We tell you what you can bring from Georgia. Prices for popular gifts. Reviews and advice of tourists, what souvenirs to choose and where to buy them profitably.
Look for author's interesting excursions on the Sputnik and Tripster sites. Individual and group, no crowds of tourists and in Russian.
Currency exchange rate: 1 Georgian lari (GEL) ≈ 23 RUB.
Georgian wines
Georgia is a country of wine. The local climate is ideal for winemaking, which is why more than 500 types of grapes are grown here. Georgian wines are appreciated and sold out by tourists with might and main. What varieties should you pay attention to? Some people like vintage ones - Saperavi, Tsinandali and Khvanchkara. Others try to take original wines - Satrapezo Guiani, Muscat or Lagvinari.
Price... The cost of Georgian wine in the store starts from 12 GEL per bottle. Homemade wine costs 3-4 GEL per 1 liter. Gift wine in beautiful clay bottles is sold for 18-40 GEL.
Advice... Buy wine in plastic cans at the market or in branded bottles at liquor stores. Bought on the market is cheaper. This is an excellent author's product, but it is not subject to long-term storage. Wine from the store is stored as much as you like.
Georgian chacha
What to bring from Georgia besides wine? Take chacha - Georgian moonshine made from grapes with a strength of 40 to 70-80%. Usually chacha is not insisted on anything. But sometimes the drink is aged for about a year in special barrels, and it turns into real brandy.
Price... Chacha in the store is inexpensive - 20 GEL per 1 liter. Stronger chacha is sold in the markets and it is even cheaper.
Advice... It is customary to eat chacha with apples and citrus fruits.
Georgian cognacs
What to bring from Georgia as a gift for a connoisseur of elite alcohol? We advise you to pay attention to the famous Georgian brandies "Sarajishvili", "Tiflisi Marani", "Askaneli Brothers", "Akhalsheni 2005", "KTW" and "Askaneli Brothers". These brands produce quality drinks with excellent taste.
Price... Georgian cognac costs from 20 to 200 GEL per bottle. There are also more expensive ones. It all depends on the year of manufacture, brand and aging conditions.
Advice... There are several wine shops in Tbilisi, which are called "wine houses". In them you will not only buy high-quality cognac, but also taste various spirits.
Wine horn
Where there is wine, there is also the vessel from which they drink it! A wine horn is usually bought with a couple so you can have a drink with a friend. Experts recommend taking more expensive products. They are well finished and varnished on the outside.
Price... A cheap horn costs from 20 GEL.
Advice... There are souvenir wine horns in Georgia. They are needed for beauty and do not hold liquid. If you want to buy a practical wine container, ask the vendor to fill the horn with water and make sure it doesn't leak.
Cheeses
You can be indifferent to cognac and not recognize Georgian wines, but it is absolutely impossible not to love Georgian cheeses! Georgians call cheese kveli... It is impossible to count the number of varieties of cheeses that are made in this country.
What kind of cheese should you bring from Georgia? Tourists usually take pickled cheeses, for example suluguni... They are better able to withstand the way back home. According to reviews, popular Imeretian cheese, chogi, calti, shadows, kobe, dumpali, guda and chechili.
Price... Georgian cheeses cost from 10 to 20 GEL per 1 kg. The most expensive is hard spicy cheese made from cow's milk Dambalhacho... It is sold for 100-120 GEL per 1 kg. This cheese is so delicious that it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Advice... Go to the market for cheese. They will be given a try before buying.
Spice
Georgian cuisine cannot be imagined without khmeli-suneli, utskho-suneli, adjika, tkemali sauces, satsebeli and Svan salt. Spices are added to soups, meat and vegetables. Thanks to them, Georgian dishes acquire an incomparable taste, aroma and rich aftertaste.
Price... In the markets, adjika banks are sold for 2-5 GEL. A 200 g jar of Svan salt costs 2.7 GEL. Prices for most dry spices start at 0.5 GEL per 100 g.
Advice... Don't know what to bring to the hostess from Georgia? Buy an original souvenir - dried marigold flowers, or Imeretian saffron. They cost 30 GEL for 1 kg.
What to bring from Georgia. Detailed shopping overview
Sweets and honey
What to bring a sweet tooth from Georgia? Primarily churchkhelu... Nuts or berries are strung on a string, dipped several times in a mixture of grape juice and flour and dried in the open air. It turns out a surprisingly tasty and healthy product that is popular with both adults and children. Dark churchkhela is soaked in Saperavi grape juice.
Honey-drenched nuts - gozinaki - also delight all sweet lovers. Berry marshmallow is in special demand among tourists. tklapi... It is made from dried cherry plum pulp without added sugar, so a Georgian delicacy can be eaten by diabetics.
Price... Churchkhela costs 1-3 GEL, tklapi - 2 GEL, gozinaki tiles - 1.2 GEL, Georgian baklava - 1.2 GEL, a jar of honey - 8-10 GEL.
Advice... Tourists believe that chemical additives are put into the green cloth to give a bright color, so it is not recommended to buy it.
What else can you bring from Georgia
- Nuts, 1 kg - 3.5-5 GEL.
- Berry jam, jar - 3-4 GEL.
- Georgian tea, pack - 2.5 GEL.
- Mineral water "Borjomi", 1 l - 1.1 GEL.
- National clothes - from 4-5 GEL to 1000 GEL.
- Socks, mittens and scarves with Georgian ornaments - 4-5 GEL.
- Souvenir weapon - from 10 GEL.
- Earthenware - 8-40 GEL.
- Leather paintings - 55-100 GEL.
- Minting - 60-150
- Rings with minankari cloisonné enamel jewelry - 45 GEL.
What cannot be exported from Georgia
It is forbidden to export drugs containing narcotic substances, pornography and information materials that compromise Georgia and offend its citizens from the country. By law, you cannot export any weapon, except for souvenir. To transport weapons across the border, a document is required that confirms the status of the goods.
What food to bring from Georgia
Travel Tips
- When buying alcohol, learn that it is allowed to import up to 3 liters of spirits into Russia duty-free.
- Wine prices are lower in winery shops and chain supermarkets Smart.
- In Tbilisi, inexpensive cognac and wine are sold in a store "Wine Gallery"... It is located near the Marjanishvili metro station and is open from 10:00 to 21:00. The shop has a tasting room.
- It is convenient to buy Georgian cheeses in "Cheese shop" in the center of Tbilisi. This store has a large selection of unusual cheeses with paprika, barberry, thyme and saffron. A real gift worth bringing from Georgia for a gourmet! The Cheese Shop is located next to the Svobody Square metro station and is open from 10:00 to 23:00.
- Sweets and spices are inexpensively sold at Deserter market Tbilisi.
- The shiny and soft churchkhela are very tasty, but they do not last long. A delicacy with a little sugar bloom is harder and easily withstands long-term storage.
- If you do not know what gift to bring to children from Georgia, choose a sweet basket. Popular Georgian sweets are beautifully packed in it. A small set costs 25 GEL.
