The roads of the Caucasus worth a road trip: seven routes through Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and what to know before driving them

The Caucasus lends itself to the car as few places do: distances are short, the landscape changes every hour, from vineyard to glacier and from steppe to forest, and the best of it is in villages the marshrutka reaches once a day or not at all. In return it asks for a little sense: mountain roads closed half the year, cows on the carriageway, an overtaking style that frightens and borders not all of which can be crossed. These are seven routes worth the wheel, with what you need to know about each, and the practical side first.

Before setting off

A UK or EU driving licence is valid in all three countries, but many hire firms ask for the international permit and it is worth carrying, especially in Azerbaijan. You hire at the airports and in the centre of the capitals, from the chains and from cheaper local firms; an ordinary car is enough for anything paved, and for Ushguli, Tusheti and Armenia's tracks you need ground clearance and, better, four-wheel drive. Before leaving, photograph every dent, check the spare wheel and read what the insurance covers, which often excludes unpaved tracks. And one rule: do not cross passes at night.

Georgia

The Military Highway: Tbilisi to Kazbegi, 155 km

The road the Russians opened in the 19th century to come down south is still Georgia's best drive: the turquoise Zhinvali reservoir, the 17th-century Ananuri fortress on its shore, the climb to Gudauri between ski runs, the Soviet Friendship viewpoint of 1983 and the Jvari pass, at 2,379 m, before dropping to Stepantsminda and climbing to Gergeti church with Kazbek behind. Three hours without stops, a day with them; paved throughout, with new tunnels on the climb to Gudauri, and sometimes closed in winter by snow and avalanches. Lorries queuing for the Russian border: patience.

Mestia to Ushguli, 45 km

From the capital of Svaneti to the highest tower village in Europe, at 2,100 m: tarmac on the first stretch and a gravel track with potholes and the odd ford on the rest, two hours, with the Shkhara glacier ahead on arrival. A 4x4 or high car, and not in heavy rain or before May. To reach Mestia from Zugdidi there are 130 km of paved mountain road up the Enguri gorge, another three hours.

The Abano pass into Tusheti, 70 km from Pshaveli

The hardest road in the country and one of the most cited in the world: a dirt track without guardrails climbing from Kakheti to the Abano pass, at 2,826 m, and dropping to Omalo, with landslides, mud and drops. 4x4 only, June to October only, better with a local driver; four or five hours for 70 km. The reward is the tower villages of Tusheti and the absence of everything else.

Armenia

Yerevan, Sevan and Dilijan, 100 km

The easy route: motorway from Yerevan to Lake Sevan in an hour, the Sevanavank monastery on its peninsula, the carved gravestones of the Noratus cemetery on the east shore, and the descent through the tunnel to Dilijan, into the forest, with the monasteries of Haghartsin and Goshavank alongside. Tarmac all the way, ordinary car, and you can carry on along the old road over the Sevan pass, with views of the lake.

Yerevan to Tatev via Noravank, 250 km

The great southern route: Khor Virap with Ararat in front, the red canyon of Noravank, the wineries of Areni, the Vardenyats pass with its caravanserai of 1332 if you take the detour, and the descent through Sisian to Goris and the Tatev cable car. A long day or two with a night in Goris; good tarmac, with mountain stretches that ice over in winter.

Azerbaijan

Baku to Sheki, 300 km

From the Caspian semi-desert to the forests of the Greater Caucasus in four hours of motorway: a stop in Shamakhi, with the Juma mosque, in Lahij, the coppersmiths' village at the end of a gorge, and in Gabala, before reaching Sheki and its khans' palace. Paved throughout, ordinary car; speed cameras abound and the fines arrive.

Baku to Khinalig via Quba, 230 km

Two hours of motorway north to Quba and, from there, 57 km of paved mountain road climbing up the Gudialchay canyon to Khinalig, the highest inhabited village in the Caucasus, at about 2,200 m, with its own language and stone houses stacked up the hillside. Done in an ordinary car in summer; in winter snow cuts the road for weeks.

Frequently asked questions