Dedoplistskaro
Kakheti's frontier town on the Shiraki plain — the gateway to Vashlovani, steppe landscapes and a quiet wine country.
- Time needed
- 2 h
- From Tbilisi
- 130 km · 2:15
- Road
- Paved
- Car needed
- Economy class
- Season
- All year
- Entry
- free
Dedoplistskaro is Georgia's own Wild West — a small town perched at 800 m on the edge of the Shiraki plain, where Kakheti's vineyards give way to steppe and desert-like badlands. The name means "Queen's Spring" and tradition ties it to Queen Tamar.
The settlement began as a military post under King David the Builder, the Russians built a fort here in 1803 and called it Tsarskie Kolodtsy, and in 1869 the Siemens brothers opened an oil refinery nearby — one of the earliest anywhere. The Soviet-era "Tsiteltskaro" got its old name back in 1991; today around 5,500 people live here.
For travellers the town is above all a launching pad:
- The Vashlovani Protected Areas visitor centre — where you register and plan your route
- Khornabuji fortress and the Eagle Gorge — each half an hour away
- The Shiraki plain — an endless sea of wheat, streaked with poppies in spring
Local cellars make honest country wine, and the market is provincial Kakheti at its most genuine — no tourists in sight.
Practical advice
If Vashlovani is the goal, call at the visitor centre first (Baratashvili Street) — registration is mandatory and you need your passport. It works daily except Monday; come in the morning. The town has a few family guesthouses and simple canteens; ATM and pharmacy are in the centre. Summer heat on the steppe tops 35°C, so carry water and a hat — spring and autumn are the ideal seasons.
How to get there from Tbilisi
From Tbilisi take the Kakheti highway (S5) through Sagarejo to Bakurtsikhe, turn towards Tsnori and then south to Dedoplistskaro — about 130 km, a little over two hours. The road is asphalt the whole way and quiet. Take on fuel in Tsnori — beyond the town, towards Vashlovani, there are no stations. An economy car is fine as far as the town itself; the deep tracks of Vashlovani need high clearance or a proper 4x4.
Click a marker for details. Coloured lines are ready-made road trips.
Nearby places
Vashlovani National Park
The driest and strangest corner of Georgia — semi-desert, clay badlands and pistachio woodland on the Azerbaijani border.
Khornabuji Fortress
A medieval fortress on a steep isolated rock near Dedoplistskaro, commanding the southern edge of the Alazani plain.
Artsivi (Eagle) Gorge
A protected limestone canyon of white pinnacles near Dedoplistskaro — one of Kakheti's premier birdwatching sites, with nesting griffon vultures and black storks.
Takhti-Tepha Mud Volcanoes
A field of small cold mud craters on a flat clay plateau in southern Vashlovani — one of Georgia's oddest landscapes.
Best car for this trip
Guides
- Driving in Georgia: What the Distances Actually Cost You Georgia is a small country with slow roads. Here is what 267 measured drives from Tbilisi say about how long y
Pickup locations
Car Rental at Tbilisi Airport — 99 km (straight line)