Kiketi Farm

A country stay on a farm near Tbilisi

The farm at Kiketi lies at eleven hundred metres, half an hour's drive from Tbilisi, on the site of a former Soviet farm. People have long come here for the restaurant and the wine, but you can also stay a night or several days: a whole village has grown up on the farm, where old Georgian houses stand beside new cabins in the forest.

The heart of this village are the odas, wooden houses with carved verandas brought from western Georgia and carefully restored, keeping their old architecture with today's comforts. Among the trees stand cabins on stilts, as if in the branches, with balconies facing the mountains, the forest and the river. There is a cottage hotel on the edge of a ravine with six rooms whose balconies look towards the forest, the stable and the riding arena, apartment-style suites with kitchens in the newest building, and a small hotel made of containers at the edge of the woods. Inside there is wood everywhere, soft linen and windows thrown open to the forest.

A day on the farm takes shape by itself. You can ride along forest trails and meadows, warm up in the banya, do yoga, go Nordic walking or set off on a guided hike, and on a clear night look at the stars. There are workshops in crafts, photography, gardening, archaeology and cooking, and dinner is at the Native restaurant with the farm's own natural wine from qvevri and oak barrels.