Uplistsikhe Cave Town

Uplistsikhe Cave Town is another easy day trip from Tbilisi. I visited it on my last afternoon in Georgia. From Tbilisi’s Didube metro and bus station I took a shared taxi with destination Gori – the driver was calling for passengers at the metro exit. 5 of the 6 spots in his car were quickly sold, but the final one proved to be difficult. I had planned to arrive at Uplistsikhe at about 16.30 to have 1.5 hours at the site until it would close for the day, so I was not prepared to wait indefinitely. In the end I paid up another 5 lari to get the taxi going.

In Gori the driver dropped off everyone at his or her destination. Grabbing the commercial opportunity, he wanted to bring me all the way to Uplistsikhe (10 km away). Quite convenient for me, and I would worry about the return trip later (I easily found a taxi back to Gori).

Uplistsikhe turned out to be a fully developed tourist attraction, with a full parking lot, a souvenir shop and a café. You also have to pay an entrance fee here, a rarity in Georgia. It costs 7 lari (2,35 EUR).

The Cave Town of Uplistsikhe was inhabited since the 4th century BC. It developed into an important political, cultural and religious center in Antiquity. It remained inhabited until the 13th century. The city lies on a river and is built on and against a cliff. In its …

Site visited just recently (July 2013). Easy accesible from Gori bus station by local marszrutka (small bus), last bus stop is just besides the bridge in Uplistsikhe village, from where there is just 500 meters to the Uplistsikhe Cave Town. Entrance fee for adults is 3 Lari (1.8 USD), for students and children it is 1 Lari.

Comparing to Vardzia, Uplistsikhe Cave Town is relatively small, walking through caves cut out of the rock should not take longer than 2 hours. Some of the caves are remarkably decorated with carvings (do not miss Tamara's palace and single-pillar cave).

Transport back to Gori - same bus stop, although the returning course may take some time. The whole trip may take 3-4 hours depending on local transport.