Kvesheti

This village 40km beyond Ananuri is a good base for walks or horse rides. A 10km jeep track heads north up the Khada valley from Kvesheti, through a dramatic gorge and out into a more open valley with several small villages and many old stone towers. This was on the original main route across the Caucasus before the Georgian Military Highway was built.

In a roadside apple orchard as you enter Kvesheti from the south, the welcoming Hotel Qvesheti (899114377; www.kvesheti.ge; per person half board US$25-30) has good, pine-floored rooms, each with a bathroom, and excellent local food. You can rent horses here for around 40 GEL per day.