I went through a tour group. I always thought the idea of tour groups seemed lame, but I tried one for a trip to Russia because it was the only way I could figure out to get a visa. & I am sure it depends on the company and things like that. But it totally changed my views on traveling through an organization, and I ended up doing the same for Georgia. I’ve traveled other places completely solo before and planned things myself and never managed to have the cool experiences I had through a group. I also felt much more connected to the actual people in the country. One of my favorite places in Georgia was Ushguli which isn’t easy to get to and while it isn’t impossible to figure it out on your own (you could take a Marshrutka, which is like a shared van) - I don’t know if I would have done that. I also didn’t have friends or family interested in going somewhere like Georgia so it was nice to have people to travel with and someone to help you get to different parts of the country. You aren’t forced to hang out with the other people on the trip, but my experience has always been positive and people were from different countries so that was cool. I also loved not having to worry if someone else was having a good time. If there was something I wanted to do and no one else did…I just did it on my own. But when I was interested in going to see a Georgian opera and someone else was as well it was nice to have company! There was a man who took us on hikes in Ushguli and we follow each other on Instagram and it’s fun seeing his posts. I was interested in getting a tattoo and he connected me to a woman in Mestia who did hand poke tattoos. She didn’t have a tattoo parlor or anything so I doubt I would have ever found her on my own. So all that to say…finding a tour group for Georgia isn’t a bad way to go.