Kvemo Kartli

Kvemo Kartli lies south of Tbilisi towards the Armenian and Azerbaijani borders — a region of dry hills, deep river gorges and some of the oldest human history on the continent. At Dmanisi, archaeologists found the 1.8-million-year-old remains of the first humans known outside Africa; the site and its museum are an hour and a half from the capital.

Bolnisi holds Georgia's oldest surviving church, its fifth-century inscriptions among the earliest examples of the Georgian alphabet; the German colonists' town of Katharinenfeld is remembered in its streets and wine cellars. The Birtvisi fortress in its canyon, the monastery caves of David Gareji on the semi-desert border, and the Dashbashi canyon with its waterfalls and glass bridge at Tsalka are the natural and historic highlights.

Kvemo Kartli is a region of day trips: David Gareji, Dashbashi and Bolnisi each make a full and satisfying excursion from Tbilisi, best in spring and autumn when the steppe is green or golden.