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 tiny village of Chajhashi is inscribed. 

Personally, I find this should be a mixed site, spanning the whole mountain valley, at least from Murkmeli, or better Mestia, to the glaciers. At current, they should rename it to the village that is actually inscribed.

Getting There

The transport hub for Upper Svaneti is Mestia. To get to Mestia, you can:

• Take a 10h bus trip (mashrukta) from Tbilisi. In the summer months, there is supposedly a scenic connection via a mountain pass that makes the trip more enjoyable. In June, the passes weren't open yet.
• Take a 5-6h bus trip from Kutaisi. The bus stop in Kutaisi is west of town near the Kutaisi II train station. There is a ticket booth and a McDonalds. In 2023, the bus leaves at 10:00h, but better to check.
• Take a 5-6h bus trip from Batumi. The bus stop is close to the town centre, near the cable car station.
• Go to Zugdidi and take a 2-3h bus trip.
• Fly: There are some weekly flights, e.g., from Kutaisi, but when I checked they were fully booked.

For your return from Mestia, several mashrukta operators compete (and charge the same prices and go at the same time) for each destination. They are all close to Seti Square, where you arrive.

For our trip, we arrived from Kutaisi and left for Batumi. The other towns in between didn't entice us to stay. And I think this is the most sensible option for visiting.

I would not recommend going with a rental car. Apart from the omnipresent cows on each road in Georgia, the road from Zugdidi is in terrible shape. We had a driver from gotrip.ge who explicitly banned trips to Mestia due to road conditions.

Getting In

While there are tower houses in Mestia, the core zone is ridiculously small and a 1-2h ride away further up the valley. The road to get there gets continuously worse and you must not go on your own, if you don't have a 4WD. Either ask the hotel for a driver. Or join a tour group. We found having a driver nice, as we got to set our own speed and our stops weren't crowded.

Practical hints:

• Leave early, before the tour busses with the crowds.
• Ask for an extended tour and continue further up the valley. Or go to other areas on the valley. The main visit (village, hike down-hill) is fairly short (2h with a coffee stop), so you have time to see more.

While You Are There

The area around Mestia is very scenic and you can do multiple trips into the Kaukasus mountain range. Looking back, we wished to have stayed longer and explore more of the stunning scenery.

The area is renowned for its food and spices and there are several nice restaurants in Mestia. We have very fond memories of Cafe Laila and I thoroughly encourage you to have dinner there; it was our best dinner in Georgia.