Caucasus Small Group Tour

The tour days were not strenuous nor too laid back. Meals supplied and on your own were well apportioned based on the tour day's activities. We had a good opportunity to try the local cuisines of the three countries visited which is important to me since I'm a foodie and the wine tastings were interesting as well.

We really didnt know much about this area which has a rich and long history. Everything was beautifully organized with excellent, comfortable hotels, all including breakfast; a number of lunches and a few special dinners too, a range of cultural, historical, geological and archeological places to visit and the occasional day off to relax and do things on our own. We really appreciated that! Excellent and varied local food. The itinerary was well thought out. Although we could have stayed longer and seen more, this 2 week tour hit the highlights. Some of those highlights: Baku Azerbaijan, our first stop, a modern city right on the Caspian Sea, the 3 Dubai-like flame towers with a light show every night, the stunning architecture of the Heydar Aliyev Center. Walking on the beautiful wide lively 100 year old Baku Boulevard along the Caspian, with many locals also enjoying the view, the vendors, the food, the artwork. It was really nice to stay right across the street from it, with a view of the Flame towers too. Riding in Ladas to walk around rare mud volcanoes - wow. Gobustan cave paintings. Georgia: wine tasting in caves, overnight at the luxurious Akhasheni wine resort, Tbilisi, visiting Gergeti Holy Trinity Church high in the Caucasus mountains (stunning!), the rock cut cave town Uplistsikhe, Unesco World Heritage site. Armenia: Views of Mt. Ararat from everywhere, in Yerevan the fabulous Cascades multilevel art gallery going up a steep hill via escalators or walking.

My reason for selecting the group tour organized by this local travel specialist was primarily the structuring of the itinerary, and the type of accomadation they provided.

I would warmly recommend the Caucasus as a trip for people interested in history, culture, beauty and food. We were especially impressed with Georgia, its natural sites, hospitality and culture. Tbilisi was charming, the visit to the wine resort was the cherry on the cake and the trip to the Kazbegi mountain, where we lucked out on an amazing sunny day, was exhilarating. We also tremendously enjoyed Baku, mostly as a centre for modern architecture, which was one of our main interests. Food was wonderful throughout and we were offered even more dinners and lunches than initially included in the itinerary. Our guides were very knowledgeable and personable.

An excellent tour with knowledgeable, multilingual guides through countries at the crossroads of Asia and Europe. A huge amount of interesting history, rich variable cultures and some astounding countryside and mountain scenery, especially near the Russian border in northern Georgia. We gained an appreciation of the cultural differences in the various area we visited in an entirely safe environment throughout. The buses were spacious and comfortable, the hotels well chosen and comfortable and the various excursions full of information and interest. I had been in contact with Yuriy at the local travel specialist for over a year prior to our trip and he went out of his way to answer queries, make arrangements, sort out visas and to follow up after the tour had finished. Our guide for Azerbaijan and Georgia, Anna, was superb and both she and Yuriy have become our friends. This one of the best tours we have ever been on, and we travel quite extensively internationally. I would recommend this tour to anybody with a desire to explore, gain knowledge and be charmed by a huge variety of memorable buildings old and new, scenery which is quite unique oftentimes and friendly locals of various religious and cultural persuasions.