I have heard a lot of stories from many people and friends that Georgia is a nice place to visit and since it is near Dubai-UAE, me and two of my closest friends decided to plan for a trip on June 14-17, 2024 – just in time for Eid Al Adha Holiday (a Feast of Sacrifice – part of Ramadan celebrated by our Muslim brothers & sisters). We need to book the tickets a few months before so it will be less expensive. Georgia is known for its cold weather during the winter months and for its snow covering Caucasian mountains that look so amazing in photos. We have a plan to visit this country during the snow season. However, when we are checking of other countries to visit on Ramadan Holiday, they were either expensive or required a visa. We decided to go to Georgia instead. A budget-friendly tour. I included our Georgia travel itinerary.
We’ve booked through WizAir because they offer less airfare than the other airlines. We chose a two-way ticket from Abu Dhabi to Kutaisi Airport as well because if we arrived at Tbilisi airport, its capital, it would be a few hundred bucks more expensive. A day before our flight, one of my colleagues who is a frequent traveler in Georgia told us that we need to have travel insurance. Else, they will not let us in. I immediately purchase our insurance online at American International Group (AIG). It is fast, easy and they have reasonable premiums. I even got 20% off upon availing it directly from their website.
Our flight going to Kutaisi was on June 14, 2024. Since our departure is from Abu Dhabi Airport, we took A2 bus – Abu Dhabi Airport A2. Their bus station is in IBN Batutta mall Jebel Ali, Dubai. It is very easily accessible. Transportation cost is AED 25.00 for one way and the journey was very convenient. It takes an hour or so to reach the destination. Airport buses operate 24×7 so no need to worry even if your flights will be very early or late in the evening. You just need to allocate and plan your trip wisely.
We arrived in Kutaisi airport at around 10:30pm. Visa is on arrival. Immigration in Georgia is fast so we’re able to get out of the airport a few minutes after we landed unlike in our previous trip in Armenia where we took hours to get visa. They just asked for our passport and emirates ID. I and my friends were joking around that we could’ve saved the money we’d spent on the travel insurance since they did not ask for it but of course, it would always better to have everything ready when you are traveling to avoid any hassle and stress.
We were a little bit tired after a 4-hour flight and we needed to have a good sleep and rest as much as possible to regain our energy for the next day’s tour in Kutaisi. However, we did not book or arrange our transportation ahead from the airport to our hostel, so we needed to take a taxi from there. We were searching online for where to book transport while we were sitting in the waiting area inside the airport. One old man approached us and offered us a ride for 90 dhs (80Lari). We haggled and he agreed to make it 70 dhs (60 lari). It took us around 20-25 minutes to reach our hostel. Our experience with the taxi driver wasn’t good. He tried to rip off money from us. I cannot say that all the drivers there were the same but if you’re planning to go to Kutaisi, especially when your arrival is in the late hours, it is wise to look and book transport prior to your travel. The least we wanted was to ruin our first day in a foreign country with unnecessary arguments with people we cannot even converse with.
We’ve booked through Booking.com for an affordable hostel room located in the city proper of Kutaisi. The room was nice and big but there’s no air-conditioning. The toilet and shower are in common area. The night’s weather was tolerable but the next day, we felt the heat even at 7 in the morning. We cannot complain because we know that comfort comes with a price, and we chose this for practical reasons since we only stayed there for a night.
We were starving so we decided to go out to look for restaurants. We found one ten minutes’ walk away from our hostel. We had a hard time ordering because the staff that night did not know how to talk in English not even a little. We had difficulty ordering food as well because the menu is written in Georgian alphabet. I will tell more about our food encounter in another post.
We’d already arranged our tour prior, so we’ve just contacted the driver for the next day’s trip. Our trip was limited, and so we only went to a few places we preferred since we had a bus to catch going to Tbilisi at 4:00pm that day.
Day 1 – Kutaisi Georgia Day Tour
| 9:00 AM | Pickup time |
| 9:30 AM | Drop by in exchange center to exchange local money |
| 10:00 AM | Starts travel going to Prometheus Cave |
| 12:00 NN | Arrival at Prometheus Cave |
| 12:15 PM | Cave tour starts |
| 1:00 PM | Cave tour finished then head out to Martivili Canyons |
| 2:00 PM | Arrived at Martivili Canyons |
| 2:30 PM | Canyon tour finished |
| 4:00 PM | Returned to Kutaisi and hopped on a public transportation Van going to Tbilisi |
| 8:00 PM | Arrived at Tbilisi terminal station |
| 9:00 PM | Arrived at the hostel |
We took taxi from the terminal station going our hostel in Tbilisi that night. We just freshen up then head out to have our late dinner and to have a night tour. City proper was busy as it is because there are lots of tourists and all restaurants are packed. Again, we were not so lucky to find good restaurant. Sadly, to say, we were so disappointed. We ended up eating cup noodles and egg from the supermarket. Our tour was booked the next day.
The route going to our tour destination was scenic and the natural landscapes such as mountains, river and valleys are picturesque. The weather was getting colder as we took our path going up to explore the northern part of Georgia. The breeze of the air relaxes the brain. Mountains were still covered with few snows in the month of June. We are lucky with our driver/tour guide because he is very helpful. He used to order food or talk to staff/people in any establishment when we need something because they are not English speakers. He used to bring us to other destinations that is not included in our tour package.
Day 2 – Kazbegi – Northern Part Georgia
| 9:00 AM | Pickup at the hostel |
| 10:00 AM | Arrived at Zhinvali Water Dam |
| 10:17 AM | Arrived at Ananuri Historical Fortress & Aragvi River |
| 12:30 PM | Arrived at Gudauri Friendship Monument |
| 1:30 PM | Arrived at Gudauri Mineral Spring |
| 2:30 PM | Arrived at Kazbegi Gergeti Trinity Church |
| 3:00 PM | Late lunch at Cozy Restaurant |
| 4:17 PM | Picture taking at Darial Gorge River |
| 4:46 PM | Arrived Dariali Monastery |
| 5:23 PM | Start trekking to Gveleti Big Waterfall |
| 5:51 PM | Reached Gveleti Big Waterfall |
| 6:20 PM | Trek going back to starting point of Big Waterfall |
| 10:17 PM | Day tour finished. Back to the hostel |
We purposely allocated our third day for a winery expedition since Georgia is well-known as a place of wines. Wineries are in the Extreme Eastern part of Georgia and because we need to go back to Kutaisi airport the in afternoon to catch our flight, we only had a half day tour. The funny thing is that the night before the tour, our travel agency asked us if we want free or exclusive winery tour. And because we are on a budget tour, we chose to have the free one and so all was set for the next day tour.
We arrived at KTW Winery, but people it is too crowded maybe because the tour and wine tasting are for free, flock of tourist went there directly. We tried to inquire but there’s no one to assist us. We were disappointed because we really wanted to experience the wine tasting and to see the vineyard. Our tour guide/driver told us that there is one winery nearby that is exclusively taking guest. We decided to go there so as not to waste our time, for a fee of course. We arrived at Giuaani Winery. However, the guests should need to have a scheduled appointment. We thought we will not be able to have the wine experience but then our tour guide/driver is to the rescue. He spoke to the winery and manage to get our slot. We need to wait for our turn because there’s only one person accommodating all the guests. While waiting, we tour around the place which happens to have hotel inside that caters tourist, too. The tour includes a short background history of winery, vineyard and wine factory tour and wine tasting that includes four different kinds of wine and their famous hard drink – Cha Cha.
We’ve enjoyed the tour, and we are amazed how wine is being made from farm to bottle. Their way of making wine is modernised. We left the winery a little bit tipsy because of the wine tasting. My friends tried Cha Cha but I cannot. Clearly that is for heavy drinkers only. We have the same hard drink in the Philippines called Lambanog and I can’t even taste it for once. Just the smell makes me already drunk.
After the winery, we head straight to the bus station to catch our 3:30pm schedule. Below is the itinery for our day 3 in Georgia.
Day 3 – Kakethi Winery – Eastern Part of Georgia
| 10:00 AM | Pickup Time |
| 10:56 AM | Arrived at KTW Winery |
| 11:27 AM | Arrived at Giuaani Winery |
| 12:30 PM | Winery Tour Starts |
| 1:30 PM | Winery Tour Finished. Heading back to Tbilisi |
| 3:30 PM | Arrived at Tbilisi Bus Station |
| 4:00 PM | Bus departs from Tbilisi |
| 7:04 PM | Arrived at Kutaisi Airport |
Overall, the scenery in Georgia is fascinating. The landscapes, mountains and the old structures are worth the visit.
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