Tbilisi, Georgia

Tbilisi has been a capital for fifteen centuries and has changed hands more often than it cares to list — Persian, Ottoman, Russian, and stubbornly itself throughout. The old town is built around the sulfur springs that gave the city its name: the bathhouses of Abanotubani still steam, and the brick domes above them are the oldest thing you will stand on.

Tbilisi rewards walking. Balconied houses lean out over the Mtkvari gorge, the Narikala fortress watches from its ridge, and the Dry Bridge market sells everything that ever worked. Cross to the left bank and the pace changes completely — wine bars in converted factories, and a restaurant scene that has quietly become the best in the region.

We pair the city with its surroundings: Mtskheta and the Jvari monastery, the cave town of Uplistsikhe, and a long lunch in a Kakhetian vineyard an hour east. Come in spring or early autumn, when the terraces are open and the light holds until eight.