes on foot or by 4x4, Ushba across the valley, a slow evening | Mestia |
| 12 | To the coast. Driver or shared transfer down to Batumi, the boulevard at sunset | Batumi |
| 13 | Batumi. The old town, the Botanical Garden, bus 16 to the pebble beaches at Gonio and Kvariati | Batumi |
| 14 | Home. The 08:00 train to Tbilisi for an evening flight, or fly from Batumi or Kutaisi | Home |
Thirteen nights, seven beds. Two things about the shape. Kutaisi gets one night instead of the two it has on the ten-day route, because the Mestia vans leave in the morning and Svaneti is the better use of the day; if Gelati and Prometheus Cave matter more to you than a second day in the mountains, the swaps section shows how to trade them. And the trip ends in Batumi rather than back in Tbilisi by road, because the Batumi train is the fastest, calmest long leg in the country and it makes the last day a half day of travel rather than a whole one.
Getting between the stops
Seven long legs: Tbilisi to Kazbegi and back, Tbilisi to Sighnaghi and back, Tbilisi to Kutaisi, Kutaisi to Mestia, Mestia to Batumi, and Batumi to Tbilisi by train. Three ways to do them.
| Option | Cost and what it means |
|---|---|
| Marshrutka, shared transfer, train | About 285 GEL a person (20 each way to Kazbegi, 15 each way to Sighnaghi, 25 to Kutaisi, 45 to 50 up to Mestia, about 107 for a seat in a shared transfer down to Batumi, 36 for the train). Cheapest and fine everywhere except the Mestia to Batumi leg, where the vans go via Zugdidi and you may have to change. Our marshrutka guide explains the yards. |
| GoTrip driver | From 1,712 GEL per car for six legs (Tbilisi to Kazbegi 210, Kazbegi straight to Sighnaghi 293, Sighnaghi to Tbilisi 191, Tbilisi to Kutaisi 244, Kutaisi to Mestia 334, Mestia to Batumi 440), then the train. Fixed price shown before you book, unlimited stops, and it cuts the change in Zugdidi and the morning-only van up to Mestia. For two or more people on the two mountain legs this is what we use; Batumi to Tbilisi by car is 342 GEL and slower than the train. |
| Rental car | From $26 a day on Localrent, no deposit, plus roughly 1,700 km of fuel. The Zugdidi to Mestia road is paved and inside the rental terms. Three limits: Truso and Juta are excluded, the Mestia to Ushguli road is allowed only with the rental's travel authorization option and only from 1 May to 30 September, and the drink-drive limit is 0.03%. |
Prices are what gotrip.ge, localrent.com and booking.com showed on 21 September 2026; the van fares and train times are from our transport guides, verified the same month.
Days 1 to 7: Tbilisi, Kazbegi and Sighnaghi
The first week is our 7-day itinerary, and that page has it hour by hour with every fare. The short version, with the numbers you need to budget.
Days 1 to 3, Tbilisi and Mtskheta. Bus 337 from the airport to Freedom Square is 1 GEL until 23:00 and takes 50 to 70 minutes; a Bolt is 15 to 25 GEL by day and a pre-booked GoTrip driver 54 GEL. Stay in the Old Town, Sololaki, Vera or Chugureti; the where-to-stay guide compares eight areas with prices. Day 2 is the self-guided Old Town walk (about 4 km, three to four hours) and a private sulfur bath room from 130 GEL an hour at Chreli Abano, priced per room; the public hall at Bath No. 5 is 6 to 10 GEL. Day 3 is Mtskheta by marshrutka from Didube, 2 GEL and 25 to 35 minutes, for Svetitskhoveli and Jvari, back for a late lunch at Dezerter Bazaar. Two 2026 notes: Rustaveli Avenue is closed for a rebuild due to finish in November, so the airport bus is diverted, and Narikala fortress is shut for restoration; the ridge beside it is open.
Days 4 and 5, Kazbegi. Vans to Stepantsminda leave Didube for 20 GEL, about eleven a day in summer, 3 to 3.5 hours with no stops; a GoTrip driver is 210 GEL per car for the 152 km and stops at Ananuri and the Jvari Pass viewpoints. Walk up to Gergeti Trinity Church on the afternoon of day 4: about 7 km return with 430 m of climb, footpath not road, or a 4x4 from the bus station. Day 5 is Truso or Juta by taxi, 60 to 70 GEL one way to the Truso trailhead or 100 to 120 GEL return with waiting to Juta, where the last 2.6 km of road has been closed since a collapse in June 2025. Both valleys are under snow from November to late May. The Kazbegi guide has the routes and the taxi stands.
Days 6 and 7, Sighnaghi. By van: down to Didube (20 GEL), metro to Samgori (1 GEL), then the Navtlughi terminal for the 15:00 Sighnaghi van, 15 GEL, 2 to 2.5 hours. With a driver, Stepantsminda to Sighnaghi direct is 259 km, 4 h 36 min and 293 GEL. Walk the 4.5 km town wall at sunset and book Pheasant's Tears on Baratashvili Street 18 for dinner. Day 7 is Bodbe convent (free, 10:00 to 18:30, 2 km below town) and a family cellar tasting, from free to 20 to 80 GEL, then the 13:00 van back from 9 April Street (15 GEL) or a GoTrip driver for 191 GEL. You are in Tbilisi by mid afternoon with an evening for the wine bar you missed on day 2.
Day 8: west to Kutaisi
Vans to Kutaisi leave Didube roughly hourly, 25 GEL (about $10), about four hours, and since the new highway opened the through vans to Batumi and Zugdidi no longer enter Kutaisi, so take one that terminates there. Be at Didube by 08:30. A GoTrip driver is 231 km, 3 h 17 min and 244 GEL per car, with a stop at Gori or Uplistsikhe if you want one. There is no direct train to the city any more.
With one night, spend the afternoon on the city itself. The van arrives at the central bus station on the west bank of the Rioni; city bus 1 or a Bolt gets you to the centre. Late lunch at the Green Bazaar (Imeretian cheese, lobiani hot from the bakeries around the edge), then the river walk past the White Bridge, the Chain Bridge and the Red Bridge, the 3 GEL cable car across the Rioni from the central park, and Bagrati Cathedral on its hill for dusk, free and open late. Dinner at Doli inside the Communal Hotel or Magnolia over the river. If Gelati is the reason you came west, a GoTrip driver to Mestia tomorrow can start with an hour there and at Motsameta before turning for the coast road; by van you will not have time, and the most recent report our Kutaisi guide could find had Gelati open at weekends only during its restoration. Stay on the east bank between the bazaar and Bagrati, and confirm your morning transport to Mestia before you sleep.
Day 9: the road up to Mestia
Every shared route into Svaneti runs through Zugdidi and up the Enguri gorge, and it is a long morning whichever way you do it. From Kutaisi's central bus station one marshrutka a morning goes through to Mestia for 45 to 50 GEL (about $17 to $19), 6 to 6.5 hours; ask your guesthouse for today's departure time and be there 40 minutes early. Budget Georgia runs a shared transfer with hotel pickup for 80 GEL, daily from May to October, which is the calmer version of the same road. A GoTrip driver is 236 km, 4 h 22 min and 334 GEL per car, and that is the leg where a driver earns the most: the road climbs past the Enguri dam and through the gorge with few places for a van to stop, and the difference between six hours and four and a half is the difference between arriving in daylight and not. Mestia sits at 1,400 m; the road up is sealed all the way, steep and narrow near the top, with sections reduced to one lane after 2024 collapses. If you are driving yourself, the Zugdidi to Mestia road is inside Localrent's permitted area; do it in daylight.
You arrive mid afternoon at the earliest. Drop your bags, then walk up through Lanchvali, the quarter of tower houses above the square, where the cobbled lane passes through a stone arch built into one of the towers. The towers are medieval defensive keeps attached to family homes, and Mestia has many of them; Ushguli tomorrow has the densest cluster. Eat kubdari, the Svan meat pie, at your guesthouse if dinner is offered, and it usually is. Mestia has the region's last ATMs and nothing beyond it takes cards, so draw the cash for Ushguli tonight. Our Mestia guide covers the town.
Svaneti's guesthouses are family homes and the host is the grandmother as often as not; English is thin and Russian is the second language. A few words go a long way here, starting with how to say thank you in Georgian, which EasyGeorgian explains in a two-minute read.
Day 10: Ushguli
Ushguli is four hamlets at about 2,100 m, Murkmeli, Chazhashi, Chvibiani and Zhibiani, at the head of the Enguri valley under Shkhara, Georgia's highest peak at about 5,200 m. Chazhashi, with the densest cluster of towers, is the UNESCO-listed part. The road from Mestia is sealed the whole way and takes 60 to 90 minutes; shared Delica vans and minibuses leave Mestia every morning and come back mid afternoon, and a seat is up to 70 GEL (about $27) return depending on the driver and the season. Let your guesthouse fix it the evening before rather than paying the sellers around the bus stands in advance; wander-lush.org, whose August 2026 transport guide is our source for the fares, reports too many travellers let down that way.
Once there, walk up to Lamaria church above Chazhashi for the view of the towers with Shkhara behind them; women are asked to cover their hair with one of the scarves at the door. The ethnographic museum in one of the towers is 10 GEL, cash. The four or five hours the vans give you are enough for the church, the museum, a walk between the hamlets and lunch in a guesthouse; the day trippers arrive late morning, so the earlier your van leaves, the emptier the lanes. If you would rather see Ushguli at dawn, sleep there instead of returning: room-only rates for two ran 40 to 60 GEL a night in mid September, and our Ushguli guide has the guesthouses and the day walks, while the Mestia to Ushguli trek page explains the four-day walk for anyone with a spare week.
Day 11: Koruldi Lakes, or a slow day
Koruldi Lakes is the walk to do from Mestia itself: 14 km out and back from the centre (1,400 m) to three shallow glacial lakes at 2,740 m, about 1,340 m of climbing, 6 to 10 hours on foot. The steep part is the first 2.75 km to the Cross Over Mestia at about 2,150 m, after which a jeep track eases up to the plateau. Start at the yellow sign on Seti Square pointing to Koruldi Lakes and follow the red and white blazes. A 4x4 from town to the cross is about 100 GEL (about $38) per car and to the lakes and back about 250 GEL, so most people ride up and walk down. Free, no permit, open June to October; the reward is Ushba's twin peaks across the valley. Our Koruldi Lakes guide has the route in detail.
If the weather is in, or your legs are not, make it a slow day: the museum, a long lunch, the towers in the afternoon light, and the packing for the coast. Nothing on the rest of the route depends on this day, which is why it sits here.
Day 12: down to the coast
This is the leg the public transport is honest about being awkward. All shared transport from Mestia runs down the Zugdidi road; in summer a van to Batumi leaves Mestia at 08:00 along with the Tbilisi and Kutaisi vans, and by late October you should ask your guesthouse whether it is still going. If it is not, take the Zugdidi van (30 to 40 GEL on the way up, 4 to 5 hours) and change in Zugdidi for a Batumi van; we have not priced that second leg and will not guess it. Two easier options. Booking.com's activities tab listed a Mestia to Batumi shared transfer at about 107 GEL a seat with free cancellation when we checked, and Budget Georgia's 16:00 shared transfer serves Batumi as well as Kutaisi. Or a GoTrip driver: 258 km, 5 h 01 min and 440 GEL per car, which with two people is roughly the shared-seat price with the stops thrown in.
Either way you reach Batumi in the afternoon. Stay at the boulevard end of the old town, which keeps you on foot for the whole stay, and walk the seafront before dinner: the Boulevard runs for kilometres along the pebble beach, the old town's Piazza and the moving steel figures of Ali and Nino are a few minutes inland, and the cafes one block back from the sea are half the price of the ones on it. Adjarian khachapuri, the boat-shaped one with the egg, is the local dish and is better here than anywhere else in the country. Our Batumi guide has the neighbourhoods and the restaurants.
Day 13: Batumi and the beaches
Morning is the Botanical Garden on the Green Cape north of the city, laid out over a headland above the sea; it is open 09:00 to 19:00 according to its own site, and a Bolt gets you to the lower gate. Back in town, lunch in the old town, then the coast. City bus 16 runs from central Batumi south through Gonio and Kvariati to the Sarpi border, and Batumi's buses take no cash: tap a contactless bank card on board for about 1 GEL, or take any Sarpi-bound minibus for 1.50 GEL. Gonio has a Roman fortress and a long quiet beach; Kvariati, the bay before Sarpi and the border, is where the water is clearest. The beaches here are smooth grey pebbles, hard on bare feet and clear because there is no sand to stir up, and they get deep within a few steps. Lunch at a beach cafe in the villages is 15 to 25 GEL a head. Our Black Sea beaches guide compares every beach on the coast; in late October you will have them to yourself.
Book the train for tomorrow tonight if you have not already: tkt.ge sells the Batumi trains up to 20 days ahead, and the double-deckers sell out in summer.
Day 14: the train home
The Tbilisi trains leave Batumi Central, on the northern edge of the city and a short Bolt from the boulevard, at 08:00 and 16:50 every day in the autumn timetable, with 14:10 and 18:30 added in summer and the 18:30 on some autumn weekends, every one of them 4 hours 1 minute, 36 GEL (about $14) in second class or 76 GEL in first on tkt.ge, with a stop at Kutaisi Airport on the way. The 08:00 gets you into Tbilisi Central at 12:01, from where the metro and a Bolt reach the airport in about an hour; that works for any flight after 15:00. The 14:10, when it runs, works for a flight after 21:00. A GoTrip driver Batumi to Tbilisi is 342 GEL and 5 h 38 min, only worth it with a group and a mountain of luggage. Our trains guide covers the booking sites and the seat classes.
Two shortcuts. Batumi has its own international airport, so if it serves your city an open-jaw ticket (into Tbilisi, out of Batumi) removes the train altogether. And the Kutaisi Airport coaches serve Batumi's bus station at 11 Giorgi Tsabadze Street, about two hours from the terminal, so a Wizz Air flight from Kutaisi works too; our Kutaisi Airport guide has the operators. Between the two, more of Europe is reachable from Kutaisi.
Where to sleep: one room per stop
Seven beds in two weeks. Tbilisi, Stepantsminda, Sighnaghi and Kutaisi are the same rooms we priced for the ten-day route. In Mestia the family guesthouses within a few hundred metres of Seti Square are the ones to book, with dinner; in Batumi a studio or small hotel in the old town, within a walk of the boulevard, keeps you out of taxis. We book on Booking.com for all of them because the family places list there with free cancellation, which matters when a forecast decides whether you walk to Koruldi or sit in a cafe.
What the two weeks cost
The table is for two people sharing, travelling by marshrutka, the shared transfer and the train, sleeping in the rooms above, and eating at the mid-range rate our budget calculator uses (85 GEL a person a day, built from unit prices checked in September 2026). Flights and the mandatory travel insurance are on top.
Two weeks for two people, by public transport
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vans, shared transfer and train, all legs | 575 GEL | About 287 GEL a person incl. Mtskheta; 107 of it is the shared seat to Batumi |
| Thirteen nights in the seven rooms above | 1,213 GEL | Booking.com, 21 September 2026, for 10 to 23 October |
| Private sulfur bath, one hour | 130 GEL | Per room at Chreli Abano |
| Truso or Juta taxi | 100 to 140 GEL | Per car, return with waiting |
| Gergeti and Koruldi 4x4s | 0 to 140 GEL | Free on foot; 100 GEL per car to the Koruldi cross |
| Tbilisi cable car, garden, Sighnaghi Museum | 75 GEL | 2.50 each way, 4 GEL, 30 GEL a person |
| Ushguli van seats and the tower museum | 160 GEL | Up to 70 GEL a seat return; 10 GEL each, cash |
| Kutaisi cable car, Batumi buses, Bolts | about 40 GEL | 3 GEL, about 1 GEL a ride, a few short Bolts |
| Tastings and a cellar bottle | 60 to 150 GEL | Family cellars from free to 80 GEL |
| Food and drink, fourteen days | 2,380 GEL | 85 GEL a person a day; less at the guesthouses |
| Total | about 4,900 GEL | About $1,880 at the rate of 2.61; about 6,100 GEL with a driver for every road leg |
Prices checked September 2026. Ranges reflect season and operator.
Three levers move that number. A GoTrip driver for the six road legs adds about 1,200 GEL over the public option and buys you Ananuri, a direct run to Sighnaghi, an hour at Gelati on the way to Mestia and a Batumi arrival with daylight to spare. Eating at the guesthouses in Stepantsminda and Mestia, where dinner is often the best meal of the trip, takes a good part of the food line off. A Localrent compact is about $366 for the fortnight plus roughly 450 GEL of fuel for 1,700 km; against public transport it is the most expensive option, against the driver it is cheaper, and it earns its keep in Kakheti and on the coast. It does not solve day 5, because Truso and Juta are excluded, and in October it does not solve day 10 either, because the Ushguli road permission ends on 30 September.
Swaps that work
| If you | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Want Gelati and the cave | Give Kutaisi two nights and Mestia two: day 9 is Gelati, Motsameta and Prometheus Cave as on the 10-day itinerary, day 10 the road up, day 11 Ushguli, and Koruldi goes. You lose the spare mountain day, so watch the forecast. |
| Have a driver | Go Sighnaghi to Kutaisi direct on day 7 (332 km, 326 GEL on GoTrip, with a stop at Gori or Uplistsikhe) and drop the night in Tbilisi. That gives Kutaisi its second night back without taking anything from Svaneti. |
| Would rather walk than ride | Sleep in Ushguli on day 10 instead of returning to Mestia, and use day 11 for the trail down to Iprali or the dawn light on Shkhara. Rooms for two were 40 to 60 GEL a night; the trek page has the guesthouses. |
| Are coming between November and May | Keep the first eight days, then follow the Callout above: three nights in Kutaisi for the cave and the canyons, the coach to Batumi, the train home. Svaneti in winter is for skiers; our skiing guide covers Hatsvali and Tetnuldi. |
| Land at Kutaisi | Run the west first: Kutaisi, Mestia, Batumi, then the train to Tbilisi for Kakheti and Kazbegi, and fly home from Tbilisi. The 30 GEL airport coaches meet every Wizz flight; our airport guide says which one. |
| Have three weeks | Add the four-day Mestia to Ushguli trek in place of days 10 and 11, and a night in Zugdidi for the Dadiani palace on the way down; the three-week section of our itinerary guide and the trip planner build the rest. |
Mistakes to avoid
- Doing Svaneti from Tbilisi. Mestia is 463 km and a full day from the capital by any road. It is a morning from Kutaisi, which is why the west is a loop on this route and not a spoke.
- Arriving in Kutaisi late on day 8 with no plan for day 9. The Mestia van is one a morning. Confirm the departure time with your guesthouse the night before, or book the Budget Georgia transfer or a driver.
- Buying a return Ushguli seat from the sellers around Mestia's bus stands. Too many travellers are let down. Let your guesthouse arrange it, or pay the driver in Ushguli.
- Driving a rental car to Ushguli in October. Localrent's terms allow that road only with the travel authorization option and only from 1 May to 30 September. Take the shared van.
- Leaving Mestia without cash. Its ATMs are the last in Svaneti and nothing in Ushguli takes cards.
- Assuming the Mestia to Batumi van runs. It is a summer service. Ask, and if the answer is vague, book the shared transfer or a driver rather than gambling on a change in Zugdidi.
- Leaving the Batumi train to the morning. Tickets sell out in summer and the 08:00 is the one that makes an evening flight. Book on tkt.ge, up to 20 days ahead.
Frequently asked questions
Is two weeks enough for Georgia?
How much does two weeks in Georgia cost?
How do I get from Kutaisi to Mestia?
How do I get from Mestia to Batumi?
Can I do this itinerary in the other direction?
Do I need a car for this itinerary?
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