Passengers on an EasyJet flight cheered, clapped, and chanted as police escorted two disruptive fellow fliers off the plane.
23.04.2024 - 21:03 / lonelyplanet.com / Art
Lonely Planet editor, Alex Butler, recently traveled to Georgia. Here, she shares some tips and insights for anyone planning a similar trip.
Like many places before it, my interest in Georgia was first piqued by sampling khachapuri – a perfect combination of cheese and bread – in a restaurant in my home of Dublin. Surely with flavors like that, only good things could await travelers in Georgia, so I put it on my must-visit list. And while I was lured in by the promise of delicious food, what I found when I arrived was a beautiful, exciting and most certainly underrated tourist destination that deserves consideration for your next adventure.
My main stop was in the wine region of Khaketi, where I stayed at Tsinandali Estate, a Radisson Collection Hotel and an essential piece of the country’s viticultural history. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of winemaking in Georgian history and culture. Grape cultivation dates back around 8000 years and it’s considered to be the birthplace of winemaking. The hotel is built on the former estate of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze (1786–1846), a Georgian noble deeply linked to the country’s wine production.
The historic way of making wine in Georgia is in a qvevri, a clay wine vessel situated under the ground — a method recognized as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. At Tsinandali, the well-traveled Prince introduced the European style of making and bottling wine to Georgia, making it the first place in the country where wine was bottled. Today, it’s still an operating winery with vintages created in both the traditional Georgian and European styles.
With expansive grounds to wander and beautiful Caucusus views, this is a hotel made for soaking up the surroundings. A short walk from the hotel is the Prince’s home-turned-museum, Chavchavadze Estate, where you can learn all about this colorful character. The hotel also leans in to the Georgian celebration of food, featuring multiple restaurants: the Prince Alexander, an all-day restaurant; the Library Bar; the Gaurmarjos wine bar; Natella, a Georgian restaurant, and more.
After a few days at Tsinandali, I headed to stay in the Radisson Blu in central Tbilisi to explore the capital.
If you’ve seen one photo of Georgia, it is likely to be of a beautiful monastery in front of lush mountains. In pursuit of that epic vista, I visited the stunning 11th-century Alaverdi Cathedral, which stands imposingly amid vineyards with a backdrop of the Caucasus.
The working monastery is rich with history and, naturally, also operates a winery. While the exterior of the building is quite imposing, the interior is surprisingly — but beautifully — sparse. While faded frescoes cover some walls, the small bits of light
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