Katskhi Pillar and Chiatura Tour from Tbilisi: Explore Offbeat Monasteries and Soviet Era Cable Cars

Embark on a unique one-day tour from Tbilisi to discover the hidden gems of Katskhi Pillar and Chiatura. Marvel at the breathtaking views from the monastery atop a 40m high hill and experience the solitude of this sacred place. Immerse yourself in the Soviet era as you explore Chiatura and ride the iconic cable cars of the past.

Duration: 12 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Friendly.ge - Hotel pick-up available for the private tours
What's Included
  • Hotel pick-up (only for private tours)
  • Local guide
  • Bottled water
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

If undiscovered locations attract you, consider this one-day journey to the Katskhi pillar and Chiatura from Tbilisi. Experience a 40m high hill-top monastery, home to Monk Maxime who has resided alone for 25 years. The impressive Katskhi pillar provides awe-inspiring panoramas, while you can enjoy the serenity of the area. Get a glimpse of Soviet…

Location
Europe Square
Group tours starts from parking at Europe Square, Tbilisi
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(12 Ratings)
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R4443uasallym
May 15, 2023
A great day out with an excellent guide. - We had an excellent day out. George, our guide, was fun, knowledgeable and kind and we would definitely recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Uwood4
Jul 18, 2022
Great area to explore! - The whole day was wonderful! We really enjoyed George showing us around the sights. The whole town of Chiatura should be a museum to the bygone days of mining.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rafste
Nov 15, 2021
Photography in soviet atmosphere - Just came back from the tour, both me and my girlfriend enjoyed it a lot. Our guide Aleksi was a great, explaining all the time, always answering our questions competent and very friendly. He was very flexible with photostops and adapted the itinerary for us - he spontaneously changed the route and we also stopped in Gori at the Stalin museum, where he even checked us a guided tour, which made it way more interesting as there a not a lot of written explanations in English. As we are into photography we enjoyed Chiatura a lot, offering different kind of interesting motives. The atmosphere of the city was very special, even more as it was a rather dark and cloudy day. Definitely worth a visit! Thank you Aleksi!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
616mirandar
Jul 1, 2021
Great trip! - We had a great day out with our tour guide Alexi. He showed us all the soviet areas we wanted to see and then a surprise trip to some extra places. He was a great host! Very knowlegable. Thank you for a great day!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kelseygwalton
Jul 1, 2021
Great tour, even better tour guide - I took a private tour with Aleksi to the town of Chiatura, probably something not on many tourists’ itineraries. I am interested in former Soviet architecture and some of these well preserved towns. Aleksi was full of passion and kept the entire day fun, as we talked both to and from Chiatura (about 3 hours each way from Tbilisi). He was so informative about each stop and I learned an incredible amount about the town and several monasteries we stopped at nearby. We also had some extra time and he drove out of his way to take me to the Stalin Museum in Gori, as well as drop me off into the middle of Old Tbilisi rather than my original pickup point. I would highly recommend this tour and cannot stress enough how great or a guide and person Aleksi is!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chowdhuryislam
May 20, 2021
3 Day Tour - I have 3 days Randomly Selected package that Includes Airport Pick up and Drop off. It was great to know your driver via picture and car info through WhatsApp for pick up from the airport in Advance. Alaksis and katuna were both awesome entertainer through out whole trip. They truly made every trip memorable with lots of history and information. They really went extra mile with services. I will recommend this company to everyone I know. Thank You Alex, Alksis and katuna for making this trip memorable. Hope to see you Again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nutan
Nov 6, 2019
History revisited - I love history and my guide Alexi made sure i got the maximum out of this one day tour to Georgian Chernobyl. The cable cars and the trains were lovely to see and Alexi made sure we get maximum out by taking me to places which are not known yet worth visiting. If you are lover of history then take this trip and get the best out of it. Also, ask Alexi to take you to his fav restaurant and try the eggplant with walnut.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kennethhu
Oct 14, 2019
Very interesting place and tour - My friend and I really had good time visiting this isolated small town. Although it's a pity that we couldn't take the cable car, but we have joined the concert instead. The tour is very interesting, and I definitely recommend everyone to try it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Armor-reisen
Jun 21, 2019
The best sight in Georgia - Georgia offers a lot of monasteries and churches but this tour is really special and can't be seen anywhere in the world. Old and rusty Russian cable cars still operated by some "old" ladies where else is this reality? The tour operator did a great job. They arrived on time and during the full tour never gave us a feeling that time was an issue. We could stop wherever we wanted, we could ride as many cablecars as we liked. We had a nice picknick together and I enjoyed this tour the most from all we have seen in Georgia. The service was good, the explanations were knowledgable and we had good fun together. Thanks for this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Raphael_c
Aug 9, 2022
Off the beaten path tour of Georgia, interesting to see some really local parts of the country - We enjoyed the tour of Chiatura and its region. This is a much more local part of Georgia and quite different from the other more popular tours. We got the chance to see a monastery where the locals really go and no tourists. The old Soviet cable cars were really interesting to see. I would recommend this tour to people who want to see more off the beaten paths places.
Review provided by Viator
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December 2024
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