Nature and hiking

The Caucasus is, first of all, a mountain range: a five-thousand-metre wall between two seas, where the Greeks placed the punishment of Prometheus. Elbrus and Kazbek stand taller than any Alpine summit, and at their feet lies everything else: glaciers descending to tower-crowned villages in Svaneti, the Kazbegi gorge with its church cut against the sky, green-walled canyons like Okatse and Martvili explored by boat, and semi-desert steppes that suddenly fill with flamingos.

This category holds our nature guides: the national parks of all three countries, high-altitude lakes like Sevan, the hiking trails genuinely worth doing depending on the season, the mineral spa towns that made Borjomi famous, and concrete advice on gear, seasons and difficulty for each area.

Our trips are not mountaineering expeditions: they are road journeys with well-chosen optional walks, suitable for any reasonably fit traveller. The best of them are woven into our Caucasus itineraries, where mountains meet monasteries, wine and cities.