There are several ways to get to know Georgia. The first option is to settle in one central city, such as Tbilisi, and make a star trip to all the surrounding cities, since in every city or town you will find something interesting to see, even within a short driving distance. We preferred to get to know the country on a comprehensive route passing through key sites that we carefully selected in advance. We closed another in Israel with a charming driver, who speaks English, when in Georgia this is not an obvious matter, who met us with a mini van that can accommodate up to six people at a cost of 120 dollars per day. Michael the driver's WhatsApp: +995591221080
The consideration of taking a private driver, and not renting a car, as we usually do when traveling to Europe, was to avoid driving in a country with paved roads and quite wild drivers, in relation to what we know, yes, also in relation to drivers in Israel. Also, on the days we traveled in the big cities, like in Tumi or Tbilisi, there was no need for a car at all, since taxis are very cheap in Georgia.
Tours and activities you can do in Georgia
We landed in Batumi in the evening, took a taxi to the hotel"Windham", which is a five-star hotel where the stay cost 200 NIS per couple per night only. Yes, the prices on the hotels in Georgia are funny, maybe because we were at the beginning of April, and not in the summer season. The hotel had an excellent hot tub, an indoor pool, inexpensive spa treatments and an excellent breakfast, which also included dishes from traditional Georgian cuisine, such as khachapuri and other treats. In the morning Michael the driver picked us up from the hotel towards Tbilisi via the first capital city of Georgia, Mtskheta, and the city of Gorei. The trip with all the stops took about 9 hours, but thanks to the stops and thanks to the conversation with the driver who told us about the local history and other topics as I went, it was not noticeable at all.
Mtskheta - Mtskheta
The old city of Tskheta is located a 20-minute drive from Tbilisi. In the sixth century it was the capital of Georgia and it was the city where the Georgian people accepted Christianity, and this is still felt today. There are many churches in the city, the most famous being called the "Sweti Tshauvali Cathedral", and the gardens that surround it, and it is open to visitors every day from eight in the morning to eight in the evening, and the famous monastery is the "Jvari Monastery" or the Monastery of the Cross, which is built on top of a cliff and overlooks the city. If you go up, you will be able to see the connection of the Cora and Uruguay rivers. Nearby is Armazi, an archaeological excavation site at the site of one of the earliest settlements in Georgia. There are several versions of the reason for the change of the capital city from Tsheta to Tbilisi, with the most logical one being that Tsheta lies on a plain and it was difficult to protect it from invaders in the ancient period, compared to Tbilisi which is built on the banks of the Kura River, which gave it the advantage of trade routes and growth due to its strategic location, and is surrounded by mountains on three sides. All of these provided the most important things: protection of the inhabitants from invaders, water and fertile soil.
Gori
The next stop after Mtskheta was the birthplace of Joseph Stalin, so the main attraction in the city is Stalin Museum, which resides in his birthplace and includes personal belongings, furniture, gifts, historical documents and letters. In 2008, due to the deterioration of relations between Georgia and Russia, the Georgian Minister of Culture, Nikoloz Vacheishvili, declared the museum a symbol of Russian aggression, and at the entrance to the museum there was a sign, which read that the museum presents fake history, and is a typical example of Soviet propaganda, and tries to legitimize the tyrannical regime Blood, but in 2017 the sign was removed, and today the museum is a popular tourist attraction in the city of Goray. Outside the museum you can see and even visit Stalin's private train car.
The entrance ticket also includes a tour with a guide, when in our case the guide was far from objective, when she spoke of Stalin with excessive admiration and presented him as a saintly leader, but if we ignore the differences of opinion on the matter, the guidance was very comprehensive.
Tbilisi - Tbilisi
The name Tbilisi comes from the word "Tbili" which in Georgian means warm, hence the name of the city: a warm place.
Tbilisi is a modern and vibrant city, which offers its travelers a wide variety of fascinating sites alongside plenty of cafes and restaurants, galleries and shops, with the most visited area being the old city,
And in the evening you should take a walk on the pedestrian street Chardan , and continue to the synagogue the central one of Tbilisi, which is located at 45 Leslidza St., or visit at the wine museum of Tbilisi.
In addition, you can find in the old city the cross of Holy Nino , which brought Christianity to the Georgian people. also Church of the Holy Trinity וSioni Cathedral are in the area. andon Rostovli Boulevard You can enjoy a variety of boutiques and galleries, and if you want to learn more about the history of Tbilisi, you have the option of registering through the website for a free tour of Tbilisi with an English-speaking guide. The tour lasts about three hours, at the end of which it is customary to give a tip to the guide (in Darel it is customary to tip 20 lari). Tbilisi free walking tour
If you are traveling with children, there are quite a few attractions that you can visit in Tbilisi, whether it is an amusement park, a water park or a zoo. We visited the newest park in the city, which can be suitable for both adults and children. Rika Park or Rake Park was built in 2010, and it Built in a modern style and located in the center of Tbilisi, where it resides The Peace Bridge the famous one, made of steel and glass, from which you can see beautiful views of the city, and across the bridge there is a cable car that will bring you to the botanical gardens,The statue of Mother Georgia and a spectacular view of the entire city. At night, the bridge is illuminated with thousands of alternating colored lights, which at the time caused controversy and anger on the part of the residents over the waste of electricity and conflicts over the fact that the bridge, which is built in a contemporary and modern way, does not fit in with the ancient and authentic scenery of Tbilisi. In the park you can also take a cruise on the Kora River. Note that there are countless agents who will offer you the cruise, so it is recommended to check prices, because the Georgians usually "play" with the prices, both if it is a cruise and if it is taxis, but to their credit, they will not be offended if you haggle with them.
If you are amateurs baths , you will find them in the Abanotubni neighborhood, with all the baths operating underground and only one bathhouse, named Urbani operates above ground. The baths offer pools of sulfur water and you can also order a massage for those who wish.
Shopping and prices in Tbilisi:
As has already been said, the prices in Georgia as a whole are quite low, whether it is in restaurants or whether it is clothing or footwear, and so are the prices for living.
We stayed at the hotelAmbassador", which is an extremely luxurious five-star hotel, which offers a pampering spa with an indoor pool, a pampering breakfast that is served to you at the table, and extremely courteous service. So if you fancy a hotel that will offer you eggs benedict style with truffle mushrooms for breakfast, the whole pleasure will cost you 500 sh Only €XNUMX per couple per night including breakfast and the spa facilities, which is double the price of a five-star hotel in Batumi and even more, but the hotels in the capital city are generally higher than those in the other cities. The hotel also has a very special and authentic hookah and cocktail pub called "Mozaika", but there the prices will already be closer to the prices of the country, if not more.
Regarding the shopping, you can start the journey in Freedom Square, where the Spring Revolution took place in 2005, when Georgia broke away from the Soviet Union, with the statue of st george, the patron saint of Georgia. The square also houses the city hall, the art museum and other central buildings, including the tourist information center. Freedom Square continues toRustaveli Blvd , which also houses some important buildings such as Parliament , Rustaveli Museum וopera house , when wandering around the area you will find a variety of shops, among them Carousel Mall .
In Tbilisi there are several large shopping malls where you can find a variety of stores of local brands alongside European brands, with the prices on clothing and footwear being about 30% lower than the prices in Israel, on the other hand, the prices on cosmetics and perfumes are quite high.
Georgian cuisine:
There are countless restaurants and cafes in the old city, but if you are looking for an authentic and nice restaurant, which in the evening also has folklore performances, you should visit the "Tsiskvili" restaurant, at 99 Akaki St. in Lashvili. You should reserve a place in advance. Even in the restaurants, the prices are extremely cheap, for example costing only 100 NIS per couple, they will serve you a meal like the king's hand, full of all the good things. Also, Georgians know how to host with all their heart, and Georgian cuisine is considered one of the best cuisines in the world, especially for meat or cheese lovers. It is especially recommended Taste the hinkali with meat. Originally the men were the ones who prepared the hinkali, when they used to chop the meat with their swords, and the meat in khinkali was chopped, not minced, but today in most restaurants the hinkli has evolved, and today when they say hinkali, they usually mean a large cooked pocket filled with minced meat , and there are also alternatives for vegetarians, if it's cheese, potato and even mushrooms. Apart from hinkali, Georgian cuisine offers different types of khachapuri, which is baked cheese that you will find in almost every restaurant in Georgia, and even at breakfast in hotels. And in the markets you will see Georgian sweets in every corner The traditional ones are hung to dry, the churachhala. The churachhala is made of walnuts woven with string, and the nuts are wrapped in a sweet shell, toffee style, made of grape juice and honey, while today they are already available in all colors and flavors, but I like the original flavor the best grapes
Borjomi
On the way back from Tbilisi to Batumi Michael the driver made us a stop in the city of Borjomi, a resort town famous for its mineral water springs. There is a small tourist center and therapeutic spa centers and even springs where you can drink the water and fill bottles. The water is not tasty to say the least, but it has medicinal properties, it is rich in rocky minerals and thanks to these properties, improves the body's metabolism, purifies the digestive system and strengthens the immune system.
The city of Borjomi is considered one of the first resorts in Georgia built in European style. Along with clean air, picturesque landscapes and mineral water sources, which are used to treat various diseases in the digestive system and neurological problems, the city also built a sulfur pool that is open to visitors throughout the year.
Near the town of Borjomi is Borjomi Park. This is a huge park, or it is more correct to call it a natural forest, where fir trees, walnut trees and a variety of other trees grow next to the mineral water springs and waterfalls. The forest has a variety of hiking trails that you can sign up for at the traveler center, where you will also be offered a map and the type of trail that will suit you. Keep in mind that if you are less connected to hiking trails or you travel with small children, the route is not easy, and it has steep ups and downs that can be difficult.
In conclusion, Borjomi is a charming resort town, with amazing views, and if you have a little more time, you can also visit the city center and take a cable car. We gave up due to the lack of time, but we managed to absorb the atmosphere of the place, which really instills a feeling of rest and peace. We visited Borjomi in April and it was cool, but I still recommend visiting it even in the cold seasons.
In Tommy
At the end of our visit to Georgia, we returned to Batumi, from where our return flight to Israel was, and we spent two days there. Beyond that, there is nothing to do there, unless you visit it in the summer season.
The hotel we chose this time was the "Meridian" hotel, which was nice overall, but much less luxurious than the hotels I mentioned earlier, and if you are looking for a recommended restaurant in Batumi, then I definitely recommend "Grill House". The prices in the restaurants in Batumi are even lower than those in Tbilisi, and the food is simply excellent, Georgia is definitely an excellent gastronomic destination.
Batumi is the second largest city after Tbilisi, and is considered the resort capital of Georgia and one of the oldest cities, when the city was occupied in the 15th century by the Ottoman Empire, and returned to being part of Georgia as part of the Russian Empire in 1918, when it was reoccupied by Russian soldiers, and two years later became to part of the Soviet Union. The old town of Batumi is located between the port and the main avenue, which is the city's calling card, as it stretches along the sea and is decorated with statues and fountains. It combines classic buildings from the 19th century and modern skyscrapers.
One of the places worth visiting in Batumi is Batumi's piazza , which was built in 2010. The piazza is considered one of the most beautiful squares in Georgia, and is located in the center of the city. It is designed in an Italian style and blends well with the architecture of the old city. In the square you can find a variety of restaurants and cafes and during the Christmas season the Christmas markets open there. Even during the summer the square is vibrant and alive, and in the rest of the seasons you can still enjoy the beauty and the surrounding cafes, but it is likely that you will not get to see street performances and experience the lively atmosphere it offers during the peak seasons. Near the piazza you can see other sites, Like the church of San Nicolas וThe Clock Tower.
Other attractions in Batumi that you can visit are: the botanical garden, the dolphinarium and the zoo of Batumi, the cable car that goes up toMount Anuria, Alpha Beta Tower, And next to him too A statue of Eli and Nino , which symbolizes eternal love, andSixth of May Park. You can also do a spin on Ferris wheel , but for some reason during the time we were there, in April, it was not working.
Regarding shopping in Batumi, the largest mall is called "Batumi Mall", but it does not compare to the malls in Tbilisi, so in this case you will leave the shopping elsewhere. However, a very popular store among Israelis is called "Brand House". This is a store that offers imitations of luxury brands, with their goods coming from Turkey, and is considered of high quality compared to imitations, and is one of the reasons why on the return flight from Batumi it is likely that the person sitting to your left will wear "Gucci" and the person sitting to your right will wear "Dior".
In conclusion , if you have the option to choose, it is of course better to come to Georgia in the summer, especially if you also want to go hiking in nature or bathe in the Black Sea, but we also had a lot of fun in April. The weather was cold, but we were lucky and there was no wind or rain. In the mountains there was snow on the ground, but in the city, it was around 10 degrees during the day, and the cold was not felt too much. A few important details to summarize: a SIM card will cost you about 10 lari with unlimited internet (which is about ten shekels), and money can be changed in change on the street, or at a slightly higher rate in a hotel or casino. Taxi rides are cheap, let's say in Batumi we paid ten lari for a ten minute ride, just don't forget that there are taxi drivers who will offer you different prices, according to the "as needed as you wish" rate, so take that into account. And in general, the Georgian people, from the impression we received during the trip, are the very embodiment of the statue "Mother of Georgia". The statue reflects the residents in an amazing way, and symbolizes the attitude of the Georgians to their guests, with one hand Mother Georgia holding a glass of wine, to welcome those who come as friends and in the other hand she holds a sword to fight back against the enemies, so be good to the Georgians, and they will be doubly good to you.
