When to go to Georgia: a season-by-season breakdown
The short answer is September. The long answer depends on why you're going.
September and October: the best window
This is rtveli, the grape harvest. The whole region is in motion: vineyards being picked, wineries working, churchkhela being made in courtyards. The heat has broken, evenings are warm, the valley is gold.
One drawback: it's also the busiest season. Guesthouses in Sighnaghi go early and the well-known wineries will not be yours alone. Book a month ahead.
May and June: green and empty
Everything is in flower, the grass is waist-high, there are noticeably fewer people. Better than autumn for walking and photographs. Worse for wine: the cellars work, but the vineyard is only growing and there's no harvest in the air.
In May there's still snow on the high passes, so Kazbegi and Tusheti are uncertain.
July and August: hot
The valley can reach 38°C. Midday is hard work, and a tasting in that heat becomes an endurance test. On the other hand everything involving water comes into its own — pools, rivers — and the mountains, fifteen hundred metres up, are noticeably cooler.
If you come in summer, build the day around it: active morning, shade or water from noon to five, out again in the evening.
November to March: quiet and cheap
The wine is already in the qvevri, there are almost no tourists, prices drop. Kakheti in winter is restrained, but the maranis are open and you'll be received as an honoured guest — possibly because you're the only guest that week.
Mountain roads close, Tusheti is unreachable. It is, however, ski season: Gudauri, Bakuriani.
Month by month
- March–April. Unpredictable: could be twenty degrees, could be a week of rain.
- May–June. Green, comfortable, few people.
- July–August. Hot in the valley, good in the mountains and by water.
- September–October. Harvest, the best light, the most people.
- November–February. Quiet, cheap, mountain roads shut.
Month by month
- March–April. Tbilisi in blossom, snow still in the mountains. Cheap, uncrowded, weather unreliable.
- May–June. The best window for the lowlands and Kakheti: green, low twenties, everything open.
- July–August. Above thirty in Tbilisi. But this is mountain season — Kazbegi, Svaneti, Tusheti.
- September–October. Rtveli, the harvest. For many people the month of the year.
- November–February. Quiet, grey, cheap. Cellars work, ski resorts work.
The heat, and living with it
Tbilisi in summer is a bowl of stone that releases heat until midnight. That's not a reason to stay away, it's a reason to rearrange the day: sightseeing until noon, a long lunch and shade from one to five, back out at six. That is simply how the city lives.
Kakheti's heat is drier and easier, and a cellar is fifteen degrees whatever the date. In the mountains August means twenty by day and possibly five at night.
The mountains run on a different calendar
The road to Tusheti is open roughly June to September, and that isn't bureaucracy, it's the state of the pass. Svaneti has a longer season. Kazbegi is reachable all year, though the Jvari Pass closes for a few days after heavy snow.
So "when should I come" is really two questions. For wine, city and table, most of the year works. For mountains, it is summer and early autumn — and you should plan a day or two of slack.
Season and cost
The expensive weeks are late September and early October, when good weather and the harvest coincide. The cheapest are November through February, New Year aside. Accommodation can differ by a factor of two between them.
If budget matters more than weather, the sensible compromise is late April or early November: prices have dropped and the rain hasn't settled in.
FAQ
When is it cheapest?
November to March, excluding New Year. Accommodation can be half the price.
Best month for photographs?
Late September and the first half of October: golden valley, soft light.
Is Kakheti worth it in winter?
Yes. Cold and quiet, but the main wineries work all year.
Come and see it yourself
Small groups, our own driver, wineries we know. Next departures are on the home page.
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