Stories from Georgia
Long-form writing on Tbilisi and the country beyond — Dezerter Bazaar at dawn, driving the Georgian Military Highway, dawn over Kazbek, and the practicalities of travel across eight regions.
More stories
The Orthodox calendar and your travel plans
Georgian hospitality: what a guest is expected to do
Georgia out of season: November and February
The Tbilisi neighbourhoods that changed fastest
Eight thousand years of wine, and what that claim really rests on
Staying in a Georgian guesthouse
How Georgians actually eat, meal by meal
The Georgian alphabet, and why there are three of them
Georgia is not Eastern Europe, and other geography arguments
Twelve mistakes first-timers make in Georgia
Kazbegi is crowded now. Here is how to work around it
Reading Tbilisi's balconies
Mountain safety in Georgia: rescue, weather and signal
Georgian tea is back, and it is good
Getting to Georgia cheaply, from Europe and beyond
The day-trip trap: when Georgia stops being fun
Solo female travel in Georgia: what readers report
The order of toasts at a supra
Photographing Soviet ruins: where the line is
Where Georgians go on holiday
Why September and October beat every other month
A supra vocabulary: twenty words that help
Photographing Georgia without the clichés
Which Georgian mountain range should you pick?
Surviving a supra: the morning after
Four marshrutkas in one day: a diary
A week in Georgia: the real receipts
Cafés in Tbilisi you can actually work from
A Tbilisi layover: what fits in 24 hours
Good to know about the Georgia blog
The blog is where Tbilisi Trip steps back from strict planning logistics and covers the questions that shape how a trip actually feels, written with the same honest, no-fluff approach as the rest of the site. Tbilisi pieces open the loop from ground level: a first supra in a courtyard off Sololaki, learning what a tamada's toasts actually mean rather than just raising a glass on cue, and an evening in Abanotubani's sulphur baths after a day of walking.
Practical honesty gets its own space: a piece on what nobody tells you about driving the Military Highway names the Jvari Pass closures and mountain-road nerves directly, and a companion piece explains why the shoulder months either side of summer are genuinely the better time to come, between the heat, the harvest and the mountain conditions. Kazbegi features repeatedly because it rewards different kinds of attention at different times: reaching the Gergeti Trinity Church at dawn before the day-trip cars arrive, and a separate piece on what the drive up from Tbilisi is actually like once the switchbacks start.
Food and culture make up a large share of the blog: a week spent working through khachapuri region by region rather than treating it as one dish, learning to fold khinkali from someone who grew up making them rather than a hotel demonstration kitchen, what a Georgian breakfast actually is once you get past the tourist version, and a piece on Georgian wine beyond the export labels that goes looking for what the small qvevri producers do differently. Two more remote travel-diary pieces widen the geography: the road to Ushguli as its own small ordeal and reward, and Tusheti's short open season, tracing what it takes to reach one of Europe's most isolated inhabited valleys.
Heritage gets a slower treatment than a straight guide allows: a piece on the churches that outlasted empires follows Svetitskhoveli and Jvari through centuries of invasion and Soviet suppression, inside Tskaltubo's abandoned sanatoriums sits with what's actually still standing rather than rushing past it, and the cable cars of Chiatura follows a Soviet-era transport network that locals still use daily. A day in Sighnaghi out of season and Batumi in winter both make the same point from different angles — that Georgia's quieter version, away from peak season and the biggest names, is often the more honest one.
The truth about Gudauri closes the loop on a single overexposed ski resort, covering what the brochures don't show about crowding, lift queues and the villages nearby that offer a calmer alternative. None of the blog content replaces the destination or guide pages — it's meant to be read for texture and reassurance before or during a trip, answering the softer questions a strict itinerary or logistics guide doesn't cover.
Frequently asked questions about the Georgia blog
Is driving the Georgian Military Highway really as difficult as people say?
The blog's honest take is that it's manageable once you know the specific traps — the Jvari Pass closures above all, plus narrow switchbacks and slower-moving trucks — rather than being difficult in general. Lower stretches near Tbilisi are usually straightforward; it's the high mountain section that catches people out.
Why do people say the shoulder seasons are the best time to visit Georgia?
Late spring and early autumn avoid both Tbilisi and Kakheti's peak summer heat and the mountain-road closures that build up through winter, while September and October add the rtveli wine harvest on top. The blog treats midsummer and deep winter as months to plan around rather than avoid outright.
Is Gudauri worth visiting given how commercialised it's become?
Yes, but the blog is upfront about the lift queues and crowding at peak ski season, and points to quieter villages nearby, including Kazbegi itself, for travellers who want the same mountain scenery with less infrastructure around it.
What's the best time to see the Gergeti Trinity Church at its quietest?
Dawn, before the day-trip cars and 4x4s arrive from Tbilisi, gives the clearest light and the quietest church grounds, according to the blog's own account of reaching it early. Kazbek's summit above the church still needs a licensed mountain guide and suitable conditions, whatever time you go.
What does the blog say about Georgia beyond the obvious sights?
It leans into the quieter version of well-known places — Sighnaghi out of season, Batumi in winter rather than peak summer — and into places that don't always make the guides, like Chiatura's working Soviet-era cable cars and Tusheti's short window of accessibility each year.