Kakheti: See
1 David Gareja Monastery (70 km southeast of Tbilisi and probably best reach from there. Good for a 1/2 day stop when coming/going from/to Sighnaghi). A 6th-century cave monastery clinging onto a rocky hillside lying meters away from Azerbaijan, with beautiful frescos.
2 Alaverdi Monastery (Basilica of Alaverdi, St. George Cathedral) (Georgian: ალავერდი, ალავერდის მონასტერი, ალავერდის ტაძარი) (Near the village with the same name, 15 km northwest of Telavi. Marshrutkas depart roughly hourly from Alazari Avenue in Telavi for 1.3 lari and take ±30 minutes. To get back, wait in front in the cathedral for the next marshrutka.). Built in the 11th century by the order of King Kwirike III. (King of Kakheti), reaching 50 m into the sky, this is the second highest cathedral and third highest church in Georgia (after the Sameba cathedral and the Svetitskhoveli cathedral, respectively). Before it, another monastery was standing here, built during the 4th century by Ioseb Alaverdeli (Ioseb of Alaverdi). Free.
3 Tusheti National Park. A mysterious, remote region high in the mountains bordering Chechnya with ancient pagan and Christian monuments; to go here is to wander back in time hundreds of years. Famous for its historic towers.
4 Ikalto Monastery (7 km west of Telavi). A former academy and now monastery, it was founded by Zenon Iqaltoeli on in the 2nd half of the 6th century. Zenon Iqaltoeli was a Christian religious founder and one of so called 13 Assyrian fathers, also buried inside of the monastery. In the 12th century, the theologian Arsen Iqaltoeli, which studied at Mangana in Constantinople and worked together with Johannes Petrizi, founded the academy on the orders of King David. For centuries the academy was the cultural centre of Georgia, teaching theology, philosophy, astronomy, rhetoric, law and mathematics. The monastery was also used as a winery and a smithy. In 1616 the academy was destroyed by Shah Abbas I.In 1938 the grounds were examined, and the ruins of 59 buildings, several craft businesses and one pressing plant were found. Nowadays, the monastery contains three churches and the ruin of the academy. The main church, Chwtaeba (holy ghost), originates from the 8th century. …