Unforgettable Trip to Georgia - The tour exceeded expectations for me and my guests from various European countries. It is an unforgettable experience for each and one of us. The tour from day one to the end can only be described as very friendly, very professional, safe and worthwhile from financial point of view. Highly recommended!

Wonderful company, excellent guide and driver - We, a friend group of four, have just returned home after spending a week in Georgia in the lovely company of Tsotne and driver Jeorgi (if I misspelled, apologies). One of us had found Tsotne’s company on TripAdvisor; there were only glowing recommendations, so our choice was easily made. Tsotne never disappointed. We arrived in Tbilisi on Saturday evening after the flight from hell on Georgia airlines ( 1.5 hours delayed, no food offered, only water and a very grumpy flight crew). Tsotne drove us to our hotel (Radisson blu in Tbilisi. Very comfortable, spectacular pool on top floor, great bed and bathroom) and already gave us loads of info on Georgian politics and the buildings we passed. He also advised us on possible restaurants for the evening. We took his advice and had a most amazing dinner at Alubali (6, Giorgi Akhvlediani St). Great food, lovely service and amazing Georgian natural wine selection. After a blissful night sleep Tsotne came to pick us up with our very capable driver(and those are hard to come by in Georgia, believe me). Tsotne showed us around and took us up to Narikala fortress. We walked the way down, past waterfalls, the bathhouse and other beauties. After we were driven up to Mtatsminde for a lunch of adjaruli khachapuri, bread in the shape of an eye with cheese, a raw egg and butter in the middle. You are supposed to stir this all together and rip bread off the edge to dip in. This was accompanied by a tarragon lemonade which was so tasty!!! (and wine of course). Considering that at that point we found ourselves in a calorie coma, we took the funicular down and were dropped off at the hotel. A nap was very much needed. Feeling ready for more food and alcohol we took another one of Tsotne’s suggestions and headed to Zodiako (6 Gia Chanturia St), home of the best khinkali in Tbilisiand home brewed beer. They did not disappoint….. The next day we were picked up early by Tsotne and Jeorgi for the drive to Stepantsminda, Kazbegi. On the way Tsotne showed us beautiful sights like Jivaro monastery and Ananuri church and fortress, and told us all about the history of Georgia, whilst doing interviews for radio and television. Turns out he’s not only a great tour guide, but also a much sought after interviewee…we were traveling with a local celebrity:). Tsotne and Jeorgi dropped us af at the Rooms hotel in Kazbegi after a wonderful lunch at cafe Kazbegya (hotel Rooms is located in a perfect spot with views for days. We had rooms on the monastery side; makes for a very nice way to wake up and start your day). Needless to say enough wine was consumed, and Jeorgi let us taste his homemade chacha…I don’t remember much of the rest of the day…. The day after we made the hike up to Gergeti church. Very challenging, but definitely worth it. You can either climb up like a mountain goat, or take a road that goes there as well and is somewhat less challenging. While we were there it was closed off, which ensured we would make it up to the monastery alive. After the hike down we were in dire need of refreshments, so cafe Kazbegya it was again. Tsotne and Jeorgi picked us up the next morning and drove us to Kakheti, the Georgian wine region. It is quite the schlepp, but beautiful vistas,sights and several naps made it very doable. We had the pleasure of staying at Lopota resort; a gorgeous resort and spa situated around a man-made lake. Lots of pools, great spa with excellent massages and several restaurants on the property. There’s lots of stuff to do but we didn’t have much time, since wine was on the agenda. The other great thing about having Tsotne as a tour guide is that he knows his wines. He makes wine in the old way himself, and could tell us lots about how it is made, the different kinds and even sent us off with a bottle of his own good stuff (which our co-travelers immediately confiscated, but we hope will be consumed together…:)). We visited three places, winemaker Lagazi (who we nicknamed Buddha because of his beautiful way of looking at life and the world- and we loved looking at him). The second place was a friend of Tsotne who makes natural wine, but just for own use where the family served us an amazing Supra cooked on coal and wine clippings. The third visit was wine maker Okro. The latter built a tasting room and restaurant in the gorgeous town of Sighnaghi, with the most beautiful views. Another well-spent day. The next day we headed back to Tbilisi, for two more days of eating and drinking our way through the city. For our last day Tsotne had arranged for us to meet up with a Georgian lady named Katy. She hosts supra at her house, and we were lucky enough to be able to partake. We met her at the market, where we stocked up on the necessities for the typical Georgian meal. We then took off to a wine shop, which happened to be the one owned by John Wurdeman, who was there that day and is, of course, a friend of Tsotne. Guided by his expertise we picked up three amazing bottles of natural wine, one of which was from his own vineyard, Pheasant’s tears. Katie resided over the meal , serving as tamada (toast master), and all the while cooking us a beautiful meal and entertaining us with song and stories. This afternoon was the perfect way to end our week in Georgia. This week would not have been as amazing without our wonderful guide Tsotne and driver Jeorgi. Everything was effortless for us, the only reason we could see all that was planned is because they got us everywhere without a glitch, conserving our energy for what was important to experience, and evening out our path where that was best. The only point of improvement would be for Tsotne to have his shirts made so we can advertise his company here in the Netherlands….he is an absolute rock star!!!

AMAZING Wine and Food Tour in Tbilisi! Must do while in Tbilisi! - This tour was AMAZING! Well worth the cost! I will definitely do another tour with Tso! Tso is an excellent tour guide and took us to 5 locations around Tbilisi. I won't tell you the locations because you'll have to discover that on your own, but they were excellent restaurants all throughout Tbilisi. We ate the perfect amount of food at each location to keep us wanting more, but enough to curb our hunger throughout the day. We enjoyed our conversations so much that our tour lasted almost 9 hours! But if you are less engaged the tour can probably go as quickly as 6 hours. Our schedule: Tso picked us up in his Nissan Pathfinder at 1130am. He arrived probably 1110 and waited for us. We went to our first location to have some good soup to cure our hangover we did a pub crawl the night before and had a shot of chacha it's their version of moonshine or everclear. Tso offered a second shot of chacha but we declined. We spent about an hour there. The second location we were introduced to Georgian white wine and had some delicious smashed walnut appetizers and eggplant. We spent about an hour at this location. The third location was where we had the famous Georgian food Kachapuri and it was phenomenal. We also had some sort of licorice cream soda that apparently the locals love. It was alright but a neat drink to try. We also had red wine. The third location is located fairly far away, so between the meal and the transit to and from the third location, it was about 2.5 hours. The fourth location was at an old wine cellar where we had two bottles of wine no food and we purchased several local Georgian wines to take home. We spent about 1.5 hours here. The fifth location we had the famous Georgian food Khinkali. It was so good! We also had a few beers and a shot of chacha. We spent about an hour here. After the tour, Tso was kind enough to drive us back to our AirBnB so we could drop off the wines that we purchased at the fourth location and then he dropped us off at one of the casinos to finish up our night. It was an EXCEPTIONAL experience! Thank you so much for your tour, Tso!

If you want to learn about Georgia... - <p>If you want to learn about Georgia, its people, wine, food, history, culture, and make new friends along the way, this tour is for you! </p> <p>My daughter and I were fortunate to have the time to take this tour a few weeks ago in September, and to discover this beautiful Caucasian Country that not too many Americans get to visit. After seven days on this private tour, we got to know many interesting Georgians, and learned so much about their love for wine and wine making, their cuisine, heritage and politics. I have to say that before our arrival, I was a little worried about our safety - two American women traveling alone around the Country! But we were pleasantly surprised as how safe Georgia is! No corruption, no pick pocketing, no crime and they love their tourists! In all the time that we were there, we never once felt unsafe.</p> <p>The organizer, Tsotne, who took us around the beautiful city of Tbilisi and to a brandy factory on the first day of our visit and his colleague, Vaska, who was our main guide for the rest of the trip were extremely attentive, nice, friendly, knowledgeable and fun! Not to mention that they both have a very good taste in food which made our dining experiences even more memorable. </p> <p>Just like its mentioned in the itinerary, we toured several small to large scale wineries around the Country and got to taste a variety of Georgian wines and spirits made from locally grown grapes. Visited many historic churches, old monasteries, quaint towns, ancient ruins, while passing through beautiful landscape, lakes, villages and the Caucasus mountains. Walked through the amazing Prometheus Caves with breathtaking views of stalactites and stalagmites the boat ride in the underground river costs extra and not available when the river floods, wear old shoes as the place is very muddy. Since there were only two of us, we traveled in a nice air-conditioned Prius. The weather was hot, but not unbearable which made it easy to climb stairs/hills to visit some of the sites. </p> <p>Before our arrival to Georgia, we made a few changes and Tsotne was extremely accommodating to our needs. For starters, we had asked to stay in Tbilisi one day before starting the tour as we knew arriving in Tbilisi at 3 am and flying from California we needed time to rest and to adjust to the time difference. The driver, Yuri, also a very nice young man, picked us up at the airport on time and made sure that we were well taken care of at the hotel until the next day when the actual tour started. They also allowed us to stay in the hotels of our own choosing in Tbilisi with price adjustment we chose our own hotels so that we could be close to the places we wanted to go on our first day of arrival and the last day before leaving Tbilisi. </p> <p>After the tour was over, we stayed one additional day in Tblisi before leaving for Armenia which we also loved by the way!, and we went to the sulfur baths that Tsotne had recommended and booked for us, which was a very fun experience. Vaska also gave us a whole list of things we could do and gave us his cell phone number and told us to call him for any reason at all while in Tblisi - especially, if we got lost or needed any help. Thank you, Vasca! That was super nice of you!</p> <p>In summary, this was a trip that we thoroughly enjoyed and learned so much in the process. The guides were extremely gracious, knowledgeable and made sure that we were having fun. They introduced us to a variety of wine and wineries, cuisine, people and places in such a short time. Well definitely go back and take friends and families and when we do well definitely contact Tsotne and Vaska. So thank you Tsotne and Vaska for all your efforts, laughs and the fun memories!</p>