Guria: Georgia’s Secret Garden

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Guria is a small, cozy region with a big heart. Nestled in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus on the south side of the Rioni River, it’s a place that many people just drive through on their way to the seacoast resorts. It’s their loss – Guria is one of the friendliest and most charming parts of Georgia. Gurians are best known for their sharp sense of humor and yodeling folk songs, but they also take great pride in the particularities of their little corner of the country, and a stay at a Gurian house is sure to be full of generous and warm feelings.

From the Mountains to the Sea: Subtropical Gurian Paradise

Guria’s subtropical climate is ideal for growing fruits – from mandarins and guavas to unique varieties of grapes – and its cuisine has a healthy emphasis on vegetables. In the dry season, the peaceful Gurian villages are a lovely area for walking or cycling; the small medieval churches dotted around such as Shemokmedi, Jumati, Jikheti, or Askana make excellent objectives for a journey, while those in the know will escape the heat and humidity with childlike fun at the local rivers’ swimming holes. More ambitious adventures can be found in the forested foothills or the high mountains to the south: a ridge of the Lesser Caucasus divides Guria and Adjara, and once you get past the somewhat boring and overbuilt resorts of Bakhmaro and Gomismta, the rolling green peaks are another world. Summer villages of mountain herding families busily manufacture cheese amongst the endless wildflower fields and bushes of rhododendron and blueberry. Guria also produces some of the finest tea west of China. Besides blacks and greens of excellent quality, fermented mountain blueberry leaf tea is a flavor you will never forget.

Custom, Private Tours in Guria

Guria is a place very dear to my heart and I always love traveling there. Send me a message if you’re interested in exploring it with me!

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Man in a plaid shirt walks through dense Guria tea bushes toward distant snow-capped mountain peaks.

A large field of high quality tea in Naghomari village.

Rolling Guria mountains rise above a dense sea of low-hanging clouds under a pale sunset sky.A

In the Gurian highlands, a wanderer above the sea of cloud.

Wooden stake fence borders a grassy meadow leading to dense hillside forests under a bright, cloud-dappled sky.

A view from Tkhilagani village in the upper reaches of Chokhatauri municipality.

Futuristic circular building with a ribbed metal roof and brick base stands atop a grassy, sunlit hillside.

Guria is full of odd architectural relics of the Soviet days. This one was converted into a church by the local villagers.

Ancient stone Udabno church built directly into the base of a massive, moss-covered rocky cliff in Guria.

The sixth century cave church at Udabno Monastery near Chokhatauri.

Checkered pattern of tan and grey stone blocks forms the exterior wall of the Shemokmedi Monastery in Guria.

Shemokmedi monastery, a unique and beautiful church near Ozurgeti.

Shallow river flows past a pebbled bank towards a bridge beneath green Guria hills under heavy storm clouds.

The Supsa river. Guria is full of little waterways.

Traditional wooden Oda house in Guria features an elevated porch with decorative railings and dual outdoor staircases.

Traditional “oda” style wooden house.

Fern-covered slopes stretch toward hazy blue mountains under a heavy, overcast sky in Naruja.

An abandoned tea plantation underneath ferns in Naruja village