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 easy. From Mestia you can take one of the marshrutkas that leave in the morning towards Ushguli or rent private car with driver if you're a group. The marshrutka ride takes about 3-4 hours and you get same amount of time to explore the villages. If you want to spend the night in Ushguli, there are many guest houses offering accommodation. Hiking from Mestia to Ushguli will take 4 days but on the way you will get to enjoy stunning landscapes and charming small villages.