Upper Svaneti

Upper Svaneti... For a long time, I had a hard time recalling what a WHS this is and where it's located. Then I read Els' review and wanted to go myself.

As pointed out by Els, the Svan are a people, Svaneti is the region in Georgia's Northwest where they settle and Upper Svaneti refers to the most mountainous part thereof. The access to Upper Svaneti is limited to a river valley and well protected, both naturally as well as with the renowned tower houses. As such the Svan were able to protect their distinct identity for centuries against many invaders.

To this day, getting to the area takes time. There is one mountain road along a river valley in and out of the area. You need one day to get there and one day to leave. And then another half day to visit. You are rewarded with Georgia's best WHS and a truly unique site in a stunning mountain valley setting. The tower houses pop up in multiple places and are a sight to behold. In and around Ushguli, there is the largest grouping across three villages: Ushguli, Chajhashi, and Murkmeli. All with the backdrop of the Caucasus Mountain range.

At this point, you are probably wondering why I only awarded 4 stars? The answer is that I can only rate what officially constitutes the WHS, i.e., the inscribed core zone. It's ridiculously small and completely counterintuitive to calling the site "Upper Swaneti". Effectively, only the …

Upper Svaneti is among the most remote WHS in Europe, and one that has been on my travel wish list for a long time. It was a fairly dangerous place until 2003, “when robbing the foreign visitors was almost a daily thing”. Since then it has arrived slowly on the beaten tourist track. The road to get there is steadily improving as well: it took me 2.5 hours from Zugdidi to Mestia and another 2 hours to cover the final 44km from Mestia to the Ushguli valley with the WHS (full-size marshrutka’s still taking longer than the shared jeep taxis which I took). I stayed for 3 nights in the Svaneti capital of Mestia, a lively town similar to a ski resort.

At the central square of Mestia, jeeps and minibuses congregate daily to take tourists on a trip to Ushguli. The asking price for a spot in a jeep for a return trip is 50 lari (17 EUR), and a private car costs 200 lari. I did not want to wait for a jeep to fill up, so I splurged on the private option. The road still needs a 4WD because of the many potholes that fill up with rainwater, and the muddy state of it all. We did encounter some brave cycling tourists along the way, however. The surrounding landscape is just beautiful: narrow, green valleys with high peaks on either side which still hold a lot of snow. This area has the highest mountains in Georgia, …

When I first read about visiting Upper Svaneti about 15 year ago, travel guidebooks were advising not to get there on your own, because of a risk of kidnapping and theft. How things have changed now !

Visiting Upper Svaneti is still an experience. First thing is to get to the town of Mestia. It is a 8 hours drive from Tbilissi. The road in the moutains is in quite good condition (be careful however, because of a few rough stretches). The scenary is wonderful with views on 5000 meters high peaks. On the way, stop at Enguri dam, as Georgian authorities are thinking od adding this hydro-electric complex on the TL. There are many collective taxis (marutchka) getting to Mestia, often changing in Zugdidi, the town at the feet of the mountains. Alternatively you can get a plane from Tbilissi to Mestia, but Mestia airport is very small and highly subject to bad weather. Flights are often cancelled at the last minute.

In Mestia, there are plenty of hotels and guesthouse. I would recommand Nino Tatiani’s guesthouse, with a very friendly atmosphere and very nice buffet meals. In the central place of Mestia is Leila’s restaurant. It has daily shows of traditional polyphonic song performed (which are on the UNESCO immaterial list).

The road from Mestia to Ushguli is rather rough. It is recommanded to take a marusutchka or a private car to drive this 50 km long road, which will take 2 to 3 hours. Most hotels or …

I'm little surprised that Upper Svaneti is one of the least visited sites in Europe on this website. I'm surprised because it is not anymore these days hard place to visit. The WHS consists of small community of Ushguli which is made up from 4 very small villages located right next to each other. 3 of these villages with surrounding landscape form the buffer zone and the core zone is the village of Chazhashi.

Chazhashi is the only village which has solely original stone houses. However most of the houses have been abandoned and the roofs have collapsed. The village includes the local museum. The core zone also includes small hill with remains of one Svan tower and church from old fortress.

While traveling around Svaneti region you will already see many Svan towers but in Ushguli every house has them which gives this town an extra charm. However, the crown jewel of this place is the Shkhara mountain that towers over the landscape. It is the 3rd highest peak of Caucasus mountains, peaking at 5193 metres! Small Lamaria Church at the edge of Ushguli offers great photo opportunities against the mountain backdrop. The whole community is highly photogenic but electric wiring and some modern constructions ruin the authentic experience a little bit. There was even construction of new modern hotel going on! But in the end Ushguli was my highlight in Georgia and definitely the most interesting WHS in the country!

As I said already getting to Ushguli is …

Svaneti is an absolute must! It offers some of the most spectacular and dramatic landscapes imaginable - together with a mysterious and unique culture. I highly recommend a visit to Ushguli, probably Europe's highest village (take warm clothing). It feels like a Caucasian version of Middle Earth. Only a small part of the village, called Chazhashi, is actually part of the WH list but the whole area is breathtakingly beautiful and historically interesting. Unfortunately, as of 2013, there are no scheduled flights to/from Mestia! Except from expensive charter flights (in Cessna, from Natakhtari Airfield north of Tbilisi), the only way of public transport is by minibus. The road between Zugdidi and Mestia is in good condition, Mestia-Ushguli is being upgraded these days. However, travel time is still very long and may require transfer: Tbilisi-Mestia approx. 10-12 hours by minibus, Kutaisi-Mestia 5-6 hours, Zugdidi-Mestia 3-4 hours; Mestia-Ushguli was a whopping 3 hours for 48 km in 2013.