Georgia is easy to get to, although direct flights from anywhere are usually expensive. The cheapest way is to fly to Istanbul, then either fly or take the bus to Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. From there, the border is only about 4 hours away…it is easy to cross, especially now that EU citizens don’t need visas, and just over the border is Batumi, which is a really nice seaside town.

In georgia, you should definitely spend a few days in Tbilisi, the capital, which used to be known as the most beautiful city in the former Soviet Union. Just outside the capital is Mtskheta, an ancient town and former capital.

An easy trip into the mountains is along the Georgian Military Highway to Kazbegi, passing the lakeside church of Ananuri and the ski resort of Gudauri. Kazbegi has a tiny church on the top of a mountain with amazing views of Mt Kazbek and the town below.

Other mountainous areas are a bit more difficult to visit by public transport, but are more remote and more stunning…Tusheti, Khevsureti, Racha and the famous region called Svaneti.

Gori was where Stalin was born, and there is a strange museum dedicated to him there, something you should not miss. Another place worth visiting is the cave monastery of Vardzia in the south of Georgia, in a remote valley very close to the Turkish border.

The main towns all have hotels…Batumi and Tbilisi have everything from 5* hotels down to very cheap budget places, but elsewhere you won’t have much choice. Accommodation can seem quite expensive after Turkey, with basic places (often old Intourist hotels) charging US$20 or $30 for a dirty room…but as more travellers go to Georgia, things are improving. Homestays are also possible…you can arrange them beforehand through one of the travel agencies in Tbilisi, or in smaller towns where there is no hotel, you might be invited by someone you met on the bus! If you can get a guidebook, the Lonely Planet and Bradt guides both list a few homestays.

Getting around between the main towns is easy enough…I used marshrutkas, which are minibuses…they are a bit more expensive than buses, but more comfortable and quicker. If you can afford to, a 4WD with a driver would make travelling to the remoter regions a lot easier.

Hope this helps and have a great trip if you decide to go ;@P