PTG Tours · Escorted tour

Gorgeous Georgia and Armenia

An escorted rail-based holiday covering almost every operating piece of the Georgian Railway, plus a 4-night Armenia extension, visiting mountain monasteries, castles and the narrow-gauge Borjomi-Bakuriani line.

Day by day

  1. Day 1

    UK - Tbilisi (flight day)

    Indirect daytime flights from London Gatwick and other UK airports, or a direct BA overnight flight arriving Tbilisi the next morning (Sundays only).

  2. Day 2overnight: Tbilisi (3 nights)

    Arrival - Tbilisi

    Morning flight arrivals, transfer to Tbilisi hotel. Free day to recover from overnight flights.

  3. Day 3railovernight: Tbilisi

    Tbilisi

    Funicular railway up Mt. Mtatsminda for city views, time in the Old City, visit to Mushtaidi Garden for a preserved diesel train ride, optional evening train to Gardabani on the Azerbaijan border.

  4. Day 4railovernight: Tbilisi

    Tbilisi - Mtskheta

    Cable car to Narikala Fortress, transfer to Mtskheta to see Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and Javari Church, return by the tea-time train to Sadakhlo on the Armenian border.

  5. Day 5railovernight: Gori

    Tbilisi - Gori - Uplistsikhe

    Train to Gori to visit the Stalin Museum and War Museum, free time at the 17th-century citadel, afternoon visit to the 6th-century cave city of Uplistsikhe. Optional evening train along the Nikozi branch.

  6. Day 6railovernight: Borjomi

    Gori - Borjomi - Bakuriani

    Slow train to Borjomi, transfer to the narrow-gauge mountain train to Bakuriani, crossing the Eiffel Bridge and Daba station; follow by road back down the mountain.

  7. Day 7rail

    Akhaltsikhe - Vardzia

    Special charter train along the Mtkvari river valley on a normally freight-only line to Akhaltsikhe to visit Rabati Castle, continuing upstream to the Cave City of Vardzia and Khertvisi Fortress.

  8. Day 8railovernight: Tskaltubo (2 nights)

    Sachkhere - Kutaisi - Tskaltubo

    Train from Sachkhere via Zestafoni and Rioni to Kutaisi, Georgia's second city, then a branch train to the spa town of Tskaltubo.

  9. Day 9railovernight: Tskaltubo

    Kutaisi - Tkibuli - Gelati

    Charter train on the scenic branch line to the old coal-mining town of Tkibuli, then visits to Gelati and Motsameta monasteries and Kutaisi's Cathedral and Citadel.

  10. Day 10railovernight: Zugdidi

    Kutaisi - Poti - Zugdidi

    Free time in Kutaisi, cable car ride, then a fast train via Rioni to the seaport of Poti before transferring to Zugdidi on the border with Abkhazia; late afternoon visit to the Dadiani Palace.

  11. Day 11railovernight: Batumi (2 nights)

    Zugdidi - Samtredia - Batumi

    Train from Zugdidi via Samtredia Junction, then an afternoon train along the coast via the Ozurgeti branch to the resort of Batumi.

  12. Day 12overnight: Batumi

    Batumi - Khulo

    Inland mountain road journey to Khulo, lunch, optional cable car over the valley to Tago, return to Batumi for a seafront promenade and a cable-car ride to Anuria Hill.

  13. Day 13railovernight: Tbilisi

    Batumi - Tbilisi

    Fast Stadler train (first class, 5 hours) from Batumi to Tbilisi, late lunch, visit to the Folklore Centre, farewell dinner.

  14. Day 14

    Tbilisi - UK (or continue to Armenia)

    Free time before an afternoon transfer to the airport for the flight home, or begin the optional Armenia add-on.

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