Our first trip to Georgia was in May 2021. The plan was to explore the capital and to do some small trips around Tbilisi. Even though we only stayed for couple of days, we managed to see a lot. We walked our shoes off in Tbilisi, drove to Gori, and explored the breathtaking Uplistsikhe cave city nearby. Lastly, we managed to squeeze in one day hike near Abudelauri lakes.

This was our first time in Georgia and we focused mostly on Tbilisi and did just 2 trips outside the city. One of them was Gori and the second one was a hike to Abudelauri lakes.

Tbilisi

We spent a wonderful couple of days in Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia. Tbilisi has a fascinating history and the historical spirit breath on you from most of the downtown buildings and especially from churches around the city. And where can you find the best view? On the top, of course.  Hence our first steps led us to Mtatsminda Park. The park lays on top of a huge hill. You can walk up the hill or you can use an electrical cabin going up and down. I would recommend taking the walk, as you can enjoy some nature and most importantly the views of the city beneath you. It takes around 40 minutes by foot to reach the top. We were surprised by a kids’ park full of roller coasters and stuff that are usually in luna parks and which we are not big fans of. So after snapping a couple of pictures on the top, we took the cabin down. The historical city center is by the Mtkvari River. It’s definitely worth spending some time there. It’s not unusual for restaurants to have Czech beer ?.

-> Here are our tips on where to eat and drink in Tbilisi

Gori

Gori is a small city around 2 hours far by train from Tbilisi. The train goes also through Mtskheta, which is very famous for its vineyards. I’m sure this is worth stopping by for all lovers of vine. However, the time did not allow us to visit it, and the train took us directly to Gori. We bought the tickets at tkt.ge – you might need to google translate a lot but in the end, you get tickets with a QR code and it works.

 

Gori is mostly famous because Stalin lived there. There is a museum in his honor and his house in front of the museum.

Uplistsikhe (Gori)

The Stalin museum is not the only thing interesting in Gori. 10 minutes by car, there is Uplistsikhe, which is an ancient rock-hewn town with buildings carved into stony mountains. It is one of the oldest settlements in Georgia. We paid the entrance fee and purchased a cassette with headphones that guided us through the site and uncovered most of the mysteries linked to each stone house or palace. It was stunning and we got to know a lot from the audio guide. We spent around 3 hours here and we could have had to spend even more if there was no driver waiting for us in the parking in front of the entrance. We took a driver from the train station in Gori who happily drove us to this site and waited for us to finish our sightseeing, for a fee of course.

Gori Fortress (Gori)

After visiting Uplistsikhe our exploration journey led us to Gori Fortress, which is a small fortress built on a hill in the city. There was no one else and we enjoyed a marvelous view of the city.

Abudelauri lakes

We had enough of city tours, hence we opted for a “small” hike to Abudelauri lakes. We chose this hike because its starting point was seemingly accessible by car and it was supposed to take us only a few hours. I said seemingly because our driver, we booked him with a car in advance (via gotrip.ge)to take us there since we did not know the location nor the road conditions, could not drive us there because of the road conditions. ?‍♀️ Huge 90-degree hill divided us from the village (Roshka), where we were supposed to start the hike. The driver, after some difficulties, found a different road going almost to the same spot. So instead of Roshka, we ended up almost in a river passing our road somewhere in a forest. The river was so deep that the car could not go further and we had to get out and start the hike from there.

Long story short, we did not find the path going to Roshka or the lakes so we decided to go on our own in a direction of the lakes. We did not find the lakes either. ? And after a couple of hours walking, climbing, fighting for a life in the steep hills and when we couldn’t go any further, since the mountain ended with a deep cliff, we gave up and turned to go back. On the way back we sent a drone to see what’s on the other side. And there it was – our starting point. Roshka was just on the other side of a 3k mountain. ☺ Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable hike full of amazing views and it got us wondering if not to come back one day and try some more. (we did)

Anyway, our driver was super nice and really wanted to get us to the finish line. Since he couldn’t achieve that and also his tire was flat after we came back from the hike, he apologized to us using google translator. He was so nice and sweet we could not be mad at him for a second and we happily paid him some extra when we arrived back at the hotel alive.

The trail is supposed to connect Juta village in the Kazbegi region with the Khevsureti. The Abudelavri lakes are located behind Chaukhi massif that has 7 peaks in the height of 3,338 m. There are 3 lakes, each having different colors – green, blue, white. The whole hike is supposed to be around 35 km. So maybe one day.