Kazbegi (Stepantsminda) – quick travel guide

One of Georgia’s many beautiful mountain towns.

Is it Kazbegi or Stepantsminda? Stepantsminda is the town, Kazbegi is the mountain. But people just call the whole area Kazbegi (its old name). It’s not just the mountains that are beautiful but also the ride on the way here (from Tbilisi).

The big question is should you stay here or just do a 1-day tour from Tbilisi. I will absolutely recommend staying here. It’s beautiful and you need to see the sunrise and sunset for the full experience. Also being able to go around and take your time to take in the views. Instead of being rushed to take photos and jump back on the bus.

Weekend stay would be perfect. 2 nights for sure. I usually stay 3 and could do even more.

Where to stay:

• Guest House Elli & Cottages
  • My favorite place. Local but beautiful. Amazing view and acommodations, nice room temperature and showers. Internet is much slower in the cabin (than in the house) but works.
  • Has option of staying in the main guesthouse, or the private cottages. Staying in the house is super cheap, super comfortable, probably won’t get much view from your rooms but they there’s a nice big community deck outdoor with great views, lounge furniture and lighting.
  • However, the private cottages/cabins are super fun! Lots of room can sleep 5 people. Some even have jacuzzi. (Book early or else they’re taken.) Feels like you’re living in your own little mountain house.
  • The views here feel like you’re living right in the mountains. If you can’t stay here, pick anything in the nearby range is also a good idea.
• Rooms Hotel:
  • Super expensive but totally worth it if you can afford, or if prices are discounted. The views here feels like you’re outside of the mountains, but on the same vertical level. Good thing is that you can still visit this hotel and eat at the cafe outside here (go in morning and afternoon) and enjoy the views without staying here. Combine this view with the one at Elli’s or any other mountain home and you’ll have multiple views of the beautiful mountains.
  • Even if you’re not staying here, you can always come here to eat or work on your laptop. There’s lots of indoor and outdoor seating, nice bar, lovely lounge chairs to hang out and socialize or work.
• Hotel Elsada
  • Nice and cheap! Solid internet, only 6 mins walk to Rooms Hotel. I love that you can see Mount Kazbegi right through the big door windows from your bed. The reviews complaining about the hotel in front blocking the view is true…if you’re spoiled by less-obstructed views elsewhere, you may be slightly disappointed.
  • But nonetheless, the view here is still great…you can clearly see all the best parts (Kazbegi mountain top, Gergeti Trinity Church, and trees on the mountain). The only thing you can’t see is the valley below with the houses and buildings in town center.
  • The best room is upstairs at the end (#4), it has the best view since the hotel in front covers less of your view.
  • Also, it seems all rooms have a back window so you can see the mountain range in the back as well. A nice touch and also for having better natural lighting in your room.
• Hilltop Kazbegi – I didn’t stay here but this is the hotel in front of Hotel Elsada that blocks their view. It seems to have good reviews, nice rooms, and nice (mostly unobstructured view except for a large tree in the front). The tree probably doesn’t block much of the view and also looks like nature. In the winter, the leaves probably fall off anyway.
• Chamedon Kazbegi – another nice hotel, good price, 5min walk to Rooms Hotel, and great views with minimal obstruction.
• Guesthouse Relax – best view is room #1 upstairs, because it’s all the way at the end and not obstructed by the building in front across the street. Warm and solid internet, good pricing. Community areas are downstairs but you can’t see anything from down there.
• NOA – a nice place high up on the hill with a great view, I see a nice community deck.
• Alpine Lounge Hotel & Restaurant – great views, pricey. Be careful because I’m not sure if there might be a new hotel built right in front of this one that blocks the view.
• Aronia Kazbegi – seems nice, and great view. I probably wouldn’t go any lower than this. Not only because of the view but because of it being a farther walk to ROOMS Hotel.
• Valley town center – DO NOT STAY HERE IN THE TOWN CENTER. Looking at GoogleMaps, you might feel it’s the place to be but it’s not! Being at the bottom of the valley won’t be a nice view because of many city buildings around and you’re too low to appreciate the grandeur of the mountains. The ugly bottom part if not blocked by other things take your focus away from the beautiful top which feels too far away.

The main thing to consider when picking a place is the view you’re going to have and the accommodations or activities on-site. Since you’ll be home most of the time, except for maybe the occasional hike or tour to the monastery on the mountain, or going into the valley town for food.

Things to consider when picking a place with the best view:

• Easy outdoor access – easy way to quickly get outside, like a balcony or patio, is most ideal. So you can run out and enjoy a drink or smoke with the view.
• Window view – so you can enjoy the mountain view from the warm indoors.
• FRONT vs BACK view – the front mountains (with the hilltop monastery) is the main and best view. But if your place also has back windows to see the mountain range in the back, it’s also nice. For sure the FRONT VIEW is the main one. The back is just a bonus but not necessary.
• ELEVATED vs LOWER view – elevated views would be something from Rooms Hotel and maybe 1 or 2 streets down. Lower views would be something halfway between Rooms Hotel and the valley below. Both views are beautiful. Elevated view makes you feel like you’re on an opposite mountain look at Kazbegi. Lower view makes you feel like you’re within the mountains and looking up at the highest ones. Both are beautiful and majestic. Elevated gives clearer view of everything. Lower gives more intimate view. Either one would be fine as you can easily just walk around town and see whichever view you didn’t have from your place.
• Rooms Hotel line of sight – for me the Rooms Hotel has the most direct line of sight into the mountains. So picking anywhere within that line of sight would give you the most complete view where you see the ice-capped Kazbegi mountain on top right, Gergeti hilltop church on mid left, and then valley town in the middle down below. Going too far to either of the sides would still be nice and still a lovely view but I imagine the middle is most complete and most like the postcard.

If you absolutely can’t find a place with a nice view, don’t worry. You can just go outside and see the view there from the street. Of course, it won’t be as magical as waking up to the view from your bed in the morning. Or having a nice balcony from which you can drink wine at sunset. Also if it’s super cold weather, then obviously it’s better to have the view from your window.

Other important factors for choosing a place:

• Food – some hotels or guesthouses may have a breakfast option (free or paid). But for the most part, you’ll either have to walk downhill to the valley town and choose from restaurants or markets, or go uphill to Rooms Hotel and at the restaurant there. I choose Rooms Hotel every time. But it’s not open super late nights, so you’ll need to visit the market beforehand if you want to stay up late and eat late.
• Walking distance – for food, conveniences, view, or shuttle…you’ll ultimately either way to the Rooms Hotel or valley town below. So keep that in mind when picking a place. As the walk can be painful especially if you hate hills or harsh weather.

Hostels:

• I didn’t try any but I imagine this would be a great place to meet hiking buddies if you don’t want to do treks alone.

Neighborhoods & Walking areas:

• Uphill (Rooms Hotel) –
• Central (mountain homes) –
• Downhill area (valley center) –

These are not official area names, it’s just how I divided to help give you an understanding. Basically…the Kazbegi mountain town centers in the valley…with the town center at the bottom of the valley (considered “downhill”). The main Kazbegi mountains (with the monastery) are on one side of the valley. Other side of the valley has another set of mountains…and the hotels and mountain homes with nicer views are placed from the town center uphill towards these other mountains. Obviously they have better views since they’re situated higher and have a more direct view of the mountains without ugly buildings and city stuff in the way. You see much more “nature” in your view.

Activities to do:

• Gergeti Trinity Church – you can hike here (1-1.5hrs) or take the shuttle bus (much more recommended), because why waste time walking when you can save time to spend at the top? In case you’re wondering if the hike is picturesque, I’d guess it’s not. The path my shuttle van took had lots of trees and ugly power lines and rocks. We didn’t get much of a view until we nearly reached the top. Because I think the path goes BEHIND the mountain. So it’s not like you’re getting a view of the town below. Anyway, you can try the hike and report back to me.
• ROOMS Hotel – hang out here. Eat here, do some coworking here. Take photos from the huge outdoor deck.
• Walk around the streets – by your accommodation. Enjoy the mountain views, cows and horses. Watch for street dogs, some are less friendly than others.
• Walk around town center – not much to do or see IMO. You’re only here to buy food for the house, maybe eat at sitdown restaurant, or catch a ride (taxi or “delica”) to somewhere.
• Wine-tasting @ monastery – there’s wine tasting right at the mens/womens monastery. I gotta go get the name. They used to be super generous (giving 10 tastings) and everyone would be mega drunk halfway through. Now it’s a more reasonable 5-6 tastings but still pretty generous.
• Hiking:
  • Gergeti Church (easy) – 1.5-2hrs up from the town center. Walk around up there for 30-60 mins taking photos and enjoy the view. Then probably an hour back down.
  • Kazbegi hike (hard) – yeah, you can hike up the Kazbegi mountain. Takes about 10 hours and you will get oh such amazing views. But I really had no interest in it. The shuttle bus up the Gergeti Trinity Church was enough mountain visuals for me. But my friends who went had incredible photos…so there’s that. There’s the cafe up there that everyone passes by. Keep in mind that you can only go up to the ice if on regular shoes. With gear, some people climb the ice as well.
  • Waterfall – you’ll need a car to get here. The hike is easy and short enough. There might be more than one waterfall.

Restaurants & Cafes:

• Rooms Hotel – awesome place to go for lunch and be amazed by the mountain view.
• Otherwise…you can go down and each in the town center.

Bars & Clubs:

• Rooms Hotel – a great place to catch views of the mountain.

Tour stops:

In case you want to do a 1-day tour…these are generally the things you’d see along the way. I list them here for you to look up.

• Jinvali Water Reservoir – big open water with tourist shops and photo ops
• Ananuri Castle – cute castle by the water
• Russian Georgian Friendship Monument – awesome giant tiled wall with picturesque mountain views
• Gergeti Trinity Church – beautiful church on top of mountain offering views of the town below
• Rooms Hotel – probably the best (elevated) view of the Kazbegi mountain

Miscellaneous tips:

Nearby towns:

• Juta – depending on who you talk to, this is the even better and prettier Georgian mountain destination (than Kazbegi).
• Tbilisi – of course, it’s awesome but you probably already came from here.