Ananuri holds 4.5 from 424 reviews — entry is free and the parking is not

Ananuri sits at 4.5 out of 5 across 424 Tripadvisor reviews and ranks first among things to do in Ananuri — a small field, admittedly. Read the reviews rather than the number and the praise is consistent and narrow: the setting above the water, the two churches and the watchtower inside the walls, the carved stonework, and the fact that a fortress of the 16th and 17th centuries has survived in one piece within sight of the road.

Three things come up again and again: coach groups on their way to Kazbegi arriving together, souvenir and snack sellers who do not take a first no, and paid parking that visitors did not expect at a site with free entry. Reviewers also flag the ground — uneven stone and rock that is hard going for anyone with a mobility problem — and cafes that are not always fully working. The standard advice in the reviews is the obvious one: come early in the morning or late in the afternoon and the place empties out.

Entry is free, with donations invited; opening is listed as 9am to 8pm; an hour to two covers the walls, the churches and the views without hurrying. Wear shoes you can walk on stone in. Because it is free and quick, it is the easiest thing in the country to add to a day already going north, and that is exactly how most people see it — which is also why it rarely gets a whole morning from anyone.

Two things are worth saying out loud to a guest before they set off. The first is that parking costs money even though the fortress does not, which is a small sum that annoys people mainly because it surprises them. The second is that this is a stone site on a slope: if someone in the party uses a stick or a pushchair, the views from the car park are genuinely most of the picture, and it is kinder to say so in advance than to let them find out at the gate.