14-Day Caucasus Tour: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia

The tour starts in Icherisheher, Baku's walled Old City and a UNESCO site, with its narrow lanes, the Maiden Tower rising above the rooftops, and the Shirvanshahs' Palace, the seat of the region's medieval rulers. From there you drive out to the Heydar Aliyev Center, a flowing white building by the architect Zaha Hadid that has become one of Baku's best-known modern landmarks, before returning to walk the newer part of the city — Fountains Square, the seafront Baku Boulevard along the Caspian, and the view up to the three glass Flame Towers that have come to define the skyline. The day ends with a dinner of Azerbaijani food in the Old City.

• Walk through Icherisheher (UNESCO World Heritage Site);
• Photo stop at the Maiden Tower;
• Visit the Shirvanshahs' Palace;
• Visit the Heydar Aliyev Center;
• Walk along Baku Boulevard;
• See the Flame Towers;
• Dinner in Baku;
• Overnight stay in Baku.

A day of the strange and the ancient south of the city. Gobustan National Park, a UNESCO site, holds thousands of rock carvings going back some 40,000 years, scratched onto a hillside of bare stone; nearby, a short 4WD ride out onto open ground brings you to the mud volcanoes, small cones that bubble and hiss with cold grey mud rather than lava. In the afternoon you visit Ateshgah, a walled fire temple built around a natural gas flame that has drawn Zoroastrian, Hindu and Sikh pilgrims for centuries, and Yanar Dag, a hillside where gas seeping from the rock has burned continuously for decades. Back to Baku for the night.

• Visit Gobustan National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site);
• See the mud volcanoes by 4WD;
• Visit the Ateshgah Fire Temple;
• See Yanar Dag, the burning hillside;
• Overnight stay in Baku.

West today, into the foothills of the Greater Caucasus. On the way you'll stop in Shamakhi, once the capital of a medieval khanate, for the Juma Mosque, before continuing to Sheki, a town of caravanserais and craftsmen tucked into the hills. In Sheki you visit the Khan's Palace, a small 18th-century summer residence with stained-glass windows and painted walls that took no nails to build, added to the UNESCO list in 2019, and the old stone caravanserai that once sheltered Silk Road traders — many now converted into hotels, including some where you may be staying tonight.

• Stop in Shamakhi and see the Juma Mosque;
• Visit the Sheki Khan's Palace (UNESCO World Heritage Site);
• Visit a Sheki caravanserai;
• Overnight stay in Sheki.

This morning you leave Azerbaijan, but not before a stop at Sheki Bazaar, a lively local market filled with fresh produce, spices, traditional sweets and everyday local life. From there it's a short drive from Sheki to the Balakan–Lagodekhi crossing, the main land border between Azerbaijan and Georgia in this part of the country. The crossing itself is on foot: you'll clear Azerbaijani exit control, walk through the neutral zone — a paved stretch of around 300 metres, entirely manageable with wheeled suitcases, though there's no porter service, so you carry your own bags — and then clear Georgian entry control on the other side. The whole process usually takes 30 to 60 minutes outside of peak holiday periods, longer at weekends. Your Georgian guide and driver will be waiting just past the checkpoint. From there you continue into Kakheti to a local winery for lunch and a tasting of the local wine, before settling into Telavi, the heart of the wine region, for the first of two nights.

• Visit Sheki Bazaar;
• Cross the Azerbaijan–Georgia border at Lagodekhi (on foot, about 300 metres, 30-60 minutes);
• Meet your Georgian guide and driver;
• Lunch and wine tasting at a local winery;
• Overnight stay in Telavi.

The day starts with a walk through Telavi — the old town, the giant 900-year-old plane tree, and the Batonistsikhe castle, the former royal residence of the kings of Kakheti. Then out to the Tsinandali estate, the 19th-century home and gardens of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze, before a stop at a local winery for lunch and a tasting, with the chance to get hands-on with a qvevri — the buried clay vessel Georgians have fermented wine in for millennia. Back to Telavi for the night.

• Walk through Telavi and see the 900-year-old plane tree;
• Visit Batonistsikhe Castle;
• Visit Tsinandali Estate;
• Lunch and wine tasting at a local winery;
• Overnight stay in Telavi.

You leave Telavi and drive to Sighnaghi, the small walled “City of Love” with its cobbled streets and long views over the Alazani valley, then on to Bodbe, a hilltop convent nearby and the burial place of St. Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia. From there it's a straightforward drive to Tbilisi for the evening.

• Visit Sighnaghi;
• Visit Bodbe Monastery;
• Drive to Tbilisi;
• Overnight stay in Tbilisi.

The tour starts at Holy Trinity Cathedral — Sameba — one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world, rising above the city. From there you'll visit the clifftop Metekhi church, perched above the river, then ride the cable car up to the Narikala fortress for the view over the whole of Tbilisi. Walking down from the fortress, you'll pass through Abanotubani, the district of brick-domed sulfur bathhouses the city was built on and named after, then wander the Old Town lanes to the leaning clock tower of the Rezo Gabriadze theatre. The day ends with a welcome dinner of Georgian food and local wine.

• Visit Holy Trinity Cathedral (Sameba);
• See Metekhi Church;
• Ride the cable car to Narikala Fortress;
• Walk through the Abanotubani sulfur bath district;
• See the Rezo Gabriadze Theatre clock tower;
• Walk across the Peace Bridge;
• Dinner and overnight stay in Tbilisi.

North today, up the old Georgian Military Highway into the Caucasus. First stop is Mtskheta, Georgia's spiritual heart — the great Svetitskhoveli cathedral in the town, and Jvari monastery on the hill above it, both UNESCO sites. Then a pause at Ananuri, a fortress standing over the turquoise Jinvali reservoir. Further up you'll stop where the black and white Aragvi rivers meet, their two colours running side by side before they blend into one, and again at the Gudauri Panorama for the wide view back down the valley. From there the road climbs to Kazbegi, a small town under the snows of Mount Kazbek where the air changes completely.

• Visit Jvari Monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site);
• Explore Mtskheta and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral;
• Stop at Ananuri Architectural Complex and enjoy views of Jinvali Reservoir;
• See the confluence of Black and White Aragvi rivers;
• Stop at Gudauri Panorama;
• Overnight stay in Kazbegi.

Your morning is the big one — up to Gergeti Trinity, the lone church at 2,170 metres with Mount Kazbek behind it, one of Georgia's great views and best in the early light. You then leave the mountains and head south, stopping at Uplistsikhe, a town carved into the rock that goes back to the Iron Age, its halls and tunnels still climbing the hillside, before continuing to Tbilisi for your last Georgian night.

• Visit Gergeti Trinity Church;
• Visit Uplistsikhe cave town;
• Drive to Tbilisi;
• Overnight stay in Tbilisi.

Your second border crossing, and a much quieter one. Your Georgian guide and driver take you south from Tbilisi to the Sadakhlo crossing, where you again cross on foot — a short, well-marked walk between checkpoints, usually quicker than Lagodekhi since less freight passes through here, typically 20 to 40 minutes in all. On the Armenian side, at Bagratashen, your new guide and driver are waiting. First stop is Haghpat, a 10th-century monastery on a green plateau in the Lori hills and one of Armenia's UNESCO sites. The road then climbs to Lake Sevan, a vast alpine lake at nearly 1,900 metres, where the Sevanavank monastery sits on a headland above the blue water. From there it's on to Yerevan for the first of three nights.

• Cross the Georgia–Armenia border at Sadakhlo–Bagratashen (on foot, about 20-40 minutes);
• Meet your Armenian guide and driver;
• Visit Haghpat Monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site);
• Stop at Lake Sevan;
• Visit Sevanavank Monastery;
• Overnight stay in Yerevan.

Today pairs Armenia's spiritual heart with its capital. You'll drive out to Echmiadzin, the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church, home to a cathedral founded in the 4th century — one of the oldest in the world and a UNESCO site — and stop at the ruins of Zvartnots, a 7th-century cathedral whose great ring of columns stands open to the sky, also on the UNESCO list. Back in Yerevan, the city tour takes in Republic Square, the Cascade with its view to Mount Ararat, the Opera House and the Matenadaran manuscript museum. The day ends with a dinner of Armenian food and local wine.

• Visit Echmiadzin Cathedral (UNESCO World Heritage Site);
• See the Zvartnots ruins;
• Yerevan city tour;
• Dinner at an Armenian restaurant;
• Overnight stay in Yerevan.

A full day to Armenia's three most famous sights. You start south at Khor Virap, a monastery set right below Mount Ararat with the finest views of the mountain in the country — the place where Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned before Armenia adopted Christianity. Then east to Garni, a 1st-century Greco-Roman temple standing above a river gorge — the only colonnaded pagan temple of its kind in the region — with a walk down to the Symphony of Stones, a wall of natural basalt columns in the canyon below. Nearby is Geghard, a UNESCO-listed monastery partly hewn straight into the rock. Back in Yerevan for your last night.

• Visit Khor Virap Monastery with views of Mount Ararat;
• Visit the Garni Temple;
• See the Symphony of Stones basalt columns;
• Visit Geghard Monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site);
• Overnight stay in Yerevan.

Check out of your hotel by 12:00 p.m. When it's time, we'll transfer you to Zvartnots International Airport for your departure.

• Hotel check-out by 12:00 p.m.;
• Transfer to Zvartnots International Airport;
• Departure.