A Four Day Trek in the Caucasus Mountains: Mestia to Ushguli via Tsvirmi
Mestia to Ushguli is a four-day hike in the Caucasus Mountains in NW Georgia, near the Russian border. These are actually the highest mountains in Europe, but the trek has pretty manageable elevations. Garan and I decided to do this hike in July 2018 after stumbling across some beautiful photos while researching a trip to Tbilisi, Georgia. At the time, it was not as well-known or well-traveled as other hikes we’ve done, like the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, or Valbona to Theth in Albania. That said, it was evident it is becoming an increasing popular trek with Europeans, and likely won’t be long until Americans and Australians are adding to the numbers – and for good reason!
A few things first: We hiked Mestia to Ushguli via Tsvirmi, which is a slightly harder variation of the typical route but offers a little more seclusion.
Total Distance: 69 kilometers (43 miles)
Total Climb*: 4353 meters (14,900 feet)
Time: 4-8 hours of hiking each day depending on your speed, amount of breaks
Difficulty: Moderate
Lodging: Guesthouses which can usually be booked ahead of time on booking.com, or you can bring a tent and camp
Meals: Breakfast and dinner provided by your guesthouse, and they’ll pack a lunch for additional cost if you want
What to bring: Hiking boots (we did the hike in sneakers and our feet got SO wet), hiking poles (optional but useful), backpack large enough to carry: snacks, three days of hiking clothes for hot and cold weather, rain jacket, warm pajamas, sandals or TOMS for relaxing at the end of the day, toiletries (deodorant, toothpaste/brush, sunscreen, toilet paper, etc), water bottles (we did 2 per person), Steripen (or your preferred method of purifying water), cash (Georgian Lari), camera, phone, charger, adapter
*This is the total amount of uphill hiking you will do over all four days. You descend each day too, so the highest elevation you achieve during the trek is 2759 meters or about 9,000 feet.
Getting to Mestia:
First, we needed to get ourselves from the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, to Mestia. It is possible to get to Mestia via bus and private car, but there is ONE airline, Vanilla Sky, that flies from Natakhtari (just outside of Tbilisi) to Mestia. At the time, the airline was having major issues selling tickets online, but we were able to snag tickets by having our hotel (Rooms Hotel Tbilisi) buy the tickets for us at their local office. The tickets cost 90 Georgian lira (gel)/each, or the equivalent of about $35 USD. The flight is just under an hour, which was clearly superior in our minds to an 8-9 hour drive.
The plane only seats about 16 people, as it is a small prop plane. The view was so incredible over the mountains on the way to Mestia that I forgot I’m scared of small planes. Even the co-pilot was taking pictures.
When you land in Mestia, there will be taxis waiting to take you to the main part of town, but since we were there to hike anyway, we just walked the 30 minutes to our guesthouse, Bapsha.
Bapsha Guesthouse is a beautiful, newly built guesthouse that looks like a Swiss skiing lodge (Mestia does get skiing tourism in the winters). This is probably the most luxurious lodging option in Mestia and will only cost you 160 GEL ($60 USD) for a deluxe double room with balcony, breakfast included.
Depending on what time you arrive in Mestia, you could just start hiking. We arrived at the airport around noon and were exhausted after having just landed in Georgia the previous morning from Albania, so we were happy to have the afternoon to relax.
We chose to have dinner at Bapsha that evening, and it was a feast (you don’t order food, you just pay about $10/pp and get all the dishes they’ve prepared for the night)! We went to bed well-fed and ready to hit the trail in the morning. According to our guiding source, Caucasus Trekking, the next day would be our longest and most difficult, as we trekked to the village of Tsvirmi. ,
July 19, 2018
Day 1: Mestia –> Tsvirmi
Distance: 20 kilometers
Elevation Gain: 1480 meters
Hiking time: 7 hours
We had a (big) delicious breakfast at Bapsha before hitting the trail. Breakfast was only offered starting at 8am which was mildly frustrating as we wanted to get hiking early. Georgia can be pretty hot in late July, and the days we were hiking, temperatures were reaching into the 80s depending on the elevation.
I chose to hike in spandex shorts and a tank top, as I do not like being hot while hiking. We brought along some protein bars, hard boiled eggs, khachapuri (see my post on Georgian food), and lots of water, and were ready to get moving.
The first part of the trek is just getting out of town and up to Zuruldi ridge. The hike up there is long, steep and not terribly scenic. There is actually a cable car that can take you from town to the top of the ridge. But because I was hiking with my husband, Garan, I knew there was zero chance we were taking that cable car. So walk we did. It really wasn’t that bad and felt good to stretch the legs and get a little sweaty. After a couple hours we reached the top of the ridge and had a break.
After our break and a small lunch, we continued on towards Mentashi hill. This is where you will find the best views of the day. It was spectacular.
My happiness was short lived however, because getting off of Mentashi hill is probably the steepest, most dangerous piece of “hiking” I have ever done in my life. I use quotations because it’s essentially a controlled fall. You are literally clingy to small trees and rocks to lower yourself off of this mountainside- I was regretting not wearing pants. (Surprisingly, this was actually not one of the times I cried on the hike).
After getting off of Mentashi, you get to walk through beautiful fields with wild flowers and then peacefully descend into the village of Tsvirmi.
There are a few reasons to do Mestia to Ushguli through Tsvirmi
1) Increase the difficulty of the hike
2) Get the view from Mentashi hill
3) Stay in a village untouched by tourism
4) Have the trail mostly to yourself for two days
When we arrived in Tsvirmi, we weren’t really sure what to do as there were no other trekkers around. We kind of wandered around the beginning of the village for a few minutes before approaching a house that had a brightly colored umbrella outside. A woman came over and gestured for us to come inside their yard, then her 20-something year old son came over and punched into a calculator 50 gel/per person a night ($18), we nodded, and they took us into the house.
It was clear that this was their actual house, so they must just give up their bedrooms when they have backpackers coming through. We put down our stuff and the woman brought in fresh towels and showed us the bathroom where we could shower.
After hot showers, again, we weren’t really sure what to do, so we laid down to read books on the bed, but soon the woman was back gesturing us to follow her. She took us into a separate building where the kitchen was located, sat us down, and offered us tea and a variety of snacks. She actually had three sons all in their 20s, who mostly ignored us. They were actually playing FIFA in the corner, haha. No one spoke English and we don’t speak Georgian, so we were happy to just sit back and take it all in. This was the only guesthouse where we had some amount of internet until we got back to Mestia.
Later, we went out to explore the village but it became cold and rainy, so we returned to the kitchen to relax until dinner was served. This was probably the most delicious dinner we received on the whole trek (included in the price), so if you can locate this guesthouse in Tsvirmi, I recommend it! It was the second guesthouse on the right coming into town, possibly named “Shovemba”.
July 20, 2018
Day 2: Tsvirmi –> Adishi
Distance: 17 kilometers
Elevation gain: 1,270 meters
Hiking time: 5 hours
Since we were the only guests at this house, they allowed us to choose breakfast time, so we ate at 7am and were out the door by 7:45am. It was much colder and rainier than the day before, but it was actually a nice change.
You do a considerable amount of walking on roads this day (although there was very little traffic). After about an hour, a truck with two trekkers in the back stopped and asked if we wanted a ride, we declined (thanks, Garan!) and continued on our way. Those were the first trekkers we had seen since the previous afternoon, however, and you’ll probably run into a few more people as you go past the ski resort, Tetnuldi, around lunchtime. Again, we were following the GPS directions of Caucasus Trekking so we wouldn’t get lost.
By the afternoon, the rain had disappeared. It was still overcast but very pleasant hiking weather, and the flowers were in full bloom. This day wasn’t as physically challenging (or scary) as the day before, so besides the periods of rain it was pretty stress-free.
As Caucasus Trekkers mentions, you really can’t see the village of Adishi until you are practically on top of it! When we were about 10 minutes from the village, the sky opened up and it started POURING. We did not have lodging booked, so we hurried into town searching for a place to stay. The village streets were pure mud from cattle and carts coming through. With each step you risked your entire foot being engulfed with water and mud. It was pretty miserable.
We were turned away from two guesthouses before we found a place, Nadia’s, that accepted us into their last vacant room. The price was the same as the night before (50 GEL / person), however the lodging wasn’t so great. We got a room with two twin beds close to the bathroom, so it smelled pretty badly in our room. The food was decent but not as plentiful or tasty as the night before. That said, this was our first night in a house with other trekkers (maybe 10-12 other people), so it was so pleasant to chat with everyone and have a few beers. We met a really friendly Dutch couple who was just finishing a year-long around-the-world honeymoon, and two school teachers from Seattle who were on summer break.
You can book lodging in Adishi on booking.com, and I would definitely recommend that. I think we got the worst room in the house because of our lack of reservation. Also, if Nadia’s had been full, we would have continued to wander around in the rain looking for lodging. Not fun.
July 21, 2018
Day 3: Adishi –> Iprali
Distance: 19 kilometers
Elevation gain: 860 meters
Hiking Time: 6 hours
The earliest breakfast time offered was 8am, so we packed before breakfast and were on the trail by 830am. We knew from reading Caucasus Trekking that we would cross the Adishi river soon after leaving the town. The river is the runoff of the Adishi glacier, so it is literally freezing cold. You have the option of hiring a horse to take you across the river or you can try to ford it barefoot. I knew crossing a freezing cold river barefoot wasn’t in the cards for me, so when our guesthouse offered to take us across for $10 per person the night before, we said yes.
We were some of the first people at the river, and our “guide” from the guesthouse (I think it was their 15 year old son) and the horses arrived with us. We loaded onto the horses and were across the river in about 60 seconds. Once we were across we watched as some guys started crossing barefoot. They were able to navigate the river pretty quickly but based on the amount of wincing they were doing, I think I would still take the horse again next time (Garan said the water “wasn’t that cold” and regretted having pre-paid).
Once we were safely across, I was able to absorb the beauty of the Adishi Glacier. I am not sure I’ve ever been so close to a glacier. It’s actually a little scary because as it warms up each day, you can hear these huge, thunderous cracks in the glacier happening. Essentially it has several mini avalanches everyday.
After admiring the Adishi glacier, it is time to get moving up towards Chkunderi Pass. It was about 2 hours of going uphill. This is where I had my first breakdown of the trip:
I am not sure if it was because of the rain the day before or if it is always this wet, but we were walking up little mini streams for the majority of this 2 hour ascent. In waterproof boots, it would be totally fine, but If you are not wearing hiking boots (we weren’t), you have to place each step very carefully or you will soak your entire foot into water or mud. It was also becoming very hot and humid at this point. Couple all of that with some poorly maintained trails causing branches to smack you in the face and legs… after about 90 minutes I started crying. I felt miserable and was wondering why we were spending our vacation torturing ourselves. Garan took me aside and calmed me down and after a small break, we continued the last 30 minutes to Chkunderi Pass. The views were really great and it’s a nice place to stop and have a light lunch. The way down was much more pleasant (and much drier).
This day we noted a lot more trekkers than on days 1 and 2. We assume this is because most people went to the town of Zhabeshi on day 1, where we had chosen to take the detour to Tsvirmi instead.
Coming down off of Chkunderi Pass, the entire trail is surrounded by wildflowers. I was happy to be heading downhill, although I did not realize that we still had about 2 more hours of hiking to do. Thankfully, once you are in the valley after the pass, it is mostly a flat trail to Iprali.
Despite my breakdown earlier, we were still some of the first people to arrive in Iprali. We spotted the Iprali Family Hotel Ucha, which was a very nice looking building with central courtyard. We approached them and they offered us one of the few rooms that were not already reserved for 55 GEL/per person.
The hotel has 17 rooms, so we hurried to take nice hot showers before the other trekkers arrived. It was great to relax in their sun-soaked courtyard with a book for a few hours. The hotel also offers several pairs of crocs for people to wear around the property (I realize this seems silly but they felt sooo good on my feet). They also have gardens, patio tables, hammocks- it really is a backpacker’s paradise.
Soon our Dutch friends arrived and informed us the hotel offered homemade wine by the plastic bottle-full, so we ordered a few bottles of mountain wine for everyone to enjoy.
Dinner was more fun than it was delicious, since there was more than 30 guests at the hotel, we sat at huge tables and everyone chatted for a few hours. The food edible and nutritious but not particularly good, but I guess that’s to be expected having to cook for so many hungry mouths.
The rooms were quiet and comfortable and we slept very well.
July 22, 2018
Day 4: Iprali –> Ushguli
Distance: 12.3 kilometers
Elevation gain: 930 meters
Hiking Time: 4 hours
The next morning I woke up in good spirits because I knew it was the last (and easiest) day! We headed out around 830am.
It is really important when you leave Iprali that you use Caucasus Trekking GPS map to find the trail to Ushguli. If you miss the trail, you will walk along a dusty, busy road the entire day (we talked to some people this happened to and they said it was so miserable they ended up hitchhiking the rest of the way to Ushguli). We were able to locate the upper trail, but it isn’t obvious and you almost feel as though you are trespassing on someone’s property – but this is indeed the trail. If you see any locals, you can ask them and they will gesture you in the right direction.
This upper route is much prettier than walking along a dirt road but the trail does need some maintenance – lots of branches and plants encroaching upon the path which was irritating at times. After a few hours you begin to descend to the main road. After walking along the road for about a mile, you will spot the highest town in Europe, Ushguli!
Although we had reserved a lodge for the night in Ushguli, given the early hour, we decided to just grab lunch and get a shared car for the 1.5 hour drive back to Mestia. Although Ushguli is beautiful, it doesn’t have as much to offer as Mestia.
We had read that it is sometimes hard to get a taxi out of Ushguli, but there were several drivers (private cars, small vans) waiting to take people back to Mestia. We shared a jeep with another couple for 35 GEL/per person. Having a jeep was really nice because the first hour of the drive was very bumpy and there was a lot of construction.
When we arrived back in Mestia, we tried to go back to Bapsha Guesthouse, however they were sold out for the night. They called another lodge for us and we went there for the night. It was actually super cute and about half the price (they didn’t have a kitchen so no meals included), I would totally stay there again, if only I could remember the name- it is a three story building tucked in a small alley near the post office!
After showering and reconnecting with the internet, we headed into the main part of town to Laila’s, which is a popular restaurant/bar with a huge patio. We settled into some chairs on the patio, ordered some beers and recapped our adventure. The food at Laila’s is very good and I highly recommend it to anyone who may find themselves in Mestia.
We were early to bed that night, as we had a flight the next morning back to Tbilisi (Natakhtari airport), with some serious eating and drinking on our minds. See my post on “How to Gain 5 Pounds in Tbilisi, Georgia” if you need some food and drink recommendations.
Summary of recommendations for future trekkers:
Do fly with Vanilla Sky and skip the longgg drive
Do stay at Bapsha Guesthouse
Do use Caucasus Trekking as your bible
Do book lodging in Adishi and Iprali ahead of time on booking.com
Don’t wear sneakers, wear hiking boots
Don’t worry about Georgian sheep dogs (which you may read about), they do exist but just not along this specific trek
Don’t get overwhelmed! It’s a beautiful hike filled with delicious food and kind people. Enjoy yourself!
If you are planning to do the trek this year, please let know any questions you may have!
Pin the photo below to remember my guide for when you’re planning your trip to the Caucasus Mountains!
Loved your post!!! Can’t wait for the next one!!
Thanks, Pipi! Glad to know that someone out there in cyberland is reading it!
Sounds like a wonderful experience! Incredible pictures and videos!
Thank you, Heather!! It was a really wonderful experience. I would definitely do it again (just not in sneakers!)
Hello,
Really nice and detailed post! I am
Planning to do the 4day hike this summer, either may last week or June first week. How do I book accommodations in advance at the local villages?
Hi Aditi!
You want to go to booking.com and then search for the different villages on the nights you will be there. If you do the same route we did, the first night in Tsvirmi, you will just need to find a place to stay once you arrive since it is a small, rural village those houses are not listed on booking.com. In the villages of Mestia, Zhabeshi, Adishi, Iprali and Ushguli you can book on booking.com. Make sure you look at the map on booking.com to check the location of the guesthouse to confirm it is indeed located in the village that you want.
Let me know if you have other questions!
only Mestia is a town, rest are villages
Yes, Devi!
Great! Thank you for the suggestion, I will look up the places on booking.com.
Another question, the vanillasky airlines flies from Natakhtari to Mestia. Did you guys just took a cab to go to Natakhtari or is there any other mode of transport?
Good question! They actually do offer a free shuttle to and from Natakhtari, however my husband and I were running late and could not locate the shuttle so we panicked and took a cab. When you get back from Mestia, the shuttle van is sitting there waiting for you and drives everyone from Natakhtari back to Tbilisi.
Very nice! The best one yet! Well spoken with great pictures! Good information for people looking to go hiking in that area. Looked like you poured a little more wine for yourself then for Garan when you were in Iprali. 😀
Haha, thanks, John! The wine just looked like I had more because of the angle…. 😉
That was a good read , thank you so much for detailed information …. Can you provide some tips on how to hire taxi from iprari to ushguli …. we are travelling 1st week of june and want to skip staying in iprari…….
How much they might charge ?
also can we get a better price if we walk a bit further from iprari village for a ride to ushguli
Predominantly we will be reaching iprari by evening so i assume their might not be any day trip taxis going towards ushguli