Kazbegi: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
The road from Tbilisi to Stepantsminda is three hours if you do not stop, and you should stop. The Russians laid it out after they annexed Georgia in 1801, and Pushkin and Lermontov both rode it and wrote about it. It climbs from about 500 metres at Mtskheta to 2,379 at the Jvari Pass, so it can be warm in the valley and snowing at the top on the same day. Leave Tbilisi by nine, keep a jacket in the car, and bring a scarf and long trousers for the churches — the whole day is about seven hours with stops.
A short history of Kazbegi
The town's official name is Stepantsminda, after a monk who, according to tradition, lived here. In the Soviet period it was called Kazbegi, after the writer Alexander Kazbegi, who was born here in 1848, and in 2006 it returned to its old name. The town lies on the Georgian Military Road, the route the Russians built across the Caucasus in the 19th century, a few kilometres from the border with Russia. Above it, at an altitude of about 2,170 metres, stands the 14th-century Gergeti Trinity Church, and behind it rises Mount Kazbek, more than 5,000 metres high.
The ten best sights in Kazbegi
1Gergeti Trinity ChurchAt 2,170 m — shoulders and knees covered, and women need a headscarf (wraps at the door)
2Alexander Kazbegi MuseumThe writer the town was named after for eighty years, in his family house
3Svetitskhoveli CathedralStop on the way up — tradition says Christ’s robe, brought by a Jew of Mtskheta, lies under it
4Jvari MonasterySixth century, on the hill where the two rivers meet below you
5Samtavro MonasteryThe first Christian king of Georgia and his queen are buried here
6AnanuriA castle on the reservoir, and the carved cross on the church facade is the reason to stop
7SnoGiant stone heads of Georgian writers carved into boulders, five minutes off the main road
8Zakagori FortressThe end of Truso and close to the South Ossetia line — bring your passport for the police post
9Gveleti WaterfallUnder an hour on foot from the road, and the path is wet and rocky
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10Arsha Waterfall
Right by the road south of town, a five-minute stop
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Kazbegi →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Kazbegi:
Free walking tours in Kazbegi
The Military Road on the way up
The road from Tbilisi to Stepantsminda is three hours if you do not stop, and you should stop. The Russians laid it out after they annexed Georgia in 1801, and Pushkin and Lermontov both rode it and wrote about it. It climbs from about 500 metres at Mtskheta to 2,379 at the Jvari Pass, so it can be warm in the valley and snowing at the top on the same day. Leave Tbilisi by nine, keep a jacket in the car, and bring a scarf and long trousers for the churches — the whole day is about seven hours with stops.
- Jvari Monastery · Built around the year 600 on the spot where Saint Nino is said to have raised a wooden cross — jvari means cross. From the edge you look down on the Aragvi and the Mtkvari meeting, the scene Lermontov opens his poem Mtsyri with.
- Svetitskhoveli Cathedral · Georgian tradition says a Jew of Mtskheta named Elioz was in Jerusalem at the crucifixion and brought back Christ’s robe; his sister Sidonia took it in her hands, died, and was buried with it, and the cathedral stands on her grave. The present building is from the 1020s, and Mtskheta had a Jewish community from ancient times, which is why the story begins with one.
- Ananuri · This was the castle of the dukes of Aragvi, and in 1739 a rival duke took it, set it on fire and killed the family. The church inside has a large cross carved on its facade wrapped in grapevines, the vine being the old Georgian symbol of the faith.
- Pasanauri · Here the White Aragvi and the Black Aragvi meet, and you can see the two colours run side by side for a while. This is Mtiuleti, the mountain country khinkali come from, and the mountain version is just meat, onion and pepper — the herbs are a city addition.
- Gudauri · At about 2,200 metres, Georgia’s biggest ski resort was built in the 1980s on slopes above the tree line, so the runs are open mountainside with nothing in the way. In summer the same slopes fill with tandem paragliders.
- Friendship Monument · Built in 1983 for the two hundredth anniversary of the Treaty of Georgievsk, under which Georgia put itself under Russian protection. The tiled mosaic tells Georgian and Russian history together, and the balcony hangs over a drop of several hundred metres.
Under Kazbek
Stepantsminda sits at about 1,750 metres with Mount Kazbek, 5,054 metres, filling the end of the valley. The mountain is usually clear early and gone into cloud by noon, so do the church first and the waterfalls later. Greek myth chained Prometheus to a peak in the Caucasus, and Georgians tell the same story about their own hero, Amirani, and point here. A full day, mostly short drives, with one real walk; it is cold in the morning even in summer, and the church wants covered knees and shoulders.
- Gergeti Trinity Church · Fourteenth century, alone on a ridge at 2,170 metres. In times of war, relics from all over Georgia were carried up here for safekeeping, Saint Nino’s cross among them. The Soviets built a cable car to it in 1988, and the villagers, who saw it as a desecration, took it apart.
- Alexander Kazbegi Museum · Kazbegi was born here in 1848 to the family that ruled the valley, gave it up and worked as a shepherd for seven years, then wrote about mountain life. The hero of his novel The Patricide is called Koba, and the young Stalin took that name as his alias; the Soviets renamed the town Kazbegi, and it got its old name back only in 2006.
- Tsdo · A handful of stone houses on a shelf above the gorge, with only a few people left living there. The pagan-era shrines of the Khevi valley survived in villages like this one long after the churches came.
- Gveleti Waterfall · In the Dariali gorge, whose name comes from the Persian for Gate of the Alans — for two thousand years this was one of the very few ways through the Caucasus. Lermontov set his poem Tamara in this gorge. The walk to the falls is short but climbs over wet rock.
- Arsha Waterfall · It falls straight beside the road, so it is the waterfall for anyone who does not want to walk. The Terek you have been following since the pass runs north from here into Russia and ends in the Caspian Sea.
- Sno · A local sculptor has spent years carving the faces of Georgian writers and heroes into boulders in a field here, some of them several metres tall. The family of Ilia II, Patriarch of Georgia since 1977, came from this district.
The side valleys
The main road is the valley everyone sees; the two side valleys are where it goes quiet. Juta, east of the road, ends under the Chaukhi towers; Truso, west of it, runs along the young Terek past empty villages and mineral springs to a fortress near the South Ossetia line. Both are summer only — roughly June to October — and both need a 4x4 for the last part, or good legs. Pick one per day, start early, carry water, layers and a passport for Truso.
- Juta · A village at about 2,200 metres, reached by a road that turns off the main road at Sno and climbs the Sno valley. The road is often snowed in through the winter, so this is a summer trip.
- Chaukhi Massif · Jagged rock towers of nearly 3,850 metres that hikers call the Georgian Dolomites. The trail over the Chaukhi Pass, at about 3,300 metres, crosses to Roshka in Khevsureti — a full day and a real mountain crossing, not a stroll.
- Kobi · The jeep track into Truso leaves the main road here, below the Jvari Pass. On the slope by the road just above, mineral springs have painted the hillside orange and white with travertine — the same water that bubbles up all through Truso.
- Truso Valley · The Terek rises in the glaciers at the head of this valley, then turns north through Dariali into Russia and ends in the Caspian. Here it is still a young river, and in Abano, near the top, a small lake bubbles with gas coming up from below.
- Ketrisi · The villages of Truso were Ossetian, and most were emptied in the last decades of the twentieth century; their stone houses stand roofless along the river. In summer a few families come back with their herds.
- Zakagori Fortress · A ruined fortress on a rock at the head of the valley, near the line of South Ossetia, which Georgia does not control. The border police at the post below it take passport details and may stop you going further.
Getting to Kazbegi and getting around
- Stepantsminda marshrutka stop · Marshrutkas from Didube in Tbilisi end here after about three hours, and they leave when full
- Jvari Pass · At 2,379 m the highest point of the road, and it closes after heavy snow — check before you drive
- Kobi · Where the dirt road into Truso starts; a normal car turns back here, a 4x4 goes on
Cheap eats in Kazbegi
Seven places in Stepantsminda to eat fast between a jeep and a hike. Mountain food is heavier than in Tbilisi: khinkali come without herbs, the bread is khabizgina — stuffed with cheese and potato — and the soup is meat. Prices are typical for the village; tourist season pushes them up a little.
- Khevi · Khinkali about 1.5–2 lari each, and five is a meal
- Café Mari · Coffee and a khachapuri for about 15–20 lari
- Kazbegya · A main and a drink for about 25–35 lari
- Khareba · A glass of Georgian wine from about 8 lari, mains 20–30
- Lunch Time · A quick plate for about 15–20 lari
- Kazbegi Good Food · Soup and bread for about 10–15 lari before the drive
- Gergeti Summer Café · On the way up to the church; coffee about 5–8 lari
Holy places in Kazbegi
- Gergeti Trinity Church · Free; covered knees and shoulders, scarves for women at the door
- Svetitskhoveli Cathedral · Free, and the kings of Georgia are buried in the floor
- Samtavro Monastery · Free, a working convent, and King Mirian’s tomb inside
- Jvari Monastery · Free, and windy on the hilltop
- Ananuri church · Free; frescoes inside, the carved cross outside
Nature and day trips near Kazbegi
- Gergeti Glacier · A full day, 7–9 hours return from the church, and the altitude is felt
- Gveleti Waterfall · About an hour return; good shoes, the rocks are wet
- Arsha Waterfall · By the road, free, five minutes
- Chaukhi Massif · From Juta, an easy hour to the meadow under the towers
- Truso Valley · Flat but long; summer only, passport for the last part
- Zhinvali Reservoir · Free, a view from the road; it is Tbilisi’s water supply
Things to do in Kazbegi with kids
- Sno stone heads · Free, and children climb around the giant faces
- Friendship Monument · Free; hold small hands — the balcony edge is a cliff
- Gudauri Ski Resort · Ski school for children in winter, lift rides in summer
- Arsha Waterfall · No walking needed, which matters with small children
- Ananuri · Free; climb the castle tower, stairs are steep
- Gergeti Trinity Church · By jeep with kids, not on foot; cold at the top
Where to eat in Kazbegi
- Rooms Hotel Kazbegi · The terrace faces Kazbek; book dinner ahead in summer
- Panorama Kazbegi · On the Gergeti side, looking back over the town
- Kondari · Named for the mountain savory herb that goes into Georgian food
- Ori Aragvi, Pasanauri · The name means Two Aragvis — the rivers meet in Pasanauri
- Guda, Pasanauri · A guda is the sheepskin bag mountain cheese is aged in
- Ati Ambavi, Gudauri · In the resort, for the night before or after skiing
Frequently asked questions about Kazbegi
What is there to see in Kazbegi?
The top sights in Kazbegi are Gergeti Trinity Church, Alexander Kazbegi Museum and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Kazbegi?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Kazbegi without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Kazbegi?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Kazbegi, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Military Road on the way up.
How do you get to Kazbegi and get around?
The main ways are Stepantsminda marshrutka stop, Jvari Pass and Kobi. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Kazbegi, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Kazbegi that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Kazbegi for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.