AZERBAIJAN-GEORGIA TRIP

6 nights/7 days

1^st day/ Arrival

Arrival in Baku
Meet the representative of local company at the airport
Transfer to hotel
Free time
Overnight

2^nd day/Baku city tour + Absheron

Breakfast
Departure to Baku city tour:
Upland park– Memorial Nagorny or Upper Park is located high above the coastal area of Baku.And you can have a wonderful view of the Bay of Baku with Primorsky Boulevard, the old town Icheri Sheher, the Maiden Tower and the Shirvanshakh’s Palace.
Survey of a medieval part of city “Icheri Sheher” (Inner City) –Old City or Inner City (Azerbaijani: İçərişəhər)^[2] is the historical core of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The Old City is the most ancient part of Baku,^[3] which is surrounded by walls were well protected. In 2007, the Old City had a population of about 3000 people.^[4] In December 2000, the Old City of Baku, including the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower, became the first location in Azerbaijan to be classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
- Visit to Miniatur book museum
- Juma mosque
- Walking at narrow and ancient streets old Inner city
- Shirvanshahlar Palace-The Palace of the Shirvanshahs (Azerbaijani: Şirvanşahlar Sarayı, Persian: کاخ شروان‌شاهان‎) is a 15th-century palace built by the Shirvanshahs and described by UNESCO as “one of the pearls of Azerbaijan’s architecture”. It is located in the Inner City of Baku,
Visit to Nizami street– central street of Baku
Fire temple -Ateshgah Ateshgah (from Persian: آتشگاه‎, Atashgāh, Azerbaijani: Atəşgah), often called the “Fire Temple of Baku” is a castle-like religious temple in Surakhani town (in Suraxanı raion)^[2], a suburb in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Based on Persian and Indian inscriptions, the temple was used as a Hindu, Sikh, and Zoroastrian place of worship. “Atash” (آتش) is the Persian word for fire.^[3] The pentagonal complex, which has a courtyard surrounded by cells for monks and a tetrapillar-altar in the middle, was built during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was abandoned in the late 19th century, probably due to the dwindling of the Indian population in the area.
Burning mountain- Yanar Dag (Azerbaijani: Yanar Dağ, meaning “burning mountain”) is a natural gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea near Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan (a country which itself is known as “the Land of Fire“). Flames jet into the air 3 metres (9.8 ft) from a thin, porous sandstone layer.
Back to hotel
Overnight in Baku

3^rd day/ Gabala Tour

Breakfast at hotel
Departure to Gabala city-Gabala is the ancient capital of Caucasian Albania. Archeological evidence indicates that the city functioned as the capital of Caucasian Albania as early as the 4th century BC.^[4] Up to the present time there are the ruins of the ancient city and the main gate of Caucasian Albania. Ongoing excavations near the village Chukhur show that Gabala from 4th – 3rd centuries BC and up to the 18th century was one of the main cities with developed trade and crafts.
Arrival in Gabala/ check in the hotel and start the tour
Visit to Cable car of Gabala-ride in a cable car to watch the nature and enjoy active rest in summer.There is more than 5-kilometer walking distance in the rope lines and 4 stations (points to stop). These are the L2 Riverside station with the height of 956m-1660m, the L4 Gabala cable car track with the height of 1251-1660m, the L5 Duruca cable car track with the height of 1251-1410m, and the L6 Sleeping Beauty cable car track with the height of 1410-1920 meters
Nohurlake-Eye-catching Lake Nohur with the magnificent view to Caucasus Mountains, fresh air and water is one of the most picturesque places of Gabala.
Back to Baku
Transfer to railway station
Transfer to Tblisi by train ( 9.50 pm – 10.30 am)

4^th day/ Transfer + Tblisi tour

Arrival to Tblisi at 10.30 am
Transfer to hotel
Free time
Tblisi city tour
Rustaveli Avenue – Rustaveli Avenue (Georgian: რუსთაველის გამზირი, Rust’avelis Gamziri), formerly known as Golovin Street, is the central avenue in Tbilisinamed after the medieval Georgian poet, Shota Rustaveli.

The avenue starts at Freedom Square and extends for about 1.5 km in length, before it turns into an extension of Kostava Street. Rustaveli is often considered the main thoroughfare of Tbilisi due to a large number of governmental, public, cultural, and business buildings that are located along or near the avenue. The former Parliament of Georgia building, the Georgian National Opera Theater, the Rustaveli State Academic Theater, the Georgian Academy of Sciences, Kashveti Church, the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts, Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia (part of the Georgian National Museum), and Biltmore Hotel Tbilisi among others, are all located on Rustaveli.

Freedom Square – formerly known as Erivan (or Erivanskaya)or Pashkevich-ErivanskayaSquare (Georgian: ერევანსკი მოედანი, Erevansk’i moedani, Russian: Эриванская площадь, Erivanskaya ploshchad) under Imperial Russia and Lenin Square under the Soviet Union, is located in the center of Tbilisi at the eastern end of Rustaveli Avenue.

Abanotubani– (Georgian: აბანოთუბანი, literally “bath district”) is the ancient district of Tbilisi, Georgia, known for its sulphuric baths.

Located at the eastern bank of the Mtkvari River at the foot of Narikala fort across Metekhisubani, Abanotubani is an important historic part of the city: it is where according to a legend the King of Iberia, Vakhtang Gorgasali’s falcon fell, leading to a discovery of the hot springs and, subsequently, to founding of a new capital.

Waterfall- is located center of Tblisi
Akhundov House – Located in the basement of 19th century building, in the ancient Ortachala district, 200 metres from Meidan Square and famous Sulphur Baths. Since its opening is May 2013 the gallery is actively involved in the cultural life of the city. It constantly hosts art exhibitions and auctions presenting fine art canvases and small sculptures of celebrated artists – outstanding representatives of contemporary Georgian art.

Mtatsminda Park – Mtatsminda Park is a famous landscaped park located at the top of Mount Mtatsminda overlooking the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The park has carousels, water slides, a roller-coaster, funicular, and a big Ferris Wheel at the edge of the mountain, offering a splendid view over the city.

Old Town- Old Tbilisi (Georgian: ძველი თბილისი, dzveli t’bilisi) was an administrative district (raioni) in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, from 2007 to 2013. Although the term “Old Tbilisi” has long been used to denote a historical part of the city, it was only in 2007 that it became a distinct administrative entity to incorporate several historical neighborhoods formerly included in the districts of Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi, Isani-Samgori, and Didube-Chughureti. The district was abolished in 2013, with its territories allotted to several other divisions of the capital.

Park of Europe

Ropeway from Rike Park

Narikala fortress -(Georgian: ნარიყალა) is an ancient fortress overlooking Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and the Kura River. The fortress consists of two walled sections on a steep hill between the sulphur baths and the botanical gardens of Tbilisi. On the lower court there is the recently restored St Nicholas church. Newly built in 1996–1997, it replaces the original 13th-century church that was destroyed in a fire. The new church is of “prescribed cross” type, having doors on three sides.[ The internal part of the church is decorated with the frescos showing scenes both from the Bible and history of Georgia.-
Botanical garden – formerly the Tbilisi Botanical Garden (თბილისის ბოტანიკური ბაღი), is located in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, and lie in the Tsavkisis-Tskali Gorge on the southern foothills of the Sololaki Range (a spur of the Trialeti Range). It occupies the area of 161 hectares and possesses a collection of over 4,500 taxonomic groups.

Its history spans more than three centuries. It was first described, in 1671, by the French traveler Jean Chardin as royal gardens which might have been founded at least in 1625 and were variably referred to as “fortress gardens” or “Seidabad gardens” later in history. The gardens appear in the records by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1701) and on the Tbilisi map composed by Prince Vakhushti (1735). Pillaged in the Persian invasion of 1795, the garden was revived in the early 19th century and officially established as the Tiflis Botanical Garden in 1845.

Transfer to hotel
Overnight in Tblisi

5^th day/ Sighnaghi tour

Breakfast at hotel
Transfer to Sighnaghi city –located 109 km from Tblisi.

Bodbe monastery – The Monastery of St. Nino at Bodbe (Georgian: ბოდბის წმინდა ნინოს მონასტერი, bodbis ts’minda Ninos monasteri) is a Georgian Orthodox monastic complex and the seat of the Bishops of Bodbe located 2 km from the town of Sighnaghi, Kakheti, Georgia. Originally built in the 9th century, it has been significantly remodeled, especially in the 17th century. The monastery now functions as a nunnery and is one of the major pilgrimage sites in Georgia, due to its association with St. Nino, the 4th-century female evangelist of Georgians, whose relics are shrined there.

St. George temple- One of the landmarks in this picturesque village. No frescoes, but nice architecture. Closes at dawn.

St.Nino wellspring

Transfer to Tblisi city
Overnight in Tblisi

6^th day/ Kazbeki tour

Breakfast at hotel
Transfer to Kazbeki city –located 105 km from Tblisi.
Georgian military road– is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative routes across the mountains include the Ossetian Military Road and the Transkam

Kazbegi mountain– It is the third-highest peak in Georgia (after Mount Shkhara and Janga) and the seventh-highest summit in the Caucasus Mountains. Kazbek is also the second-highest volcanic summit in the Caucasus, after Mount Elbrus. The summit lies directly to the west of the town of Stepantsminda and is the most prominent geographic feature of the area. Mount Kazbek is the highest peak of Eastern Georgia. The name in Georgian, Mqinvartsveri, translates to “Glacier Peak” or “Freezing Cold Peak”.[6] The Vainakh name Bashlam translates as “Molten Mount”.

Gergeti church– Gergeti Trinity Church (Georgian: წმინდა სამება – Tsminda Sameba) is a popular name for Holy Trinity Church near the village of Gergeti in Georgia. The church is situated on the right bank of the river Chkheri (the left tributary of the river Terek), at an elevation of 2170 meters (7120 feet), under Mount Kazbegi.The Gergeti Trinity Church was built in the 14th century, and is the only cross-cupola church in Khevi province. The separate belltower dates from the same period as the church itself. Its isolated location on top of a steep mountain surrounded by the vastness of nature has made it a symbol for Georgia.

Transfer to Tblisi city
Overnight in Tblisi

7^th day/ Transfer

Breakfast at hotel
Transfer to Tblisi airport

Inclusions:

Hotel accommodation, BB included.

2 nights in Baku

3 night in Tblisi

Al transfers as per program private basis
All mentioned tours and excursions
English speaking guide
Train ticket from Baku to Tblisi (SW category)
Mentioned entrance tickets:

Miniatur book museum

Gabala Cable car half way

Fire temple

Burning mountain

Exclusions:

Visa
Meals( lunch and dinner)

Cost per person in DBL/ TWIN sharing room

Hotels	3 pax	7 pax	17 pax
4* hotel 2 n in Baku 3 n in Tblisi	499 $	415 $	375 $

SunTour Azerbaijan DMC

Azerbaijan-Georgia tour (6 nights 7 days)

Inclusions: