After spending four days hiking between Upper Svaneti’s rugged medieval villages, we finally arrived at our ultimate destination, Ushguli. We saw pictures of this magical spot a few months earlier and hoped our expectations weren’t too high. We’ll save you the suspense, Ushguli is even more enchanting in person than we expected. It is easily the prettiest village in Georgia.
Let us show you why we fell in love with Ushguli.
To read about the hike from Mestia to Usghuli click here.
Murkmeli
Ushguli is a collective name for the four hamlets that occupy the valley. Between these four communities, there are only about 70 homes in total. The first you’ll reach is Murkmeli. If you arrive on foot, we think it’s a good idea to walk through the village before continuing to the other hamlets.
This small community is much less visited than the others in Ushguli, even though it’s only a kilometre away. Fewer visitors make it feel a little more authentic as you walk along the narrow lanes.
Once we got to the edge of Murkmeli, we saw an even cuter one ahead. Crowded around a small knoll, the old stone homes and towers of Chazhashi make a scene that is almost too good to be real.
Although remote, Svaneti was the target of many invaders and marauders during the Middle Ages. Since the undulating terrain didn’t allow expansive fortresses, each family built their own tower (koshki). The buildings acted as both watchtowers and temporary shelters. During times of war, families would retreat to the towers, sometimes for months at a time. When it was peaceful, they lived in the stone homes at the base of the towers. There are still a couple hundred Svan Towers in Upper Svaneti. The largest concentration is in Ushguli, which is why it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Walking between the old relics in Chazhashi, it felt as though we had stepped back into medieval times. It looks like it hasn’t changed much in the last 1,000 years, and that’s why we love it.
Even though it’s small, there are many wonderful things to see in Chazhashi. At the top of our list was the tall lookout tower on a hill above town. After admiring its outer walls, we went inside to see where families took refuge. Like most Svan Towers, its only entrance is a few metres off the ground. In historical times, a removable hand-made ladder would have been used. Today, the ladder is permanent, but it is not much more sturdy, only held in place by a couple of nails.
Each of the four levels has one small room with loose planks for flooring enclosed by old stone walls. They are dark; only the top floor has windows. We wondered how people were able to live here for so long. Rickety ladders, that seem to be from the Middle Ages, let you climb between floors.
The top floor was used both as a watchtower and to throw projectiles, like boulders or hot resin, at invaders on the ground below. From the windows, we felt like those watchmen as we looked far down the valley.
We stayed overnight in a guesthouse in Chazhashi, on the top floor of a Svan Tower. It was one of the most unique rooms we’ve ever had. Inside, it had been renovated and was very modern, but we could still look out the old window to see the rooftops of the other homes. Maggie felt like Rapunzel as she looked out the window to see Richard on the ground, far below.
Not far from the main Svan Tower in Chazhashi is the best spot to take the iconic picture of Ushguli that we had seen months ago. We actually gasped when we had our first glimpse of Ushguli’s two upper hamlets, Chviniani and Zhibiani, under the shadow of Mt. Shkhara. It was like being in a make-believe land.
We returned to this spot at different times of day to see the towers and the mountain in different light.
After seeing Chviniani and Zhibiani from the hill, we couldn’t wait to visit them up close. These two communities have melded into one over the years, and we’re not sure where Chviniani ends and Zhibiani begins. Together, they are the centre of Ushguli’s tourism industry. There are a lot of guesthouses with garden patios in these two communities, but you can hardly say they are overwhelmed by tourism. Instead, they are bursting with examples from their past.
There are a few simple churches in town. As we learned in Mestia, churches are not usually open to outsiders. The second church is named Pustii after the Svane deity Pust.
After spending four days walking across this stunning landscape, we don’t think it’s difficult for you to understand why Svaneti is our favourite place in Georgia.
How to get to Ushguli
While we think the best way to arrive in Ushguli is via the four-day trek from Mestia, we realize that this isn’t possible for everyone. Many day tours are offered from Mestia. As well, Ushguli is included on multi-day tours from Tbilisi, Batumi or Kutaisi. If you’re independent travellers, visit our Mestia post to find out how to get to Mestia.
Where to stay and eat in Ushguli
There are several locally run guesthouses in Ushguli. We loved staying in the quiet community of Chazhashi. There are more choices for guesthouses and restaurants in Chviniani and Zhibiani, but they are also a little busier. Nothing is far apart, so the exact hamlet doesn’t matter as much. We ate at our guesthouse, which, as always, provided delicious homemade meals, but there are a few restaurants in the area. You can find most of the guesthouses on Booking.com.
You can find Svaneti in the upper right corner of the map below. It is an interactive map, so you can zoom-in or click on a marker for a link to our post from that region.
Click on the link to read our Travel Tips For Georgia.
To read more of our adventures in Georgia, click here.
Coming Next – Top 12 Places To Visit In Georgia
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To read about more of our adventures go to Destinations.
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