Holiday Georgia

The scenery is beautiful and the infrastructure is interesting. As a tourist, though, watch out for scams and overpriced things.

I'm usually not keen on group tours, but this worked out well when renting a car wasn't possible and there was no other public transport. The minibuses hold 18 people each, and our guide was friendly, enthusiastic, and helpful.

The excursion itself wasn't interesting, and on the way back the driver left everyone far from the pickup point because of street closures. They were the annual Independence Day celebrations, which can hardly be called unplanned. The drive was the real problem. The minivan driver tried to pass cars uphill over a solid white line, even though an oncoming patrol car had to swerve onto the shoulder. The officer came back to ticket him, but even getting arrested three times over the next few kilometers didn't make him calm down. We repeatedly had to ask him to slow down and drive carefully, yet he still overtook on curves. We had seat belts on and still felt in danger. One star really means dangerous here. Avoid this company, there are many others to choose from.

We paid top dollar and requested a Mercedes minivan, but got an old van of some random brand with seats that wouldn't move. There was no water, and the driver either went 40 or drove recklessly when we asked him to speed up a little. A terrible experience, and a complete waste of money. Please don't use this agency.