Caucasus cultural vacations

“Go with an open mind. Welcome the pride in the culture, towns, churches and heritage. These are amazing countries with a fascinating history...These small group vacations are made by and very dependent on the quality of the guides and the sharing of the travelers. We learnt so much.”

Yerevan was founded in the 8th century – not that you’d know it from the cosmopolitan atmosphere. The grassy Cascade is a meeting spot popular with locals and visitors alike, and other points of interest include the Blue Mosque, the opera house and the statue of Mother Russia. Straddling the Mtkvari River, Georgia’s Tbilisi is renowned for the vibrant colours and balconies of the houses in its cobbled old town. Then there is Azerbaijan’s desert fringed Baku, chaotic but fun, its architecture a heady brew of ancient and modern. Most Caucasus vacations will begin or finish in one of the capital cities, and it is well worth adding a few extra days to the end of a trip to explore further.

Often the best way to understand a country’s culture is through its food. Certainly it’s one of the most enjoyable. You might sip Armenian cognac in Yerevan, taste your way around Georgia’s famous Kakheti wine region, snack on the lavash flatbread which is eaten across the southern Caucasus. Some cultural vacations here also offer home cookery lessons with local families, a fantastic way to learn about the history of Caucasus cuisine as well as get an insight into people’s daily lives.

Tours that visit Yerevan will frequently take in the Armenian Genocide Museum, which shows the breadth and background of a diaspora that has spread Armenian culture around the world. Another fascinating site is Khndzoresk, an ancient cave village that was still inhabited right up to the 1950s. In Georgia, popular visits include the town of Gori, birthplace of Josef Stalin, and his summer dacha on the bank of Lake Ritsa, while the medieval towers of the Svaneti region are often included on walking tours. Lahic, in the Caucasus highlands, is a traditional Azerbaijani mountain community where life goes on much as it has done for centuries.

Tours typically last between two and three weeks, and encompass at least two countries, usually those in the southern Caucasus . You can expect to spend considerable time on the road traveling between destinations, but complaints are rare – the scenery outside the windows is so captivating that time flies.