Mestia-Ushguli Hike - Georgia

Hut-to-hut multi-day hike in Northern Georgia.

7/7/20262 min read

white concrete building
white concrete building

At the end of June 2026, me and my partner went to Georgia to hike what seems to be the most popular trek in Georgia. Honestly, this was a bit last minute plan. We wanted to hike in the Dolomites, but the stays were already full and those still available are too expensive for us. So we looked for an alternative location and landed on Georgia (both metaphorically and literally) -- and it EXCEEDED our expectations!

How to get to Mestia (the starting point)

We travelled from Tbilisi to Mestia, the village where we will start our hike. From my research, there are several ways to get to Tbilisi to Mestia:

  • By car: I can't say much about this, but it is roughly a 10 hours drive from Tbilisi to Mestia. The roads approaching Mestia (at least after Zugdidi) are winding, sometimes narrow without guardrails, and ocassional potholes here and there. If you're not confident in your driving, I wouldn't recommend driving on your own -- leave it to the professional (read: local) driver!

  • By train + marshrutka: From Tbilisi central station (Station Square), you can get as far to Zugdidi with a train which takes approximately a 6-hours journey. I booked the train from the Georgian Railway website (https://gr.com.ge/en). Once you get off to the Zugdidi train station, marshrutkas will already be waiting at the parking area (on the left side of the parking area from the exit of the station). You'll see signs on the windshield of the marshrutkas saying "Mestia". You don't need to book beforehand, and it is actually impossible to book beforehand. They will always be there following the train schedule, so don't worry! From there, it's another approximately 3 hours drive to Mestia. The road approaching Mestia, as already described above, are winding, narrow, and sometimes broken. We stopped 2-3 times along the way for breaks, where you can sometime go to the toilet or grab food. How's the driving, you ask? Well, in a nutshell I would say marshrutka drivers drive recklessly and fast, with a lot of sudden brakes every now and then. It really is a roller coaster ride, the one that I had to take a motion sickness tablet to cope with.

  • By marshrutka: There is a direct marshrutka from Tbilisi to Mestia. It takes more less about the same time as taking your own car -- around 10 hours. Judging from my experience riding marshrutka, and if you are prone to motion sickness like me, I wouldn't recommend taking it.