Tsinandali: a guide
Tsinandali: the Chavchavadze estate, its park and its wine, next door to Telavi.
Tsinandali is a village about ten kilometres from Telavi, known for the estate of Alexander Chavchavadze: the house museum, a large English-style park and an old winery. Most people come over from Telavi for two or three hours. There is a large new hotel on the estate and a few guesthouses in the village.
When to go
- ·May and June are when the park is at its best.
- ·September usually brings the Tsinandali Festival, classical music in the estate's amphitheatre. Rooms nearby fill up early.
- ·October: the harvest, and autumn colour in the park.
- ·Winter: the museum is usually open, but the park is bare and little else is going on.
Getting there
- ·From Telavi by taxi, about fifteen minutes, roughly 10 to 20 GEL.
- ·Minibuses from Telavi towards Gurjaani usually pass through the village. Ask the driver to stop by the estate.
- ·Straight from Tbilisi it is two to three hours, by the same roads as Telavi.
What it costs
Museum and parkabout 10 to 30 GEL, more with a tasting
A night in a guesthouse60 to 120 GEL
A night at the estate hotelseveral hundred GEL
Rough figures. They move with the season and the place.
Worth doing
- ·The Chavchavadze house museum, with nineteenth-century furniture, books and family belongings.
- ·The park, worth an hour's wandering.
- ·The old winery, which keeps bottles going back to the nineteenth century, and a tasting.
- ·Combine it on the same day with Telavi, Ikalto or Alaverdi.
One thing worth knowing
Tsinandali is a half-day place. Staying the night here makes sense if you are coming for the festival or want the estate hotel; otherwise stay in Telavi.