The country of Georgia — wedged between the Greater Caucasus mountains, the Black Sea, Turkey, and Russia — should not be as good as it is. It is small, mountainous, and historically positioned at the collision point of empires. What those empires left behind is a culture of extraordinary richness: ancient churches carved into cliff faces, wine traditions older than anywhere in Europe, and a cuisine that has been quietly influencing its neighbours for millennia without receiving much credit for it.
Georgia is also, at the time of writing, remarkably uncrowded by the standards of comparable destinations. That will change. Go now.
What makes it special
The wine
Georgia is almost certainly the birthplace of wine — archaeological evidence dates winemaking here to at least 6000 BCE. The traditional method uses qvevri: large clay vessels buried underground, in which grapes ferment and age with their skins. The result — called amber wine in the west, skin-contact wine more generally — is unlike anything from France or Italy. It's worth trying even if you think you don't like wine.
The food
Georgian cuisine is generous, bread-heavy, and deeply flavoured. The khachapuri (cheese bread) varies by region — the Adjarian version arrives as a boat-shaped dough filled with molten cheese and a raw egg stirred in at the table. Khinkali (soup dumplings, eaten by hand, the juice drunk first) are a near-religious experience. A meal at a Georgian table rarely ends before midnight.
The mountains
The Svaneti region in the northwest is one of Europe's great undiscovered mountain destinations. Medieval defensive towers still dot the villages. The landscape is alpine and dramatic. The town of Mestia connects by a short flight from Tbilisi, and several multi-day trekking routes run from there into the high Caucasus.
Practical notes
Tip: Hire a driver for day trips outside Tbilisi. Roads to Kazbegi (the mountain town below Mt. Kazbek) and Kakheti (the wine region) are served by marshrutkas (minibuses), but a private driver is affordable and vastly more flexible.
Georgia is the kind of place that produces a specific reaction in most visitors: quiet amazement that they hadn't been told about it sooner. Now you have been told.