Sighnaghi (also spelt Signagi) is the beating heart of the winemaking Kakheti region. Come here for Georgia’s best natural wines made in the traditional qvervi. Between glasses, you can indulge in fantastic food, impressive landscapes and experience the best of Georgian hospitality. Here are our best things to see and do in Sighnaghi.
Located just a few hours outside Tbilisi, Sighnaghi is a popular day trip from the capital. However, do yourself a favour and stay longer. A few days in Sighnaghi allow you to appreciate the beauty of the town without rushing it.
It’s also an excellent place to stop if you’re travelling from Baku to Tbilisi.
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Quick Guide to Sheki, Georgia
When did we go? July
Where did we stay in Sighnaghi? Tsiminda Giorgi
How long to spend in Sighnaghi? 2-3 Days. You can easily see everything a day, but an extra day to drink wine is always a good idea.
Getting to Sighnaghi: Several marshrutkas daily to Tbilisi take roughly 1.5 hours.
Don’t miss: A meal and wine at Pheasant’s Tears
Also called the City of Love, it is very easy to love Sighnaghi. Georgians flock to the City of Love to get married. It’s possible to tie the knot here 24-7-365.
We tourists and wannabe sommeliers, on the other hand, come to enjoy wine in one of Georgia’s prettiest towns. It feels very European, yet the pastel-coloured houses with their balconies, the Caucasus mountains in the distance, and Orthodox churches are undeniably Georgian.
Wandering around without a real plan is probably one of the best things to do in Sighnaghi.
See the Church of St. George
The first church you’ll see as you enter Sighnaghi is dedicated to St George. The interior is nothing special but the outside makes for some nice photo opportunities.
Reflect at the War Memorial
In the centre of town is a Soviet-era memorial with names of Georgian soldiers who lost their lives in the Great Patriotic War. Georgia lost a large part of its population when it fought with Russia against the Germans in WWII.
The shady square surrounding the memorial wall has many stalls selling wine, churchkhela, hand-knitted socks and other local things which you might or might not need.
Climb to the Roof of the Church of St Stephen
This simple church is a little harder to find but will reward you with a great view from its roof. The church itself is pretty much empty except for a few icons, yet there is some beauty in its simplicity.
Take the steps from inside the church to reach the roof for a fantastic view over the valley below.
To get here from the town square, follow the signs to Okro Winery. Pass Okro and continue uphill. Look for a small set of steps on the right that will lead you to the church. (location)
Take a Walk to Bodbe Monastery
Bodbe Monastery is one of the most important monasteries in Georgia. The monastery is the last resting place of Saint Nino who brought Christianity to Georgia during the 5th century.
The interior of the monastery is covered in beautiful frescoes and icons…as expected of a good old Orthodox church. Impeccable lawns and gardens surround the convent and are the work of the nuns who run it.
Bodbe is about 2 km outside Sighnaghi. You can get a taxi from town for 5 GEL, but remember to ask him to wait if you don’t want to walk back. We did not do this and couldn’t get a taxi back since all of them were waiting for their passengers.
The walk back to town is actually pretty nice and takes about 30 minutes. There are a few cafes on the way back where you can get wine (it’s Sighnaghi after all), ice-cold drinks and food.
Eat & Drink at Pheasant’s Tears
Pheasant’s Tears was one of our favourite restaurants that we visited on our Caucasus trip. It comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Wine comes from the Georgian word ghvino, and the Georgians have been making wine here for the last 8000 years. The country has over 500 native grape varieties, most of which come from Kakheti.
They have a unique way of making wine, using the stems, fruit and skin. These are all pressed together and stored in clay vessels sunk in the ground called qvevri.
Good wine and food are inseparable parts of Georgian culture, and the friendly and unpretentious Pheasant’s Tears is a superb place to experience them. They also have a handsome selection of antique carpets for sale, so better watch out: You might wake up the next morning with a slight headache and an antique carpet in your name.
The name comes from a folk tale that says that a pheasant will only cry after drinking the best wine. True to its name, the wine, food and whole experience are good enough to make even the most badass pheasant break down into a bawl.
Pheasant’s Tears is one of those places where time flies by (as the wine flows), so plan to spend at least 2 hours here. We can’t think of anything better to do in Sighnaghi than to have a long lunch and chat about this and that over a few glasses of organic wine.
With the wine tasting, you’ll get to try three glasses of wine for 30 GEL, which is a good place to start. Your waiter will recommend wine to complement the food you ordered. After the tasting, the qvevri is pretty much bottomless so order more and do indulge.
The ajapsandali (eggplant dish) and pork stew come recommended and went well with the Amber Wine. Cheers! Or Gaumarjos! as they say in Georgia.
See Sighnaghi After Dark
Some insane people visit Sighnaghi on a day trip from Tbilisi. Who in their right mind would do that???
Anyhoo. We are not here to judge.
After dark when the day-trippers have gone back to whence they came from and the woollen sock-selling women have packed up their stalls and gone home you’ll pretty much have the streets of Sighnaghi to yourself.
Get Stuffed at a Supra
Supra is a traditional Georgian feast that includes numerous spreads of bread, salads, khinkali, Badridzhani Nigvsit (eggplant and walnut rolls), meats and an almost free flow of wine.
We stayed at the lovely Tsiminda Giorgi, and the owner Louisa’s supra and her husband’s homemade wine offers the best home-cooked meal we’ve had in Georgia.
Breakfasts are a mini supra itself, without the wine, though, but hey, if you think that life’s too short not to have a glass of wine with breakfast, we say go for it. All you need to do is ask Louisa.
Book your stay at Tsiminda Giorgi
Getting to Sighnagi
Mastrutki to Tbilisi leave from the centre of town at 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 16:00 and 18:00 and reaches Samgori metro station in Tbilisi after about 1.5 hours. Tickets cost 6 GEL.
To get to Laghodeki from where you can cross the border to Azerbaijan takes about an hour in a private taxi and costs 45 GEL.
Read more: How to travel from Baku to Yerevan via Sheki and Sighnaghi
So that’s what we did in Sighnaghi. Let us know in the comments below how many bottles of wine you had 🙂