Georgia
Country: Georgia
Highlights: Gastronomy ★★★, Art / Museums ★, Historical sites ★★★, Natural Beauty ★★★, Shopping ★; Sports/Adventure 0, Geographic extremes ★★, Glamour 0
When to go: Summer and mid-seasons.
Where to go: Tbilissi and the north (Causasus Mountains)
Downside: Poor roads away from Tblissi, lack of touristic structure and smoking permition in restaurants.
Our Experiences: Georgia is an amazing European nation that made us very well impressed. Due to it´s geographic isolation between the mountains, the country developed its unique language and alphabet, apart from any other existing in the world. Their culture and gastronomy are also very peculiar. We loved the Khachapuri ( kind of pizza ) and the delicate cheeses they make. Add to that that oldest wine making evidence was found here, some 30 km away from the capital making Georgia the cradle of wines! And they produce good and classy wines nowadays. The best part of the trip was to drive north through the Caucasus mountains range crossing small frozen in time villages, farms, cattle, lakes and ending up in Stepantsiminda to see the world´s most isolated church ( Gergeti ). It was built at the slopes of the Kazbegui Mountain in the 13th century on a hilltop at a height of 2170m. (Mt Kasbegi reaches 5,070m height, easily surpassing Mont Blanc in France, that is always wrongly taken as the highest in Europe)
Hotels we love and recommend: Marriott ( Tblissi )
