Answers to questions about the hike "Upper Svaneti", Georgia

The deadline is the day before departure on the route. But it shouldn't be like that tighten. In a good way, a month before the trip it’s better to be registered in group and have tickets in hand.

In different ways. Typically the group size ranges from 4 to 15 people.

These are instant dishes in the production of which conventional, rather than freeze-drying, was used. In addition, individual components of the future dish are most often subjected to drying, and not the finished product. Typical ingredients of such dishes: dried vegetables, dried meat, cereal flakes (oatmeal, rice, buckwheat), instant mashed potatoes, dried cheese, milk powder, dried fruits. They are mixed in certain proportions in dry form, spices are added and packaged. And the real birth of the dish occurs during the process of steaming the ingredients with boiling water.

There will be no crowd. If there are a lot of tourists, we will attract additional instructor and will make a second group.

No. All hikes in Svaneti stated in the schedule will take place, even if There will only be a couple of people in the group. Feel free to join the groups and buy tickets.

Depends on what you compare it with. What trips have you been on before? If not have been, then probably going straight to the Caucasus is not the best idea. First it’s better to go on a home hiking in the Carpathians at least once, then on an easy trip around Turkey and only after this is to go to Svaneti. This way you can enjoy your hike and not just stress.

Compared to the Carpathians, Georgia has greater elevation differences and several warmer climate.

Very different. At the height of summer, the typical weather “pattern” is as follows - first half the day is clear and warm, towards lunch it gets really hot, clouds gather and in the afternoon a thunderstorm arrives with rain and powerful hail charges. Then it’s warm and calm again. Night temperature strongly depends on the altitude of the overnight stay: +25 by the sea, +12 in Mestia and up to +4 on Svan ridge.

At the beginning of summer in the gorges and on the northern side of the passes you can easily find snowfields.  But they do not affect movement along the route significant influence. In September, when the hiking season ends, It's gradually getting colder and theoretically a fresh one could fall out at any moment. snow and therefore boots are preferred as the main footwear rather than sneakers.

On this hike, all overnight stays are planned in tents. Approximately half of the time we will place them in villages, on the territory makeshift campsites and private guesthouses. Second half of overnight stays - at “wild” sites in the mountains.

In case of particularly severe weather, for an additional fee in villages you can rent housing under a roof.

Who provides the tents?

Tents are not included in the tour price. Participants come with their tents or rent them for rental.

Each participant receives 3-4 kg of community food to carry. By As the route progresses, the instructor will buy more food and replenish what you have eaten stocks.

In this hike, the instructor is directly involved in cooking. And tourists help him. In particular, the instructor appoints duty officers who wash the boiler, help with cutting food, run to the source for water, support the fire, etc.

In most cases, local expenses (travel, paid parking, ice cream) is enough for the equivalent of $50 per person. This money is needed change in advance (before leaving the route) for Georgian currency - lari. Well A small reserve (can be in dollars) will not hurt.

Yes. At nights 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8, when the group is camping in campsites or on the territory of the villages, if desired, you can get into a hot shower. In some cases, you will have to pay an additional 5-10 GEL for this. On other days, you can cool off in mountain rivers, streams and lakes. They Of course, cold.

At nights 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8 it will potentially be possible to gain access to socket. But be prepared for the fact that there will be many people willing to recharge more than free sockets. If you take a small tee with you, then your chances of electricity will increase. But in general it is always better to have a reserve energy in the form of a power bank for the phone and replaceable batteries for camera

If you buy a Georgian Sim card in advance (for example in Kutaisi), then Mobile communications and the Internet will be available almost daily. Best on The route is connected by the local operator Magti. Starter package with 1GB traffic costs literally 5 GEL

The route is quite difficult in places, it is not very suitable as a first journey in life. Therefore, we do not recommend taking children under 13. years and have never been on multi-day hikes. Moreover, no remember that a child of any age significantly increases the load on his accompanying person (parent). The burden is not only need to pay attention, but also in additional kilograms in backpack. That is why we recommend that for 1 child there should be 2 adults.

In Kutaisi and Batumi there are no normal tourist rental points equipment. At least we don’t know about such things. So if you don't have your own tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, then it’s better to rent them at home, before departure to Georgia. If necessary, we will help you find a rental point and We will advise you on the choice of equipment.

In fact, the instructor at the warehouse in Kutaisi has two complete set of equipment (backpack, mat, sleeping bag). They are intended for the first for emergency situations (when someone comes on a hike with completely inappropriate equipment, for example). However, in the extreme If there are no other options, this equipment can be taken to rental Cost - 1 dollar per 1 piece of equipment per day. Report in advance!

The situation with tents is a little better - the instructor has 2 three-person tents in his warehouse tents and 2 two-room apartments. But the demand for them is huge, so you need to book them as soon as possible. It is not the entire tents that are rented out, but the places in them (as beds in the hostel). 1 place costs 1 dollar per day. This rental is only for participants of our tours and reservations are possible only after making an advance payment.

From Tbilisi minibuses to Kutaisi depart from Didube bus station. The journey takes 4 hours, the fare costs about 20 GEL.

From Batumi go a little closer: 2-3 hours on the road, 10-15 GEL for travel.

Yes, you can. But please note that this does not affect the cost of the tour in any way. And be are ready for the fact that getting from Svaneti to the sea or the airport will take quite a lot of time (or money). In a good way, we need to put money on this the whole day.