Georgia, the Country May 2025 This was one of the best organized trips that I have ever taken. The other trips from this company we have taken were to Tuscany and the Amalafii Coast which were equally well organized. All these trips were incredible. I am tired of doing all the planning and dealing with large tour groups. This time there were only 8 of us in our small tour group. When our tour guide Heidi Burnett stated that “ she was going to be our ambassador to Georgia.” She meant it. Because of plane delays, we arrived late to our destination. Reliable Transportation to the hotel was waiting for us at 3:30 am at the Tbilisi airport.I was so glad to see our names on a sheet of paper. When we were rebooking our delayed departure in Munich, the customer service rep asked us if we had arranged transportation to the hotel. Yes, we did. Heidi texted us to make sure we arrived. Unfortunately, I turned off my phone on the plane. I didn’t have to worry about who was picking me up. The driver was right there and walked us to her cab. Our Georgian guide , Natia was spectacular. She seemed to know most of the people in the country. She provided some great insights into the country’s culture. I have never had a local guide supply our tour with local snacks. To me, I get to see more about what is going on in a country with a local guide especially when you don’t understand the language. Our driver, Giorgio, was skilled and went above and beyond in his helpfulness to accommodate our various needs. I especially enjoyed the company of my fellow travelers. It seemed that we bonded quickly and got along extremely well as a group. People arrived at the appointed time for excursions We even spent time together during our free time. I always felt that I was well taken care of. No details were too small and all questions were fully addressed. I liked using the detailed travel app, Trip Plans. It was extremely helpful to me in figuring out what was going to happen as were the timely nightly texts from Heidi explaining details of time and location. It was extremely helpful getting a text the night before about the schedule of the next day’s events. I also appreciated the mixture of activities. I felt we did cultural activities like visiting and touring cities and churches. But we also visited wineries. I was amazed at all the food we had at the wine tastings. Yes, this was a food and wine tour but the places we went to were absolutely amazing. Because we were vegetarian with some pescatarian selections, eating accommodations were made for us. Our Georgian tour guide made sure that we knew what foods we could and couldn’t eat because sometimes the dishes that had meat weren’t that obvious. I would have to say that I wasn’t prepared for all the delicious vegetarian options that were presented to us. It was fabulous! Yes, the nation dish of is traditionally meat based type dumpling (khinkali ) but once again special khinkali were made for us which were mushroom and potato versions. Visiting a farmer’s market always, makes me happy. There was an incredible one in Tbilisi. We also visited a park filled with artists. I also enjoyed all of our walking tours. The hotel that we stayed in at Tbilisi was well appointed and modern. It was centrally located. Out in the eastern side of the country in Kakheti, we stayed at a charming hotel where our lodging looked like a huge wine vat, the Qvevri cottage, with a spectacular view of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. It was idyllic location. I was mesmerized by the snow capped mountains. the property seemed to be a work in progress but our cottage was special as was the service. We also appreciated that you could opt out of activities. Suggestions for free time activities were given. As were restaurants. Our tour guide knew were the ATMs were located. Both our guides helped with the ATM process. Thanks! I really enjoyed my vacation and would highly recommend any Forktown Food Tour in the US and any foreign country. We are planning to go again. The only problem is figuring out where to go next. After me finding flights, Heidi will take care of the rest. Jo