Journal
Articles about Telavi and Kakheti
Getting here, where to go, food, wine and when to visit.
Nothing matches that. Try a place or a word like “wine”.
Getting here
-
Hire car or driver in Kakheti — the honest arithmetic
What a car and a driver actually cost here, what the roads are really like, and the one number that decides it — Georgia's drink-drive limit is 0.03%.
-
Kakheti without a car — what actually runs from Telavi
The vans leave from three different places in Telavi and none of them is signposted. Where each one goes, what it costs, and what you cannot reach at all.
-
How to get from Tbilisi to Telavi
Marshrutka, taxi, Bolt or your own car — every way to cover the 85 km to Telavi, with real prices, real times and the truth about the Gombori pass.
Telavi
-
Things to Do in Telavi, Georgia: A Practical Guide
A straightforward guide to things to do in Telavi, Georgia. Find opening times for the palace, walking routes to the plane tree, and market details.
-
Where to stay in Telavi, Georgia: A practical guide
Planning a Kakheti stay? A practical guide to where to stay in Telavi, Georgia, including central streets, walkability, parking, and marshrutka stations.
-
Telavi or Sighnaghi — where to base yourself in Kakheti
Both are two hours from Tbilisi and an hour from each other. Which one you sleep in depends on whether you came for the wine or for the view.
-
Enough Georgian for three days
You will not learn Georgian. You can learn twelve words and read the alphabet in an afternoon, and here both go further than they would almost anywhere.
-
Two days in Telavi, planned properly
An hour-by-hour two-day itinerary for Telavi and Kakheti — the palace, the plane tree, the market, which cellars to do on which day, and what to skip.
-
The Telavi market, and what to actually buy
Go before ten, because the cheese comes in from the villages and then goes home. What is worth buying, how to tell good churchkhela, and what to ignore.
Kakheti
-
Gremi Fortress in Georgia: Visiting Kakheti's former capital
A practical guide to visiting Gremi Fortress in Georgia, including distances from Telavi, entrance fees, dress codes, and what to see in the museum.
-
The Georgia wine region Kakheti: A practical guide
A practical guide to the Georgia wine region Kakheti, covering winery tasting fees, transport costs, micro-zones, and where to base yourself.
-
Tsinandali Estate wine tasting and museum guide
A practical guide to visiting Tsinandali Estate in Georgia. Current entrance fees, wine tasting options, opening hours, and how to get there from Telavi.
-
Kakheti in winter, when nobody comes
January averages a high of about 4°C and the Caucasus is white across the valley. What is open, what is shut, and the three weeks of feasting in January.
-
Alaverdi, Ikalto, Nekresi — the churches around Telavi worth the drive
Six monasteries within an hour of Telavi — what each one is, how old it really is, what to wear, and which to drive to if you only have a morning.
-
Tusheti from Telavi — the Abano pass, honestly
The road to Omalo is 70 km, takes half a day, needs a 4x4 and is open about three months a year. What it costs, when it opens, and whether to go.
-
The best time to visit Kakheti, month by month
What Georgia's wine region is like month by month — temperatures, crowds, what is open, what is in season, and the two windows worth planning around.
-
Kakheti with children, which is easier than it looks
A Georgian restaurant will take your baby off you. That, the food, and 30-minute drives make this an easy region with children — apart from the car seats.
Wine
-
Kindzmarauli semi-sweet red wine: Georgia's famous PDO
Everything you need to know about Kindzmarauli semi-sweet red wine, from the Saperavi grape and the Kvareli micro-zone to visiting the Kakheti wineries.
-
Qvevri, and why the white wine here comes out orange
What a qvevri actually is, why Kakhetian white wine is amber, what it tastes like, and what to ask for in a cellar near Telavi.
-
Taking Georgian wine home — the limits, and what survives the flight
Georgia does not limit what you take out. Your own country does. The EU allows 4 litres, Great Britain 18, the US 1 — plus what to buy and how to pack it.
-
Inside a family marani — what happens, and whether you pay
No tasting, no spittoon — a full glass, a table and three hours. What a family cellar visit involves, what to bring, and how to leave without offending.
-
Wineries near Telavi that are actually worth the drive
Tsinandali, Shumi, Alaverdi and the family cellars nobody lists — which wineries near Telavi to visit, what they cost, and why not to drive yourself.
-
Rtveli — what the Georgian grape harvest actually involves
Mid-September to mid-October, all of Kakheti stops to pick grapes. What rtveli is, when it happens, what you do, and how to join one rather than watch.
Food
-
Telavi's best restaurants for Kakhetian food
A practical guide to the best restaurants in Telavi, from traditional mtsvadi to vegetarian options, including opening hours and where to book.
-
What to eat in Kakheti after the khachapuri
Mtsvadi grilled over vine cuttings, chakapuli in April, khashlama at every supra — the dishes this region actually cooks, and when each is in season.
-
The supra, the tamada, and how to survive being toasted
A Georgian feast has an elected toastmaster and a fixed order of toasts. What happens, what you will be asked to do, and how to be upright at the end.
-
A Georgian breakfast, explained
Khachapuri, shoti, mchadi, sulguni, churchkhela — what is on a Kakhetian breakfast table, what each one is, and why the bread matters more than you think.
Book
Check your dates
All bookings are made on Booking.com, which shows live availability and the price for your dates.
- Check-in
- 15:00 – 19:00
- Check-out
- 08:00 – 12:00
- Languages
- English, Georgian, Russian