Self-Launched Caucasus: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia (20 Days)

Land at Heydar Aliyev International (GYD), take the Aero Express bus to the 28 May metro hub (~£1) or a bolt/uber (~£8). Check into a hostel in the Old City/İçərişəhər area. In the late afternoon self-walk the walled Old City: Maiden Tower (entry ~£3), Shirvanshahs' Palace (~£3), the Caravanserai courtyards and the souvenir market square. Finish with a stroll down Nizami Street and Fountain Square, then Istiglaliyyat Street for the belle-époque facades.

🚌Aero Express bus GYD airport to 28 May (~£1)

🛏Old City hostel dorm, ~£10-14/night

• →Self-guided Old City walk
• →Maiden Tower
• →Shirvanshahs' Palace
• →Nizami Street & Fountain Square

Join a small-group or shared day tour to Gobustan (bookable via GetYourGuide or Klook, ~£28-35 pp) covering the Petroglyph Museum, the UNESCO rock carvings and the bubbling mud volcanoes (the last stretch is often by Lada taxi — included). Back in Baku, walk Martyrs' Lane for views over the bay and visit the Zaha Hadid-designed Heydar Aliyev Center (free exterior, small fee for exhibitions). Eat at a cheap lokanta near Fountain Square (plov, dushbara, ~£6).

🚌Shared tour minibus (~£30 pp incl. entries)

🛏Old City hostel dorm, ~£10-14/night

• →Gobustan Petroglyph Museum & reserve
• →Mud volcanoes
• →Martyrs' Lane
• →Heydar Aliyev Center

Take an early marshrutka or shared taxi from Baku's International Bus Terminal to Shamakhi (~3h, £4-6). Stop at the Diri Baba Mausoleum in Maraza and the Juma Mosque. Continue to Sheki by marshrutka (~3h, ~£4). Check into a family guesthouse, then wander the cobbled medieval core, the Khan's Palace (under restoration — check locally) and the sweet shops for Sheki halva.

🚌Marshrutka Baku-Shamakhi £5 + Shamakhi-Sheki £4

🛏Sheki family guesthouse, ~£14/night

• →Diri Baba Mausoleum
• →Juma Mosque Shamakhi
• →Yeddi Gumbez Mausoleum
• →Sheki old town walk

Morning visit to the Albanian church in Kish village (short taxi from Sheki, ~£5). Then take a shared taxi to the Balakan/Postbina or Lagodekhi border (best arranged through your guesthouse, ~£12-15) and cross on foot into Georgia. From the border, shared taxis/marshrutkas run to Telavi (~£4). Settle into a guesthouse and do a self-booked wine tasting at Khareba's Kvareli tunnel cellar (~£8-12, book direct) or a smaller family winery in Telavi for less.

🚌Shared taxi to border £14 + shared taxi to Telavi £4

🛏Telavi guesthouse, ~£16/night

• →Kish Albanian church
• →Azerbaijan-Georgia border crossing
• →Kakheti wine tasting

Rent a bike or take a local taxi to Tsinandali Estate and museum (~£4 entry). Continue by marshrutka to Sighnaghi for the pastel old town and walkable defensive walls, then a short taxi to Bodbe Convent. In the late afternoon catch a marshrutka from Sighnaghi to Tbilisi (~2h, £4). Check into a hostel in Sololaki or Old Town.

🚌Shared taxis locally £8 + marshrutka Sighnaghi-Tbilisi £4

🛏Tbilisi hostel dorm, ~£10/night

• →Tsinandali Estate & museum
• →Sighnaghi old town & walls
• →Bodbe Convent

Self-guided loop: Metekhi Church, the cable car up to Narikala Fortress (~£1), the Mother Georgia statue, then down through the Abanotubani sulfur bath district. Book a private sulfur bath room at Bathhouse No. 5 (~£10-15 for a small room). See Sioni Cathedral, Anchiskhati Basilica, the Rezo Gabriadze clock tower and cross the Bridge of Peace into Rike Park. Dinner at a traditional Georgian restaurant in the Old Town with a folk music set (~£12-15).

🚌Walking + metro (£3 day)

🛏Tbilisi hostel dorm, ~£10/night

• →Narikala cable car & fortress
• →Abanotubani sulfur baths
• →Sioni Cathedral
• →Gabriadze clock tower
• →Bridge of Peace & Rike Park

Join a shared minivan tour or take the marshrutka from Didube station to Kazbegi (Stepantsminda, ~3h, £5). Ask the driver to pause at the Zhinvali Reservoir viewpoint, Ananuri fortress and the mineral springs. In Kazbegi, hike or take a 4x4 taxi (~£8 shared) up to Gergeti Trinity Church beneath Mt Kazbek. Stay in a Stepantsminda guesthouse.

🚌Marshrutka Didube-Kazbegi £5 + 4x4 up to Gergeti £4

🛏Kazbegi guesthouse, ~£16/night

• →Ananuri Complex
• →Georgian Military Highway
• →Mineral spring stop
• →Gergeti Trinity Church hike

Return to Tbilisi by marshrutka (£5), then hop a local bus to Mtskheta (£1). Walk up to Jvari church for the classic river-confluence view, then Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. Return to Tbilisi for the evening; use it to book onward Marshrutka/train tickets for Kutaisi.

🚌Marshrutka £5 + local buses £3

🛏Tbilisi hostel dorm, ~£10/night

• →Jvari church
• →Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
• →Mtskheta old town

Take the morning Georgian Railways train to Kutaisi (~5h, £4-6 in second class) or a marshrutka (£7). In Kutaisi visit Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery (marshrutka/taxi, ~£6). In the afternoon take a local bus/taxi to Prometheus Cave (~£14 entry with a 20-min boat ride) — check the hourly entry slots on arrival. Evening wander the Kutaisi market.

🚌Train Tbilisi-Kutaisi £5 + local transport £6

🛏Kutaisi hostel/guesthouse, ~£12/night

• →Bagrati Cathedral
• →Gelati Monastery
• →Prometheus Cave
• →Kutaisi local market

Take the morning marshrutka to Mestia (~4.5h on the winding Zugdidi road, £8) — reserve a seat the day before. Check into a Svan family guesthouse and spend the afternoon exploring the village's stone tower-houses and Svaneti Museum (~£4). Book a shared 4x4 to Ushguli for tomorrow through your guesthouse.

🚌Marshrutka Kutaisi-Mestia £8

🛏Mestia Svan guesthouse, ~£16/night with breakfast

• →Marshrutka through the Enguri gorge
• →Svan tower-houses
• →Svaneti Museum

Shared 4x4 to Ushguli, Europe's highest continuously inhabited village and a UNESCO-listed architectural complex (~£30-40 pp shared, arranged at your guesthouse). Walk between the hamlets below Mt Shkhara, see Lamaria church and the towers, and take a rural lunch with a local family (~£8). Drive back to Mestia by late afternoon.

🚌Shared 4x4 ~£35 pp

🛏Mestia Svan guesthouse, ~£16/night

• →4x4 to Ushguli
• →Ushguli UNESCO complex
• →Mt Shkhara views
• →Svan family lunch

Early marshrutka back down to Zugdidi/Kutaisi (£8). From Kutaisi take a marshrutka or shared taxi to Martvili Canyon (1h, ~£4) and pay the entry plus boat ride (~£10) to glide through the turquoise gorge. Return to Kutaisi for the night.

🚌Marshrutka Mestia-Kutaisi £8 + local transport £8

🛏Kutaisi hostel/guesthouse, ~£12/night

• →Martvili Canyon boat ride

Long travel day: marshrutka/train from Kutaisi to Borjomi (£4), walk Borjomi Central Park and taste the mineral water straight from the spring (park entry ~£1). Continue to Akhaltsikhe for the restored Rabat Castle (free grounds, small museum fee). Then take a shared taxi to the Ninotsminda/Bavra border crossing (~£15-20) and onward shared taxi into Gyumri (~£8). Pre-arrange with your guesthouse — crossings after dark are slow.

🚌Marshrutka £4 + shared taxis £25

🛏Gyumri guesthouse, ~£13/night

• →Borjomi Central Park mineral springs
• →Rabat Castle
• →Border crossing into Armenia

Self-walk Gyumri's black-and-orange tuff old town: Rustaveli Street, the Vardanants Square churches and the Aslamazyan gallery (small fee). Take a taxi to the Armenian Alphabet Monument at Artik (~£8 round trip). Afternoon marshrutka or shared taxi to Yerevan (~2h, £4).

🚌Taxi £8 + shared taxi to Yerevan £4

🛏Yerevan hostel dorm, ~£10/night

• →Gyumri city walk
• →Rustaveli Street
• →Aslamazyan gallery
• →Armenian Alphabet Monument

Morning city walk: Mother Armenia statue and Victory Park, Matenadaran manuscript museum (~£2), the Cascade Complex with its free modern art, the Opera, then down Abovian Street to Northern Avenue and Republic Square. In the afternoon take marshrutka #203 or a taxi to Echmiadzin for the Cathedral and its treasury museum (UNESCO), plus nearby St Hripsime church. Book a sweets masterclass at Machanents Cultural Center in Echmiadzin (~£12) if you want the workshop experience.

🚌Marshrutka/taxi to Echmiadzin £4

🛏Yerevan hostel dorm, ~£10/night

• →Matenadaran Museum
• →Cascade Complex
• →Republic Square
• →Echmiadzin Cathedral
• →St Hripsime church
• →Armenian sweets masterclass

Take marshrutka #266 from Yerevan to Garni (~£1.50) and buy entry to the pagan temple and Roman bath complex (~£1.50). Hike or take a taxi (~£4) up the gorge to the UNESCO-listed Geghard cave monastery, cut into the rock. Return to Yerevan by marshrutka, or join a shared day tour (~£25) if you'd rather have a guide.

🚌Marshrutka #266 £3 + local taxi £4

🛏Yerevan hostel dorm, ~£10/night

• →Garni Pagan Temple
• →Garni gorge & Roman bath
• →Geghard Cave Monastery

Marshrutka/shared taxi to Khor Virap with the best Mt Ararat views in the country (~£5). Continue south to Yeghegnadzor (~£6), then a taxi to the dramatic Noravank monastery in its red-rock gorge (~£10 round trip). Evening Armenian BBQ and local Areni wine at a village gastro yard (~£12-15), with optional fruit-vodka tasting.

🚌Marshrutka/shared taxi £11 + local taxi £10

🛏Yeghegnadzor guesthouse, ~£13/night

• →Khor Virap Monastery
• →Noravank Monastery
• →Mt Ararat viewpoints
• →Armenian BBQ & wine dinner

Cross the Vardenyats Pass to see the 14th-century Selim Caravanserai (shared taxi from Yeghegnadzor, ~£10). Stop at Noratus cemetery with its field of khachkar cross-stones, and at a family cheese farm near Lake Sevan for a tasting (~£6). Continue to Dilijan and explore the Sharambeyan Street craft quarter and artisan shops. Overnight in a Dilijan guesthouse.

🚌Shared taxi £15

🛏Dilijan guesthouse, ~£14/night

• →Selim Caravanserai
• →Vardenyats Pass
• →Noratus khachkar cemetery
• →Family cheese tasting
• →Old Dilijan craft street

Morning at Lake Sevan and Sevanavank peninsula monastery. Book a short Armenian cooking class (a fish or tolma class with a local cook, ~£20-25 pp) and visit Levon's Cave near Areni/Mikoyan or the closer cave complex en route. Return to Yerevan by marshrutka (£3). Final evening on Saryan Street wine bars (~£12).

🚌Marshrutka £5

🛏Yerevan hostel dorm, ~£10/night

• →Sevanavank Monastery
• →Lake Sevan
• →Armenian cooking class
• →Levon's Cave

Final breakfast, a last wander round the Vernissage market for souvenirs, then marshrutka #201 or a taxi to Zvartnots International (EVN) — marshrutka ~£1, taxi ~£8. International flights not included in the estimate.

🚌Marshrutka/taxi to Zvartnots £3

🛏None (departure day)

• →Vernissage market
• →Departure from EVN