The popular American publication Thrillist named Georgia among the 20 best tourist destinations of the world for 2019. Benjamin Kemper, the author described Georgia as the country with “old world hospitality.”

The American publication also recommends the holiday-makers to travel to Romania, Poland, Montenegro, South Africa, Nepal.

“You might have to squint to find Georgia on a map, but don’t be fooled by its tiny geographical footprint. Everything here is dazzlingly over-the-top, from the epically cheesy khachapuri to the whirlwind folk dances to the Alps-shaming Caucasus mountains that tower over the landscape.

A spate of geopolitical conflicts in the ‘90s and aughts scuppered the country’s once-thriving tourism industry, but in the last decade, Georgia has redefined itself, cracking down on crime, paving roads, building new airports, and promoting itself abroad. The most dangerous thing in Georgia these days? Chacha, the zillion-proof moonshine that locals will foist on you in the outdoor markets.

Come for the hiking — there’s a new Transcaucasian Trail that winds through some of the highest settlements in Europe — and stay for the food, an East-meets-West smorgasbord of slurpable soup dumplings, herb-centric salads, and walnut-thickened stews. Wherever you are in Georgia, expect Old World hospitality at every turn — and a steady stream of wine, a beverage that Georgians’ Stone Age ancestors arguably invented.

And don’t forget to pile into a 4×4 and zoom up to Gergeti Trinity Church, a mossy candlelit chapel that was built above the cloudline in the 14th century. It sits in the shadow of Mount Kazbek, Europe’s fifth-highest peak and the mountain to which Prometheus is said to have been chained after stealing fire from the gods,” Kemper writes.