About two kilometres upstream from Vardzia, Vanis Kvabebi is a smaller but equally dramatic cave monastery cut into the same volcanic cliff formation. It sees a fraction of the visitors that Vardzia does, partly because it has no marked path and no ticket booth — you walk to it along the riverbank from the main site.
The complex is less elaborate than Vardzia: fewer rooms, no surviving frescoes, no active monastic community. But it is older, quieter, and completely unrestored. You can climb through the rooms without ropes or barriers, which gives a different kind of experience — closer to what early explorers of these sites might have felt. Allow an extra hour after Vardzia if you want to see it properly.