Georgia (Caucasus)

For Tbilisi, Kakheti and the lowlands, the May–June and September–October shoulders are ideal, with the "velvet season" of mid-September to mid-October the connoisseur’s pick — warm days, cool nights, and the Kakheti wine harvest (rtveli) in full swing. Midsummer Tbilisi is hot, and the Black Sea coast at Batumi is a summer resort scene.

The mountains run a tighter calendar. High Caucasus trekking — Svaneti, Kazbegi, Tusheti — works roughly late June to mid-October, and the 4x4 road to Tusheti over the Abano Pass is open only from about late May/June until mid-October before snow closes it for the winter. For skiing, Gudauri runs early December to mid-April. Pick lowlands or mountains, then the month that fits.

• you want to trek the High CaucasusSkipMay or anything after mid-OctoberGolate June to mid-October, when the passes are open
• you’re entering Georgia in 2026Skipassuming travel insurance is optionalGobuying health cover (min 30,000 GEL) for the whole stay before you arrive
• you want to reach TushetiSkipdriving the Abano Pass yourselfGohiring a local driver with a 4x4 — it’s seasonal and famously dangerous

Georgia’s policy is among the world’s most generous: citizens of around 90-plus countries — the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia and many more — can enter visa-free for up to 365 days, a full year, which is why it draws remote workers and long-stay travellers. There’s no visa sticker and no arrival card, just an entry stamp; check your own nationality on the official consular portal to be sure, and remember that remote work for a foreign employer sits in a legal grey area while local employment needs a permit.

The change to note is that from 1 January 2026 Georgia requires every incoming visitor to hold health-and-accident insurance covering the stay (Regulation No. 602) — a minimum of 30,000 GEL of cover, applying even to visa-free arrivals, where previously it was effectively optional. Buy a policy that covers the whole trip and confirm the current requirement before you travel. Given the mountain roads and remote trekking, cover is worth having regardless.

The insurance rule is new enough that enforcement and the fine print (exemptions, spot checks, exactly what counts as valid cover) are still settling. Don’t gamble on it being unenforced: a standard travel-medical policy that names at least 30,000 GEL / the full stay satisfies it, costs little, and is the sensible choice for a country of 4x4 passes and remote treks anyway.

The marshrutka — the shared minibus — is the backbone of intercity travel: cheap, frequent, and leaving when full. Modern Stadler trains handle the longer flat runs, linking Tbilisi with Batumi (a fast daytime service) and with Zugdidi, the gateway to Svaneti, from where you transfer up to Mestia by road (about four hours). In the cities, cards are fine; carry cash for the regions, marshrutkas and village guesthouses.

The caveat is the mountains. The Georgian Military Highway to Kazbegi is the main paved route north but closes for weather and landslides; the road to Tusheti over the Abano Pass (around 2,826 m) is 4x4-only, seasonal and frequently cited as one of the world’s most dangerous (an upgrade of the Pshaveli–Abano–Omalo route is in progress). For Tusheti, the Svaneti side-valleys and Kazbegi excursions, hiring a driver with a 4x4 is the standard choice — self-driving is possible but means aggressive local traffic, livestock on the road and rough tracks.

The High Caucasus is the reason many come. Upper Svaneti — a UNESCO World Heritage region reached via Zugdidi, with Mestia as its hub — preserves clusters of medieval stone defensive towers (koshki), and the Ushguli community is among the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. To the north-east, Kazbegi (Stepantsminda) is crowned by the Gergeti Trinity Church, standing alone on its ridge beneath the 5,047 m Mount Kazbek — the postcard of Georgia. Remoter still is Tusheti, its tower-villages reachable only over the seasonal Abano Pass.

Beyond the peaks, Gudauri is the country’s main ski resort on the Military Highway; Batumi is the brash Black Sea resort city with a modern skyline and a summer beach scene; and Kutaisi, the western hub and former capital, sits near the UNESCO-listed Gelati Monastery and the Prometheus Cave. Georgia has four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in all — Mtskheta’s monuments, Gelati, Upper Svaneti and the Colchic rainforests.

Tbilisi is one of the more atmospheric capitals in the region: a tumble of crooked old-town lanes, carved wooden balconies and leaning churches below the Narikala Fortress, with sleek new footbridges and glass domes stitched in alongside. Its signature is the Abanotubani sulfur baths (see the figure), but the pleasure is as much the wandering — the flea market under the Dry Bridge, the wine bars, the long cafés of Rustaveli.

One practical note for the capital specifically: the sustained protests covered below are centred on Rustaveli Avenue outside Parliament, after dark — so plan evening walks and dinners away from that stretch when demonstrations are on, and you’ll barely notice them. By day the avenue and the old town are entirely normal.

Georgia is the cradle of wine (see the figure), and the table is a reason to visit on its own. The headline dishes are khachapuri — cheese-filled bread, at its most extravagant in the Adjaruli boat of molten cheese crowned with butter and a raw egg — and khinkali, fat soup dumplings you grip by the knotted top (which you leave on the plate). Beyond them are hearty beans (lobio), walnut-stuffed aubergine (badrijani) and grilled meats.

The real experience is the supra, the Georgian feast, where a tamada (toastmaster) steers a long sequence of toasts over endless wine and the fierce grape spirit chacha. Accept that hospitality is taken seriously here: a guest is, in the proverb, a gift from God, and you will be fed and toasted well past the point you meant to stop.

For ordinary travel Georgia is very safe — crime is low, it sits at the lowest advisory tier (US Level 1 overall), and its hospitality is justly famous. The first hard caveat is geographic: the Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are a firm no-go — advisories rate them Level 4 do not travel, there’s a landmine risk near the administrative boundary lines, and you must never attempt to enter from Russia, which can lead to arrest.

The second is political. Tbilisi has seen sustained nightly anti-government protests since late November 2024 — sparked by the "foreign agents" law and the suspension of EU-accession talks — continuing into late 2026, centred on Rustaveli Avenue outside Parliament and heaviest after dark, with mass administrative detentions during October 2026. There is no state of emergency, and they rarely threaten tourists who keep away, but avoid all demonstrations — taking part can lead to questioning on exit or refused re-entry — and they can snarl central-Tbilisi traffic. This is a live, evolving situation: re-check the advisories close to travel.

The protest impact is narrow and predictable: the Rustaveli Avenue stretch by Parliament, in the evenings. It is not a city-wide disturbance and has not changed Georgia’s overall Level 1 rating. Book accommodation a little off Rustaveli, keep evening plans elsewhere in the old town or Vake/Vera, and the demonstrations stay something you read about rather than something that touches your trip.

Money is straightforward and still good value: the currency is the lari (GEL), costs are low by Western-European standards (though up roughly 30–40% over three years, so no longer dirt-cheap), and cards work in Tbilisi and Batumi while cash rules in the regions, at markets and on marshrutkas. ATMs are plentiful in cities; draw cash before heading into the mountains.

On language, Georgian (kartuli) is a Kartvelian tongue unrelated to its neighbours, written in its own beautiful rounded Mkhedruli script (the living Georgian alphabet is itself UNESCO-listed) — so signage can be opaque. In practice you’ll manage: English is increasingly understood in Tbilisi and Batumi tourism and among younger people, and Russian is still widely understood. The country calls itself Sakartvelo; "Georgia" is the exonym.

A money tip for the mountains: Svaneti, Tusheti and Kazbegi village guesthouses are largely cash-only, and ATMs thin out fast once you leave Mestia or Stepantsminda. Draw enough lari in Tbilisi, Kutaisi or Batumi before you head up, keep small notes for marshrutkas and guesthouses, and you won’t be caught short where the card readers stop.