What Our Guests Say: Stories from GT Tours Travelers
Reviews and star ratings tell you one thing. Stories tell you everything.
When travelers come back from our 8-day Grand Highlights tour, they don't just say "it was great." They tell specific stories about the moments that changed how they thought about travel, about food, about wine, about hospitality. These are the things that stick.
Below are stories from our guests — the moments they couldn't stop talking about, the surprises they didn't see coming, and the reasons they say this was the best trip they've ever taken.
These stories come from real travelers on our 8-day Grand Highlights tour. Names have been changed for privacy, but the experiences are exactly as they happened. Want to create your own story? See our next available departure dates →.
"The Dinner That Changed How I Think About Travel"
Sarah & Tom — London, UK — October 2025
We've done guided tours before — a week in Morocco, a bus tour through Portugal. They were fine. You see the sights, you eat at the tourist restaurants, you come home with nice photos.
Georgia was different.
On Day 3, our guide brought us to a family guesthouse in Kakheti. Not a restaurant. Not a winery with a tasting room. An actual family's home, with a garden, a dog, and qvevri buried in the yard. The grandmother — Nino, who speaks maybe five words of English — had been cooking since 6 AM.
What she put on the table: khinkali she'd made by hand, a bean stew with herbs from the garden, fresh bread, three types of cheese, homemade wine from the qvevri, and a dessert I can only describe as love made edible.
Her grandson translated: "My grandmother says you are guests sent by God. In Georgia, a guest is a gift, not a customer."
Tom looked at me and mouthed: "This is what we've been missing."
The thing is — this wasn't a staged experience. This wasn't something the tour company paid the family to set up for tourists. This is just what Georgians do. And our guide, because he's from the region and knows these families, could bring us into it.
That dinner, in a house that doesn't appear on any map with a business listing, was the best meal of our entire year. Not the best meal in Georgia. The best meal of the entire year.
We've traveled to 30+ countries. Nothing has ever come close to that feeling.
"I Came for the Mountains. I Left for the Wine."
James — Sydney, Australia — September 2025
I'll be honest: I booked this tour because of the photos. Gergeti Trinity Church with Mount Kazbek behind it — that image sold me. I'm a landscape photographer. I came for the mountains.
What I didn't expect: I'd leave obsessed with Georgian wine.
On Day 4, we visited a family wine cellar near Sighnaghi. The winemaker, Giorgi, opened a qvevri that had been fermenting since the previous harvest. He pulled out amber wine — white wine made with the skins, seeds and stems, buried underground for months — and poured it into glasses.
I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the most complex wine I've ever tasted. It had flavors I couldn't name. My guide explained: "This is Kisi, made the way it's been made here for 8,000 years. You can't buy this in Australia. You can barely buy it in Tbilisi."
I bought six bottles. Then I went to another winery and bought six more. Then I found out my airline's luggage allowance and had to put some back.
Now I'm home in Sydney and I'm actively searching for importers of Georgian qvevri wine. I've spent more time researching Georgian wine in the two months since I got back than I spent researching the entire trip before I went.
The mountains were incredible, by the way. Kazbegi is genuinely one of the most dramatic landscapes I've photographed. But the wine? The wine is what I can't stop thinking about.
"My 68-Year-Old Mother Said It Was Her Best Trip Ever"
Maria — New York, US — May 2025
I brought my mum to Georgia for her birthday. She's 68, not particularly adventurous, and had never been anywhere she'd describe as "exotic." She was nervous about the food, the language, the mountain roads.
By Day 2, she was negotiating with vendors at the Dezerter Bazaar and asking our guide to translate so she could haggle over churchkhela.
By Day 4, she was doing wine tastings in Kakheti and telling the winemaker (through translation) that she preferred the amber wines to the European-style whites.
By Day 5, she was standing at the Gergeti Trinity Church at 2,170 meters, with Mount Kazbek behind her, saying: "I can't believe I'm here."
On the flight home, she said something I'll never forget: "I've spent my whole life going to the same places — France, Italy, Spain, the Caribbean. This is the first time I've been somewhere that made me feel like the world is still full of wonder."
She's already asking when we can go back.
The things that made this work for her:
- The pace was comfortable — not rushed, not exhausting
- The guide was attentive without being condescending — treated her like an adventurer, not an elderly tourist
- The food had something for everyone — even the most cautious eater found things they loved
- Having a local handle all the logistics meant she could just experience things, not worry about them
- The group was small enough (there were 10 of us) that she felt part of it, not lost in it
If you're thinking about bringing an older parent or grandparent: do it. They'll surprise you.
"I Traveled Solo and Left with Nine New Friends"
Aisha — Toronto, Canada — September 2025
I was nervous about traveling solo. Everyone says solo travel is great, but the reality of eating alone in restaurants and being the only person without a partner on a group tour is daunting.
The GT Tours group had 11 people. I was the only solo traveler. I was dreading being the odd one out.
By the end of Day 1, I was the one organising the after-dinner wine bar outings.
The group size — max 12 — is the secret. It's small enough that everyone actually talks to everyone. In a group of 30, you'd form cliques. With 11, you're one dinner away from knowing everyone's life story.
By Day 8, we'd exchanged numbers, made a WhatsApp group, and were already planning a reunion dinner in Toronto for everyone who can visit.
The solo traveler math works out too: there's no single supplement on this tour, which is rare. Most small group tours charge 20-50% extra for solo travelers. GT Tours doesn't, which made it significantly cheaper than the alternatives.
If you're nervous about solo travel: this is the perfect entry point. You get the safety and structure of a guided tour with the social experience of traveling with people who all chose the same road.
"We Almost Booked Intrepid Instead. Thank God We Didn't."
David & Claire — Munich, Germany — October 2025
We spent weeks comparing tours. Intrepid, G Adventures, a few local operators. We almost booked Intrepid because of the brand recognition — we'd done their Peru tour and loved it.
What tipped us to GT Tours: the locally owned thing. We realized that with Intrepid, we'd be paying a global corporation that subcontracts to a local partner. With GT Tours, our money goes directly to the Georgian team. And since GT Tours is run by the people who own GT Hotel in Tbilisi, there's no middleman at all.
The difference showed everywhere:
The guide. Our guide grew up in the regions we were visiting. He didn't just know the facts — he knew the people. He introduced us to his cousin's winery. He knew which grandmother at the market makes the best churchkhela. He spoke four languages and could negotiate prices in Georgian, Russian, English and German.
The accommodation. Instead of a rotating list of generic 3-star hotels, we stayed at family guesthouses where the hosts remembered our names from previous visits. And in Tbilisi, we stayed at GT Hotel — a boutique property that the tour company actually owns, not a hotel they've contracted.
The food. Every meal felt intentional. Not "here's the tourist restaurant on the itinerary" but "here's where my family eats when we visit this town."
We compared notes with a couple who'd done the Intrepid Georgia tour the month before. Their experience was good — but it felt like Intrepid. Our experience felt like Georgia.
If you're deciding between a global brand and a local operator: go local. The difference is everything.
"The Supra That Made Me Cry"
Michael — Chicago, US — September 2025
I'm a 42-year-old man who doesn't cry at much. But I cried at a Georgian feast.
On Day 6, after visiting Vardzia, our guide arranged a supra — a traditional Georgian feast — at a family home near the cave city. Not a restaurant supra. A real one, in someone's house, with a tamada (toastmaster) who led the toasts.
The tamada's name was Levan. He spoke no English. Our guide translated the toasts, but some of them didn't need translation.
The first toast: "To the road that brought us here." The second toast: "To the guests, who are gifts from God." The third toast: "To the ones we've lost and the ones we're yet to meet."
By the fifth toast — "To the earth that feeds us and the hands that prepare this food" — I was emotional. Not because of the wine (though there was a lot of wine). Because of the sincerity. This wasn't a performance. This was a 2,000-year-old tradition happening in real time in a dining room in rural Georgia, and we were part of it.
My wife grabbed my hand under the table. She was crying too.
Afterward, Levan hugged us both and said (through our guide): "You are Georgians now."
I've never felt more welcomed anywhere in the world.
What Makes These Stories Possible
These aren't manufactured experiences. They're the natural result of how our tour is designed:
1. Local Guides Who Are From Georgia
Our guides were born and raised here. They don't read from a script. They share their homes, their families, their favorite restaurants, their childhood memories. When they take you to a guesthouse, it's often one they've been visiting since they were kids.
2. Maximum 12 Travelers
Small groups aren't just a marketing line — they're the difference between a tour and a travel experience with friends. With 12 or fewer, everyone travels in one vehicle, eats at the same table, and has genuine conversations.
3. Family Guesthouses Over Generic Hotels
The best accommodation in Georgia isn't the most expensive hotel — it's the family guesthouse where the host cooks dinner from their garden and pours wine from their cellar. We prioritize these wherever possible.
4. Wine and Food as Culture, Not Add-Ons
Wine tastings aren't a checkbox. They're part of the story we tell about Georgia's 8,000-year history. Meals aren't at tourist restaurants — they're where locals eat.
5. All-Inclusive, No Upselling
When your guide recommends a wine tasting or a cooking class, it's because it's included in the tour — not because they get a commission. Every guest says this is one of the most refreshing things about traveling with us.
What Guests Say in Their Own Words
After each tour, we ask guests for their honest feedback. Here's what they've shared:
"The best travel experience of my life. Not the best tour — the best travel experience, period." — Sarah T., London
"I've done 15 guided tours across 4 continents. This is the one I tell everyone about." — James R., Sydney
"Mum is 68 and said this was her favorite trip ever. That's all I needed to know." — Maria L., New York
"Went solo, came back with 10 new friends and a WhatsApp group." — Aisha K., Toronto
"The food, the wine, the mountains, the people — everything exceeded expectations." — David & Claire M., Munich
"I cried at a Georgian feast. I'm not even embarrassed about it anymore." — Michael B., Chicago
Ready to Create Your Own Story?
The next GT Tours Grand Highlights departure is filling up. Maximum 12 travelers. 8 days. Everything included. From $1,895 per person.
Ready to Experience Georgia?
Join our 8-day small group tour through Georgia. From Tbilisi to Kazbegi to Kakheti wine country. Max 10 guests.
Read the full itinerary, check available dates, and see what's included. Start your Georgia story →
