What Svaneti is
Svaneti (Upper Svaneti) is a high mountain region in northwest Georgia, wedged between the main Caucasus ridge and the Svaneti range. Its valleys sit at 1,400–2,200 m, walled in by summits like Ushba (4,710 m), Tetnuldi (4,858 m) and Shkhara (5,193 m) — Georgia’s highest point. The region was never fully conquered, and its villages still bristle with defensive stone towers built between the 9th and 13th centuries. The Ushguli community and the surrounding landscape are inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Svans, the local people, keep their own unwritten language, their own polyphonic songs and their own feast tradition — the supra. Tourism here is young: guesthouses instead of resorts, family kitchens instead of restaurants, and guides who grew up on these trails.
When to visit
- Mid-December – April: deep, dry snow on Tetnuldi and Hatsvali. This is the season for freeride, catski, ski touring and heli-assisted skiing.
- June – early October: trekking season. Trails are open, passes are clear by late June, and guesthouses along the Mestia–Ushguli trek are running.
- May and November: shoulder months — quiet villages, unstable weather, some trails closed.
How to get here
The gateway is Mestia, the regional centre. Most guests fly to Kutaisi or Tbilisi and take a mountain road transfer (4–5 h from Kutaisi, 8–9 h from Tbilisi, ~2.5 h from Zugdidi, where the night train from Tbilisi arrives). We run fixed-price transfers with drivers who do this road all winter.
What to do
Winter is about snow: lift-accessed and guided off-piste on two ski areas, snowcat laps and touring lines that rarely see another group. Summer is village-to-village trekking, day hikes to glaciers and lakes, horse riding, tandem paragliding over Mestia and mountain biking. The one place everyone should see at least once is Ushguli — one of the highest continuously inhabited villages in Europe, under the wall of Shkhara.
Where to stay
Mestia has the widest choice of guesthouses and our own mountain hotel. On multi-day routes you sleep in family guesthouses — half board, home cooking, and hosts who will tell you exactly which ridge you walked under that day.
Tell us your dates and what you want to do — we will build the days around real conditions, not a fixed brochure. Multi-day plans start on the Georgia tours page.
Talk to a local guide