Golden Fleece Trail: 5-Day Private Tour through West Georgia

I stood on Kutaisi’s cobblestone square at dawn, the statue of Medea glinting gold behind me, ready to chase legends. Five days and 663 km later, the myths felt startlingly real. Our private “Golden Fleece” caravan threaded westward through emerald Imereti vineyards, then up into the Great Caucasus where cloud-shredded peaks guard the ancient kingdom of Colchis.

Samegrelo greeted us with palm-lined Zugdidi Palace gardens and a spicy bowl of elarji before we plunged into Prometheus Cave—limestone cathedrals shimmering like Jason’s coveted fleece. Farther north, Mestia’s stone towers pierced the sky, but nothing prepared me for Ushguli: a UNESCO-listed village perched at 2,200 m, its medieval watchtowers dwarfed only by twin-horned Ushba and ice-clad Shkhara.

Each evening our guide poured us ojaleshi wine and stories: how Argonaut oars once cut these very rivers, how Svan warriors coated sheep skins in mountain streams to sift river gold—myth morphing into geology with every sip. As the sun set behind Tetnuldi’s glacier on day five, Kutaisi re-appeared on the horizon and I realized the real treasure wasn’t fleece at all—it was Georgia’s living tapestry of legend, landscape, and laughter.

Pack curiosity and hiking boots; the Argonauts are waiting.