Luxury Private Tours in GEORGIA
Ancient wine. Dramatic mountains. A feast that lasts all night.
Our tailor-made private tours combine expert local guides, handpicked stays and curated experiences, from the layered streets of Tbilisi and the ancient cave cities of the central plains to the vine-covered valleys of Kakheti, the dramatic peaks of Kazbegi and the remote mountain towers of Svaneti.
WHY VISIT GEORGIA?
Georgia is one of those destinations that arrives in the traveller's consciousness almost by surprise. It sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, bordered by Russia to the north, Turkey and Armenia to the south, and the Black Sea to the west, and it carries the accumulated history of every civilisation that has ever passed through or coveted it. It was Christian before most of Europe, it was making wine eight thousand years before anyone else, and its alphabet, one of the most visually distinctive writing systems in the world and bearing a remarkable resemblance to the Basque script of the Pyrenees despite originating entirely independently, has been in continuous use for fifteen centuries.
What makes Georgia exceptional for the private traveller is the combination of extraordinary depth and genuine warmth. Georgian hospitality is not a cultural performance. It is a deeply held value expressed through the supra, the traditional feast that is Georgia's most important social institution, where a tamada, the toastmaster, leads the table through a minimum of sixteen toasts over hours of wine, food, music and conversation that reveals more about the Georgian character than any museum or monument could. To sit at a Georgian table as a guest is to be treated as a gift from God, which is precisely what the Georgian tradition holds you to be.
Georgia spent seven decades under Soviet rule and the traces of that era are woven into the landscape and the culture in ways that are fascinating rather than oppressive: the brutalist architecture that frames extraordinary Orthodox churches, the Soviet-era spa hotels that have been reinvented as design properties, the collective wine production infrastructure that the country has spent the past thirty years dismantling in favour of the small family cellars that are producing some of the most interesting natural wines in the world.
Many travellers combine Georgia with Armenia for a broader Caucasus journey, or weave it into a wider itinerary with Turkey and Uzbekistan for those drawn by the ancient civilisations of the region.
Explore our full Europe region hub for more inspiring destinations.
Best Time to Visit GEORGIA
Spring (April to June) is our most recommended window for a first Georgia journey. The Kakheti wine region is at its most beautiful, with the vines in new leaf and the landscape a vivid green. Tbilisi is warm and alive without the heat of summer. The mountain roads to Kazbegi open after winter and the Caucasus peaks are dramatic against clear skies. Late May and June in Kakheti, timed to the spring agricultural cycle, is one of the finest times to visit a wine region anywhere in the world.
Autumn (September to November) is the other exceptional window and arguably the most atmospheric of all for those drawn by the wine. The Rkatsiteli and Saperavi harvests in Kakheti typically run through September and October, and the opportunity to participate in a private harvest at a family winery, treading grapes in the traditional qvevri clay vessels that have been used for eight thousand years, is one of the most extraordinary seasonal experiences available in the Caucasus. The colours across the vine valleys and mountain forests in October are extraordinary.
Summer (July to August) is hot in Tbilisi and the lowlands but ideal for the mountains. Kazbegi and Svaneti are at their most accessible, the hiking conditions are excellent and the high meadows above the tree line are extraordinary. Those planning a mountain-focused itinerary should prioritise summer.
Winter (December to February) is cold and snow-covered but brings its own rewards. The ski resort of Gudauri, an hour from Tbilisi, is excellent and significantly less known internationally than the Alpine resorts. Tbilisi in winter has a particularly intimate local atmosphere, the sulphur bath districts of Abanotubani are at their most appealing and the absence of tourists gives the city back to itself.
DISCOVER GEORGIA’S REGIONS
From the layered streets of Tbilisi and the vine-covered valleys of Kakheti to the dramatic Caucasus peaks of Kazbegi and the remote medieval towers of Svaneti, each region of Georgia offers a completely distinct private journey.
TBILISI: WHERE EMPIRES LEAVE THEIR MARK
Tbilisi is one of the most visually distinctive capitals in Europe, a city of carved wooden balconies, sulphur bath domes, Orthodox churches sitting alongside Persian mosques and Soviet apartment blocks framing views of a medieval fortress on the cliff above. It has been conquered and rebuilt so many times across its fifteen-hundred-year history that every era has left a visible layer. The old town, Narikala fortress and the extraordinary mechanical clock tower of Rezo Gabriadze, whose puppet performs at noon and at seven in the evening, are the essential starting points. The natural wine bars of Vera and Vake are where the evening belongs.
KAKHETI: THE OLDEST WINE REGION ON EARTH
Kakheti in eastern Georgia is where wine was born, with archaeological evidence placing the earliest production here at around 6000 BCE. The region's vineyards, planted with indigenous varieties like Rkatsiteli and Saperavi that exist nowhere else in the world, produce wines in the ancient qvevri method, fermenting in clay vessels buried in the earth, that have a character entirely unlike anything made by conventional winemaking. A private journey through Kakheti combining family cellars, a supra lunch with a winemaking family and the great monastery of Alaverdi, which has been producing wine for the church for fifteen centuries, is one of the most complete cultural and sensory experiences in the Caucasus.
KAZBEGI AND THE GREATER CAUCASUS
The drive north from Tbilisi along the Georgian Military Highway rises through dramatic gorges to the high plateau of Kazbegi, where the fourteenth-century Gergeti Trinity Church sits at 2,170 metres with the five-thousand-metre peak of Mount Kazbek behind it. A private helicopter flight over the Caucasus between Tbilisi and Kakheti reveals a scale of landscape that the road cannot convey and transforms the journey between city and wine country into one of the most spectacular experiences Georgia offers.
Signature Experiences in GEORGIA
Georgia rewards those who go beyond the obvious. From a supra feast led by a tamada in a Kakheti farmhouse and a private harvest in the world's oldest wine region to a helicopter flight over the Caucasus and a night in a Soviet-era building transformed into something extraordinary, these are the moments we build every Georgia journey around.
THE SUPRA: GEORGIA'S FEAST TRADITION
A traditional Georgian feast is not dinner. Led by a tamada who guides the table through a minimum of sixteen ceremonial toasts, a supra combines extraordinary food, natural wine from the qvevri and polyphonic singing that begins when the mood is right. A private supra with a Georgian family in Kakheti, in a farmhouse where this tradition has been observed for generations, is the single most important experience Georgia offers.
THE OLDEST WINE IN THE WORLD: QVEVRI TASTING IN KAKHETI
Georgia has been making wine for eight thousand years, longer than anywhere else on earth. A private visit to a family winery in the Alazani Valley, tasting amber wines fermented in clay vessels buried in the earth using a method unchanged since the Neolithic period, is one of the most genuinely distinctive wine experiences available in Europe. In autumn, participating in the harvest makes that connection entirely physical.
CAVE CITIES: UPLISTSIKHE AND THE ANCIENT PLAINS
Uplistsikhe is a city carved directly into a sandstone cliff above the Mtkvari River, occupied continuously from the early Iron Age to the medieval period. Its halls, wine cellars, theatre and church were cut from the living rock by hand. Less visited than Mtskheta and significantly more extraordinary, it deserves half a day with a guide who can explain three thousand years of continuous habitation.
HIKING KAZBEGI AND THE CAUCASUS PEAKS
A private guided hike from Kazbegi village to the Gergeti Trinity Church at 2,170 metres, with the Caucasus peaks rising above five thousand metres behind it, is one of the finest mountain walks in Europe. The combination of medieval Georgian architecture and the scale of the surrounding range creates a landscape that is genuinely unlike anything in the Alps or the Pyrenees.
STAY IN A SOVIET-ERA BUILDING
Georgia's Soviet architectural heritage, the brutalist sanatoriums, collective guesthouses and mountain resorts of the Soviet period, is being transformed by a generation of Georgian designers into some of the most characterful places to stay in the Caucasus. Choosing to sleep in one of these buildings is a way of inhabiting a chapter of Georgian history that shaped everything about the country that exists today.
THE MONASTERIES OF THE MOUNTAIN
Georgia's Orthodox monasteries, perched on cliff edges and set into mountain gorges at altitudes that make their construction almost incomprehensible, are among the most dramatically situated religious buildings in the world. A private visit to Jvari, David Gareja or Alaverdi with a guide who understands the Georgian Orthodox tradition and the extraordinary continuity of faith that has kept these places alive for fifteen centuries gives them a depth that arriving alone cannot.
THE CHRONICLES OF GEORGIA
The Chronicles of Georgia monument on the outskirts of Tbilisi, sixteen stone monoliths rising thirty-five metres from a hilltop carved with scenes from Georgian history and mythology, is one of the most extraordinary and most undervisited monuments in the Caucasus. The scale overwhelms on arrival and the views across the Tbilisi Sea reservoir in the late afternoon light are exceptional.
POLYPHONIC SINGING: GEORGIA'S LIVING UNESCO TRADITION
Georgian polyphonic singing, three independent vocal lines combining into harmonies that exist nowhere else in the European musical tradition, is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world and a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. A private evening with a Georgian choir in a wine cellar in Kakheti or a courtyard in old Tbilisi, where the singing builds into something that feels less like a performance and more like a force of nature, is one of the most unexpectedly moving experiences Georgia offers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Traveling to GEORGIA
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Spring and autumn are both exceptional. April to June offers mild temperatures, green landscapes and the best conditions for both city and mountain travel. September and October bring the Kakheti wine harvest, extraordinary autumn colour and the most atmospheric conditions in the wine region. Summer is ideal for mountain hiking in Kazbegi and Svaneti. Winter suits those drawn by skiing at Gudauri and the more intimate local atmosphere of Tbilisi.
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We recommend a minimum of eight days for a first Georgia journey combining Tbilisi, Kakheti and Kazbegi. Those wanting to add Svaneti, the cave cities of Uplistsikhe or an extension into Armenia should plan for ten to twelve days. Georgia is a compact country and the distances between regions are manageable, though the mountain roads require time rather than simply kilometres.
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A supra is the traditional Georgian feast and the most important cultural experience the country offers. Led by a tamada or toastmaster who guides the table through a minimum of sixteen ceremonial toasts, a supra combines extraordinary food, natural wine, polyphonic singing and hours of genuine hospitality that reveals the Georgian character more honestly than any other experience. We arrange private supras with Georgian families in both Tbilisi and Kakheti and consider it essential for any first visit.
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Georgia is the oldest wine-producing country on earth, with evidence of winemaking dating to around 6000 BCE. The traditional qvevri method, fermenting and ageing wine in clay vessels buried in the earth, produces amber and skin-contact wines of a character entirely unlike anything made by conventional European winemaking. Varieties like Rkatsiteli and Saperavi are indigenous to Georgia and exist nowhere else. A private wine tasting in Kakheti with a family winemaker is one of the most genuinely educational wine experiences available anywhere.
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Georgia is a very safe destination for international visitors. Tbilisi and the main tourist regions are well-established and the country has invested significantly in tourism infrastructure over the past decade. The areas covered on a private luxury itinerary, including Tbilisi, Kakheti and Kazbegi, are all straightforward for international visitors. As with any destination, a private guide and privately arranged transfers ensure the most comfortable and secure experience throughout.
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US and UK passport holders do not require a visa for stays of up to 365 days in Georgia, one of the most generous visa-free policies in the world. We always confirm the latest entry requirements for your specific passport before travel.
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Georgia pairs naturally with Armenia for a complete Caucasus journey, the two countries sharing ancient history, extraordinary food cultures and a fascinating relationship with the civilisations that have surrounded them. It also combines well with Turkey for those following the arc of ancient Anatolian and Caucasian civilisation, or with Uzbekistan for a broader journey through the old Silk Road world.
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Georgia is navigable independently and increasingly well set up for tourism. What a private guide adds is access to experiences that simply do not exist without genuine local knowledge. The family winery that does not receive visitors without an introduction. The supra arranged with a household where the tamada has been leading feasts for forty years. The monastery where the monk who speaks English and understands the full depth of the Orthodox tradition is available for a private conversation. Georgia's greatest depth is available only to those who arrive with the right person beside them.
Plan Your GEORGIA Journey
Georgia is a country that surprises almost everyone who visits it and stays with almost everyone who leaves. Tell us what draws you, whether it is the wine, the mountains, the ancient history, the extraordinary food tradition or simply the feeling of a destination that the rest of the world has not yet fully discovered, and we will design a journey that reflects exactly who you are and how you travel.