Imereti: Caves and Canyons

Imereti is the limestone corner of Georgia, and limestone means caves, canyons and waterfalls. Kutaisi, the country's second city, is the perfect base for all of it: nothing on this route is more than an hour's drive from the centre. Three days is the honest minimum, because this density of natural and historical sights simply does not compress into one.

The first stop on the way west is Uplistsikhe, the rock-cut town near Gori where pagan sacrificial halls and Hellenistic chambers survive above the Mtkvari. In Kutaisi you get Bagrati Cathedral on its hill and one of the liveliest markets in the country, and just outside town stand Gelati, the UNESCO-listed academy founded by David the Builder with its great apse mosaic, and tiny Motsameta perched over a river bend. Day two goes underground: the stalactite halls and subterranean river of Prometheus Cave, then Sataplia with its fossilised dinosaur footprints and glass viewing platform. Day three is the Okatse canyon walkway, 700 metres of steel path bolted to the cliff, and the Kinchkha waterfall.

One warning: the approach to Okatse and Kinchkha turns to gravel after Gordi and does not forgive rain, so decent ground clearance genuinely matters here. The season runs May to October — the canyons often close in winter, while the caves stay open all year.