One week in Georgia.....

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greenflamingo
greenflamingo

Hi

I am heading out to Georgia for a wedding in Tblisi at the end of October. We have managed to wangle a week in Georgia and are really keen to get out of the city for about 3/4 days, ideally to do some hiking/see some more rural parts of the country. We have heard that Sveneti is really beautiful but wonder if it is a bit far for that amount of time.... Is there anyone nearer to Tblisi that is comparable? Or should we just suck it up and deal with spending such a significant proportion of our week in a bus?

Thanks!

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andrewsmith
andrewsmith

Kazbegi or Khevsureti / Tusheti region are more easily accessible from Tbilisi.
Svaneti is doable, but as you say, you'd lose a lot of travel time and if you have a week only, the travel eats heavily into your trekking time. OTOH there are many things to see on the way to/from Svaneti, including the impressive monasteries around Kutaisi, the Stalin museum in Gori, old capital Mtskheta etc.

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Giora
Giora

For me, Svaneti is one of the most gorgeous places in the world, at least that I've been to, though with only 3-4 days it will be a little tricky to visit. The most time-consuming way to get there would be to take an overnight train from Tbilisi to Zugdidi, which should arrive first thing in the morning, and then take a minibus up to Mestia. Coming back, you could probably make Mestia-Tbilisi in one (very long) day; you might even find a direct Mestia-Tbilisi minibus, meaning you wouldn't have to change buses in Zugdidi. As #1 points out, if you have some spare time, there are many lovely places to visit along the main road back from Zugdidi to Tbilisi. Kazbegi, also up in the mountains, is only a few hours away from Tbilisi, but is much less impressive than Svaneti, at least in my opinion.

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nbill003
nbill003

As everyone mentioned, Svaneti is more beautiful but Kazbegi is more do-able, considering you're schedule.

You might also want to look into Borjomi National Park (they have 1-6 day hikes). They do close at the end of October though, so keep that in mind.

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