Kazbegi Hiking Week

Leave Tbilisi at 9 am and drive north beside the Aragvi. Stop at Ananuri, the fortress church above the Zhinvali reservoir, then climb through Gudauri to the Jvari Pass and down into the Tergi valley. After checking in and having lunch in Stepantsminda, set out on foot for Gergeti Trinity. The path climbs steeply through birch woods for about 1.5 hours to the 14th-century church on its grassy shoulder at about 2,170 m. With luck Kazbek is clear behind it. Walk back down for dinner and a talk with your guide about the week ahead.

A 4x4 takes you up to Gergeti Trinity to save the first climb. From the church the trail follows a long grassy ridge that rises steadily north, with the Chaukhi peaks across the valley. Higher up the grass gives way to stones and the path traverses towards the Sabertse pass area, near 3,000 m. Just beyond it you look down on the cracked ice of the Gergeti glacier, with the white dome of Kazbek straight above. This is where most walkers turn around; climbers carry on to the old weather station. Return the same way to the church and ride down to the hotel.

Drive south to Kobi and turn east into the Truso valley. A 4x4 track continues for a few kilometres, then you walk along the Tergi on an almost flat path. The valley is full of surprises: mineral springs that stain the ground rust-red and cream, a small lake that bubbles with gas, and the stone towers of villages abandoned by their Ossetian families in the last century. Your turning point is Zakagori fortress on its rock, beyond which you would need a border permit. Picnic by the river and stroll back. It is a day for photographs rather than effort.

The road to Juta leaves the highway at Sno and climbs a narrow side valley to the highest village in the district, at about 2,200 m. From there the path heads east across meadows dotted with summer houses, past the Fifth Season hut, and up the valley towards the Chaukhi spires, a rock wall that rises to about 3,840 m. You walk as far as a small lake and the moraines at the base of the peaks. Strong walkers can push higher towards the Chaukhi Pass for a while before turning back. Coffee at one of the huts on the way down is part of the ritual.

Head north towards the border gorge of Dariali. A short, steep path beside a stream leads to Gveleti waterfall, which drops in a white column into a rocky bowl. Nearby, the large Dariali monastery stands right by the highway, built from 2005 near the border crossing. In the afternoon return to Arsha, the village just north of Stepantsminda, and walk up its slopes through hay meadows and past old shepherd paths to a quiet viewpoint over the Tergi and the town. It is an easy day that leaves time for a late lunch and a rest before your last full evening.

Check out after breakfast and drive ten minutes south to Sno. Walk through the village, past its stone tower and church, to a meadow full of giant carved faces: stone portraits of Georgia's writers and poets made by an artist from the village. Then follow the farm track up the side valley for a last look at Kazbek from the south. By late morning you are back in the car for the drive to Tbilisi, with a stop at the Friendship Monument viewpoint above the Gudauri valley. You arrive in the city by mid-afternoon.