Georgia in Autumn: The Sea, Wine Harvest, Mountains and Walkable Cities

Georgia in Autumn: The Velvet Season, Wine, Festivals and Cities Made for Walking

In some countries, autumn simply marks the end of the high season. Georgia is more interesting than that: over three months, it changes its mood several times. In September, Batumi is still a seaside city, while rtveli, the grape harvest, begins in Kakheti. October draws travellers away from the beaches towards wineries, cities and forest roads. By November, you may want fewer journeys and more time in Tbilisi: thermal baths, good food and long evenings with no schedule.

So perhaps the better question is: which Georgia would you like to see — the seaside, wine country, the mountains or the cities?

📍Batumi: When You’re Not Quite Ready to Let Summer Go

In September, Batumi still revolves around the sea. People swim at the beach, stroll along the boulevard until evening and linger on café terraces long after August has ended. There are fewer visitors, though, and you can finally see more of the city than your sun lounger.

Spend the morning by the sea and head to the Batumi Botanical Garden in the afternoon. The next day, travel into the mountains of Adjara. Within a few hours, palm trees give way to forests, gorges, small villages and a very different local cuisine.

• Autumn also brings cultural events. From 19 to 26 September 2026, the city hosts the Batumi International Art-House Film Festival — BIAFF. Independent films are screened beyond the cinema halls, with some festival activities taking place around the city and by the sea. The programme includes meetings with filmmakers, masterclasses and workshops.

A beach day followed by a film in the evening sounds like a good September plan.

• The Gandagana festival reveals another side of Adjara. Producers from its mountain districts bring cheese, wine, sweets, homemade dishes and crafts to Batumi. Music and cooking workshops are usually part of the programme. Check the exact 2026 dates closer to your trip.

📍Tbilisi: A City Best Explored on Foot in Autumn

In summer, the heat can set your schedule in Tbilisi: go out early, take a break during the hottest hours and return to the streets in the evening. In autumn, you can forget that routine.

Wander through Sololaki, turn into old courtyards, walk down to Abanotubani, then spend as long as you like in a café or wine bar. This is when Tbilisi is at its best: when everyday city life finds its way between the famous sights. There is plenty of it in late September.

• From 25 to 27 September, the Tbilisi Youth Art Market brings together works by young artists, an art market and conversations about the city’s contemporary creative scene.

• On 26 and 27 September, Expo Georgia hosts the Tbilisi Coffee Festival, featuring local and international roasters, cuppings, barista championships, workshops, a food court and DJ sets.

It is a reminder that today’s Tbilisi is about much more than balconies, khinkali and sulphur baths. The city is full of young creative projects, galleries, cafés, small markets and new approaches to Georgian food.

📍Kakheti: Step Into Wine Season

In Kakheti, you notice autumn less in the weather than in everything happening around you.

Rtveli, the grape harvest, begins in September. It is important to know that this is not a single festival with a fixed date. Grapes are picked when they are ripe, so harvest times can differ even between neighbouring wineries.

That is when the vineyards become more than a beautiful backdrop.

• At family-run maranis, you can join the harvest, see how the grapes are processed and learn how wine goes into a qvevri, a traditional clay vessel. Experiences often include making churchkhela, shoti bread or khinkali, too. It is better to spend half a day at one winery than to rush through five tastings in a day.

• If you would like a larger event, the Gurjaani Wine Festival takes place in October. Established producers and small family maranis come together for Kakhetian food, tastings and workshops. There is even tataroba, the making of churchkhela.

But Kakheti is worth visiting without a festival. Its most important autumn event happens in the vineyards themselves.

📍Kazbegi: Sometimes the Journey Matters as Much as the Destination

You leave Tbilisi on an ordinary city road. Then come the Zhinvali Reservoir, Ananuri and Gudauri, and the landscape gradually grows wider and more dramatic.

Kazbegi is not a place you want to tick off a list.

• Walk up to Gergeti Trinity Church. Wait to see whether Mount Kazbek emerges from the clouds. Explore the valley. Stay the night.

September is still a comfortable time to visit for walks and hikes. Later in the season, keep your plans flexible: autumn arrives in the mountains sooner than it does in Tbilisi, and the weather can change within hours.

Tusheti and the high mountain areas of Svaneti are best planned as separate trips in late autumn, when road conditions and the weather become especially important.

And Then You Can Simply Head Into the Forest

Autumn in Georgia is about more than vineyards.

📍Borjomi

After Tbilisi and Kakheti, Borjomi offers a welcome change of pace. Nearby, Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park has short walking routes as well as longer hikes. In autumn, the forest gradually turns yellow and russet.

• For somewhere further from the usual itinerary, consider Racha: mountains, forests, Lake Shaori, local wine and a much slower pace.

• There is also Lagodekhi, Sataplia, Kintrishi and the canyons of western Georgia. Here, it is best to work with the season: if the forecast changes, your route can change too.

Much of Georgia Happens Around the Table

You can carefully plan your museums and day trips. Then someone brings out warm bread, cheese and another dish, and your schedule slowly begins to lose its importance.

That happens especially easily in autumn.

Markets fill with grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, quinces and nuts. Fresh churchkhela is made. In Kakheti, food is inseparable from wine and rtveli. In Adjara, it is worth looking beyond the familiar khachapuri and trying dishes from the mountain districts.

Tbilisi offers another side of the food scene: small wine bars, contemporary Georgian cooking and places that give familiar recipes a new interpretation.

Sometimes one long lunch really is worth more than another excursion.

Missed the Festival? That’s All Right

In Georgia, it is easy to make a small occasion of your own.

• In Kakheti, make churchkhela, bake bread or take part in rtveli.
• In Tbilisi, try a ceramics workshop at White Studio.
• In Adjara, visit a local farm or travel to the Chvana Gorge to discover traditional cooking and crafts.

A few hours like these often stay with you longer than another must-see attraction.

When to Go?

• September is for a little of everything: the sea in Batumi, the start of rtveli, the mountains and city events.
• October is for Kakheti, food, autumn drives, Tbilisi and wine festivals.
• November suits a slower trip: Tbilisi, Borjomi, Tskaltubo, restaurants, baths and short outings without a long route across the country.

Perhaps that is the best thing about autumn in Georgia. You do not have to choose between the sea, wine, cities and mountains. But you do not need to fit them all into a single week, either.

Sometimes it is better to leave a free day in your itinerary.

In Georgia, you will have little trouble finding a way to spend it.

You can choose flights, a hotel or a tour to Georgia for the velvet season through EASYBOOKING, based on the dates and pace of travel that suit you.