Day Trip to Rainbow Mountains and David Gareji from Tbilisi

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/22

Duration7h

GroupUp to 200

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Georgia semidesert tour, hiking, mineral-colored Rainbow Mountains, rare visitor experience

A 7-hour guided tour from Tbilisi explores the Georgian Sahara, Rainbow Mountains, and David Gareji Lavra monastery complex with transportation and an English-speaking guide. The route passes through Udabno Village and a salty lake en route to the monastery, includes walking through the colored rock formations, and returns to Tbilisi by 5 pm. Bring snacks, as there is no lunch stop; the tour operates in all weather, so dress accordingly.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Rainbow Mountains and David Gareja

Meet travelers at meeting point
Buy snacks at shop
Visit salty lake for photos
Drive through Udabno Village desert
Hike and photograph Rainbow Mountains
Tour David Gareji Lavra monastery
Return to Tbilisi and finish tour

The Experience

You start at the meeting point in Tbilisi, where you can grab a coffee or a glass of wine before departure. The first stop is a shop to pick up snacks—essential, since the remote area has no restaurants and the tour does not include a lunch break. From there, the route takes you to a salty lake on the way to David Gareji Lavra, a stop built in for the views and the photographs. Thirty minutes covers both the shop and the lake.

The drive continues through Udabno Village, whose name means "desert" in Georgian. This is the only semidesert in Georgia, and the landscape shifts noticeably as you move deeper into it. When you arrive at the Rainbow Mountains, you walk through the formation itself. The rock is mineral-rich sedimentary stone that appears painted with brightly colored stripes—the colors come from iron oxide and other minerals in the layers. You spend time here taking photographs and preparing for the monastery visit ahead.

David Gareji Lavra is carved into a cliff face and is one of the most spiritual sites in the country. The guide walks you through the monastery's history and the reasons St. David chose this isolated location for his disciples. There is some hiking involved at the site, and from certain vantage points you can see a Georgian soldier stationed at the border with Azerbaijan. After the monastery, you return to Tbilisi and finish by 5 pm.

What’s included

Transportation from Tbilisi.
a professional English-speaking guide for the full 7 hours.
access to David Gareji Lavra monastery complex.
walking through the Rainbow Mountains.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Gamarjoba Georgia Tours

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you have a free afternoon in Tbilisi and want to see two very different landscapes—a semidesert and a colored mountain range—without arranging transport or hiring a guide yourself. The fixed 5 pm return time means you can plan the rest of your evening, and the guide handles the route and the history, so you focus on the photographs and the walk.