Georgia Uncovered - Treasures of the Southern Caucasus
- Churches and monasteries dating from the sixth century and earlier.
- Exquisite jewellery and metalwork from the Bronze Age and Antiquity.
- Spectacular mountain landscapes.
- A delicious and varied regional cuisine in a land that is the cradle of wine.
Georgia is a country that evokes many mythical and historical associations and yet, paradoxically, is little known in the West. This is partly geopolitical circumstance. For centuries Georgia was cut off from Europe, first by the Islamic caliphate and the Ottoman Turks, and then by Imperial Russia and the USSR. Opportunities for travel there were few.
Set on the borders of Europe and Asia, a Christian country surrounded by Muslim neighbours, it is an heir to the civilisations of both continents, and at the same time preserves its own language and a rich cultural heritage that is peculiar to the South Caucasus.
An ancient land, its past, like that of neighbouring Armenia, is deeply intertwined with the history of the empires and civilisations that surround it. Georgia appears in the stories of the earliest peoples of the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia. It is linked closely with the Iranian empires to the southeast. They fought the Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans to the west for hegemony in this borderland. The Georgian kings called in aid from the nomads to the north, or laboured to bar the mountain passes to them: Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Huns, Khazars, Turks, Mongols and Timurids – and finally their geographical heirs, the Russians. Even today, Russia, America, Turkey, Iran and the EU play a complex game in the South Caucasus, competing for political and economic influence in a region of vital oil wealth.
Georgia has frequently found itself in the vanguard of global history. The metal ages came early in the South Caucasus, and the exquisite archaeological finds displayed in the gold rooms of the Tbilisi Museum confirm the reputation of its ancient smiths. It adopted Christianity early in the fourth century ad; and its beautiful and unique alphabet was created in the early fifth century to help evangelize the people. Georgian and Armenian architects evolved a distinctive South Caucasian religious architecture in the sixth and seventh centuries, even as their churches fell out over Christological differences.
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Bagratid kings unified Georgia and built a multi-ethnic empire that extended from the Caspian to the Black Sea, and from the Armenian highlands to the North Caucasus. It was demolished by the Mongols and Timurids and the country was again divided into a series of fractious principalities, preyed on by Ottoman Turks, Safavid Persians and Lezgi raiders from the north Caucasus.
Georgians greeted the Russians as their Christian saviours on their first arrival at the end of the eighteenth century, but soon fell out with their colonial masters. The Tsars’ viceroys brought European fashions to Tbilisi, remodelling the city with a European quarter to stand alongside the Asiatic Old Town. At the beginning of the oil age, English, international and local investors, including Rothschilds, Nobels, Gulbenkians and Mantashevs built fortunes investing heavily in the Transcaucasus to bring Baku’s oil to world markets. The Art Nouveau palaces of this first age of globalisation still adorn Tbilisi and Batumi.
In the same period, Stalin first impressed Lenin with his organising of the workers of Batumi, Tiflis and Baku and with the notorious Tiflis bank robbery of 1907. When war and the Bolsheviks brought the whole edifice crashing down, it was Stalin who built it up again at huge human cost. Nationalism and a longing for ‘freedom’ brought the end of the Soviet Union. It brought civil war too, economic collapse and stagnation, finally ended in 2003 by the first of the ‘colour revolutions’ and a new oil boom. Georgia’s new confidence is conspicuous, its promise great, its challenges evident.
Itinerary
Practicalities
Two sharing: £4,730 or £4,230 without flights. Single occupancy: £5,420 or £4,920 without flights.
Flights (standard class) with Turkish Airlines; travel by private air-conditioned coach; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts, 9 lunches and 9 dinners with wine, beer, water and coffee; all admissions to museums and sites visited with the group; all gratuities for restaurant staff and drivers; all state and airport taxes; the services of the lecturer, tour manager and local guides.
Marriott Tbilisi: a 5-star hotel behind a 19th-century façade that is within walking distance of Tbilisi’s central attractions. Rooms Hotel, Kazbegi: a former Soviet resort, now a modern hotel. It has spectacular views of the mountains. Best Western, Kutaisi: a new, 3-star, contemporary hotel in a good, central location. Radisson Blu, Batumi: a large hotel with good amenities and views of the Black Sea. Single rooms are doubles for sole use throughout.
You will be on your feet for long periods. Many of the sites are reached by steep, uneven steps sometimes without handrails. The tour would not be suitable for anyone who has difficulties with everyday walking and stairclimbing. There are some long coach journeys (average distance by coach per day: 53 miles).
Between 10 and 22 participants.
Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
Price, per person, of Georgia Uncovered and Sacred Armenia combined. Two sharing:
£8,960 or £8,110 without flights. Single occupancy: £10,140 or £9,290 without flights.
Included, in addition to the tours:
Flight (standard class) with Georgian Airways from Yerevan to Tbilisi on 13 September 2025; airport transfer; accommodation for two nights in Tbilisi from 13–15 September 2025; breakfasts; all state and airport taxes.
Testimonials
“Ian Colvin – marvellous! Friendly, easy to listen to, relaxed manner. Made me feel completely included, despite my total lack of knowledge.
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“A most interesting tour and a good introduction to a diverse and complex country that few in Britain or North America will know about. The mountain scenery and insights into the rural economy were intriguing, and the Chavchavadze House, the Stalin Museum, and the museums were fascinating.
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“Good variety of Orthodox churches, buildings, excavations and mountains. Covered a good expanse of the country.
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“Everything slotted into place, as if by (carefully worked out) magic. His (Ian's) enthusiasm for the history of Georgia was hugely infectious.
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“A lot of ground and sites covered in one week. Diverse and enjoyable itinerary.
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