One of the most iconic images from the country of Georgia features the Gergeti Trinity Church dwarfed by immense mountains. This 14th-century church is crowned with cone-shaped towers and is located in the heart of the Caucasus. It’s just a few kilometers from the Russian border.
Shortly before the pandemic started, Shawn and I spent four months in Georgia. Our longtime friends were living in the capital city of Tbilisi, so it was an easy decision to base ourselves there so we could maximize our time together. Being in Georgia’s capital city, Shawn and I also got to enjoy a variety of experiences.
One night, our friends joined us at Tbilisi’s elegant opera house to see Abesalom and Eteri. This opera is one of Georgia’s most beloved performances. (Incredibly, the tickets started at a very reasonable USD $3).
Shawn and I also served as volunteer ambassadors with two up-and-coming cooking class hosts, Dinara and Mzia. The ladies welcomed us into their homes and taught us how to make colorful and flavorful Georgian dishes such as Pkhali, Khachapuri, and Lobio.
During the grape harvest, we took a day trip to the Georgian wine region of Kakheti and sampled amber wine from a qvevri, an egg-shaped, terracotta vessel.
Another day, we got our annual dental cleanings with a competent and pleasant dentist. Her knowledge and equipment were current. However, her clinic’s dusty rose and seafoam-green décor made us feel like we’d traveled back to when Georgia was part of the Soviet Union.
We also hiked to the Gergeti Trinity Church on a warm autumn day. We ended up timing this excursion well, as snow would blanket the Caucasus just a few days after our hike.
A Hair-Raising Journey from Tbilisi to Kazbegi
The Gergeti Trinity Church is located near the town of Kazbegi. (If you’re feeling more linguistically intrepid, the church is actually called Tsminda Sameba or წმინდა სამება in Georgian.) To confuse matters further, Kazbegi is also known as Stepantsminda.
We didn’t find the two-hour uphill hike to the church to be demanding. However, the three-hour ride from Tbilisi to Kazbegi was grueling! We rode in a marshrutka, a type of minivan that’s common in Georgia and often overflowing with passengers.
But it wasn’t the close quarters that proved to be stressful. Instead, it was our driver’s penchant for race-car-like driving. He regularly overtook vehicles. Sometimes, it felt like there was just an arm’s length between our marshrutka and the oncoming traffic (usually a truck!) coming towards us. Other motorists responded by honking their horns or by flashing less-than-friendly hand gestures.
The scenery along the Georgian Military Highway was superb. Everywhere we turned, craggy mountains surrounded us. We also spotted flocks of fleecy sheep, centuries-old fortifications, and colorful yurts. But, I couldn’t fully appreciate the scenery when it felt like our marshrutka was going to careen off the curvy road.
About half-way to Kazbegi, we stopped for a quick break at a rest stop that hugged the edge of a mountain slope. Vendors stood guard by tables filled with hand-knitted hats and mittens, jars of honey, and vibrant churchkela. This sweet snack is candle-shaped and playfully dubbed “Georgian Snickers.” However, while churchkela and Snickers both have nuts, grape must (crushed grape skins and juice) usually takes the place of chocolate in the churchkela recipe.
Our driver took this break from his race-car driving to prop open the hood of the marshrutka and perform some sort of operation on the engine. His equipment — a paper cup and knife — didn’t do much to assure me that the next leg of our trip would keep us out of harm’s way.
I didn’t see any to-go bottles of chacha being marketed at the rest stop. However, perhaps enterprising merchants might consider selling this notoriously strong Georgian brandy to help ease the nerves of marshrutka passengers being whisked along the Georgian Military Highway.
Hiking to the Gergeti Trinity Church
When our marshrutka coasted into Kazbegi in one piece, Shawn and I wanted to kiss the ground to show our gratitude for making it there safely. It was midday, and since there wasn’t much daylight to spare, we scurried off to our guesthouse. We changed into our hiking clothes, grabbed the picnic lunch we’d brought with us from Tbilisi, and started the journey up to the church.
After the white-knuckle ride from Tbilisi to Kazbegi, the walk was just what I needed to relax. We left Kazbegi and were soon in the neighboring village of Gergeti. The trailhead for the climb to Gergeti Trinity Church greeted us on the outskirts of Gergeti.
Once we’d gained some elevation, we found ourselves near a crumbling stone watchtower. Off in the distance, we also spotted a shepherd and his flock. Occasionally, a bird of prey gracefully soared overhead. After being in Tbilisi — a city of more than one million people and seemingly even more cars — it was refreshing to be able to breathe in cool mountain air.
Eventually, we could see the pinkish-grey stone walls of the Gergeti Trinity Church not too high above us. This glimpse gave us the extra little nudge we needed to finish the last leg of the climb.
We didn’t spend much time inside the mystical, smoke-stained church. As I peered into the simple interior, adorned with icons and frescoes, I pondered how many thousands of candles pilgrims had lit inside over the centuries.
Leaving the crowd of tourists behind, Shawn and I found a quiet spot on the steep grassy slopes nearby and unpacked our picnic fare. Unbeknownst to us at the time, legendary Mount Kazbek was completely covered by an opaque veil of clouds. Even though we were missing the famous mountain, we still thought the scenery was pretty extraordinary.
Majestic Mount Kazbek
The next morning, as I stood on the balcony of our guesthouse and prepared myself for the ride back to Tbilisi, I let out an audible gasp as I saw Mount Kazbek for the first time. Snow-capped, with a bell-curve-like silhouette, the mountain towered over the Gergeti Trinity Church.
We felt fortunate that Mother Nature had lifted the cloud cover from the day before so we could savor the scene of the tiny church and the mighty mountain.


























































Where in the World?
Planning Pointers:
The Gergeti Trinity Church (also called Tsminda Sameba) is located near the town of Kazbegi (also called Stepantsminda). Tbilisi is about 145 km (90 miles) from Kazbegi / Stepantsminda.
Numerous tourism operators offer day trips from Tbilisi to Kazbegi. We were worried we’d be too rushed if we attempted this drive — and the hike — in one day. As a result, we decided to do the trip independently. We spent one night in Kazbegi.
We left Tbilisi around 08:00 on a Friday morning and took a marshrutka to Kazbegi. We arrived in Kazbegi around noon, dropped our stuff off at the guesthouse, and then hiked up to the church that same day. We were able to get back down to Kazbegi before dark, have dinner, and then warm up in our guesthouse. We left Kazbegi early the next morning and were back in Tbilisi by the afternoon.
The Georgian National Tourism Administration website has more information about Kazbegi and the Gergeti Trinity Church.
How to get from Tbilisi to Kazbegi:
To get from Tbilisi to Kazbegi, we took a marshrutka — a minivan shuttle that makes a given trip on a regular basis. The driver didn’t depart until the marshrutka was completely stuffed with passengers. In other words, it didn’t leave at a set time.
A one-way ticket from Tbilisi to Kazbegi cost 10 Lari per adult.
Our trip took just over 3 hours.
Marshrutkas heading to Kazbegi depart from the Didube Bus Station. Since we spoke only a few words in Georgian, we had a challenging time finding our way at this lively and crowded bus station. The destination signs placed in the windshields of the marshrutkas were mostly in Georgian.
Private taxi drivers approached us — sometimes rather aggressively — trying to get us to hire their more costly private taxis instead. One taxi driver even followed us around Didube Station as we tried to find the Tbilisi-Kazbegi marshrutka. The marshrutka was a fraction of the price that the private taxi driver was quoting.
Eventually, some helpful locals pointed us in the direction of the proper marshrutka. Even once we found the correct marshrutka, the aggressive taxi driver still shadowed us. He got into a heated discussion with the marshrutka driver. Fortunately, the marshrutka driver was straightforward with his pricing.
There were about 7 other passengers in our marshrutka. Some travelers were Georgian, others were international visitors like us. There were seat belts.
The scenery on the Georgian Military Highway was extraordinary. But I won’t sugar-coat the journey and make it sound like it was a tranquil one. In fact, it was occasionally frightening! The driver overtook vehicles at breakneck speeds — even around tight mountain passes with no visibility. At times, his driving angered other drivers that he overtook too closely. They responded by honking.
We had one break at a small rest-stop. It had a toilet (it’s a pay-to-pee-pee, so make sure you have spare Lari with you. It cost 1 Lari per person when we were there.) Outside, the rest stop was filled with stands selling refreshments, treats like churchkela, jars of honey, and homemade souvenirs such as wool socks.
When we arrived in Kazbegi, we had to muscle our way off the marshrutka. That’s because people were already waiting in line to get a seat for the trip back to Tbilisi. There were clearly too many passengers and not enough seats.
How to get from Kazbegi to Tbilisi:
Seeing how limited spots were on the Kazbegi-Tbilisi marshrutka the day before, we thought it was a good idea to arrive at Kazbegi’s marshrutka stop / taxi stand early the next morning. We got there at about 08:30. By this time, the marshrutka was already filling up. Our original plan was to take this marshrutka back to Tbilisi. However, the marshrutka didn’t have any seat belts and it already looked crowded.
We made the spontaneous decision to take a shared taxi back to Tbilisi, as opposed to a marshrutka.
The shared taxi had seat belts. It was also less crowded than the marshrutka. In total, there were only five of us in the vehicle, including the driver.
We split the fare with two other travelers. The ride cost 25 Lari per person.
Using Google Translate beforehand, we asked the driver to please drive slowly. We also asked if the ride could include a short stop at the Russia-Georgia Friendship Monument. He obliged. We were happy we spent a bit extra for this type of transport as the ride was much more relaxing than the day before.
Hiking to the Kazbegi Church:
Elevation: About 2,170 meters (about 7,119 feet).
Hiking: There are at least two well-traveled paths leading to the Gergeti Trinity Church.
We took the more gradual path, which paralleled a stream. The hike from the town of Kazbegi to the church took us 1.5 to 2 hours. We made numerous stops to admire the scenery and to take pictures. If you go straight up, you’ll probably be able to do the climb more quickly.
The trail was rocky in some spots. Parts of the trail were signed with painted markers (red and white painted rectangles).
We did the hike in mid-September. We’re glad we didn’t wait a few more weeks to do so, since it got pretty chilly that night. Days later, I saw that it had snowed in Kazbegi.
See this blog post for detailed instructions about the various paths.
Parking: When we hiked to the church, we noticed a small paved parking lot. It was full of mostly 4×4 tour vehicles. I’m not sure if individual drivers can park there or not.
Unfortunately, we also saw some vehicles off-roading to create their own parking in the meadow. The ground was moist, which resulted in spinning tires and a marred landscape.
Ticket prices:
When we visited in late 2019, there was no fee to enter the Kazbegi Church.
Dress code:
There is a dress code for entering the church. Men must wear long pants. Women must wear a dress or skirt. Near the entranceway, there are baskets full of sarongs. You can borrow one and tie it over your shorts or pants.
What to bring:
We didn’t have our trekking poles with us. However, they would’ve made the hike a bit easier — especially in spots where the path got rocky.
For our mid-September hike, we were happy we packed:
- reusable bottles filled with a sufficient amount of drinking water
- snacks for a picnic
- sun protection, since we were at a higher elevation (sunglasses, sunscreen)
- sturdy shoes (we wore running/walking shoes)
- layered clothing, because the weather can change quickly
- a scarf (for covering my head while inside the church)
Accommodation in Kazbegi:
We spent one night at Soso Burduli’s Guesthouse. It was cozy, clean, and modern, and the owner was friendly. We were especially pleased that the heater worked well, since Kazbegi’s nighttime temperatures got to be quite chilly. Our room didn’t have special views. However, the back of the guesthouse (west-facing, I believe) looked directly onto Mt. Kazbek and the Gergeti Trinity Church. Pretty magnificent!
Another advantage of the hotel was its proximity to Kazbegi’s bus stop / taxi stand as well as its town center. It only took 2-3 minutes to get there on foot.
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Photography & text © Tricia A. Mitchell. All Rights Reserved.
What a spectacular location, Tricia! Wishing you and Shawn good health and happiness this new year :) :)
Hi Jo! As we drove through these magnificent landscapes, I felt “happy tears” emerge at least once or twice. Shawn and I feel immensely fortunate to have had this adventure in the Caucasus before the pandemic started. We’re looking forward to getting back out on the open road — perhaps sometime later this year.
Thank you for your kind comment and wishes for a happy 2021. I wish you all the best too.
What a fantastic post, Tricia. Enjoyed every step although I was exhausted by the time we made it to the church!!! Thanks for sharing.
On Sun, Jan 3, 2021 at 6:39 AM Travels with Tricia wrote:
> Tricia A. Mitchell posted: ” One of the most iconic images from the > country of Georgia features the Gergeti Trinity Church dwarfed by immense > mountains. This 14th-century church is crowned with cone-shaped towers and > is located in the heart of the Caucasus. It’s just a few kilometer” >
Hi Mary Ann, thanks for traveling along with us in spirit! Our hike only took a few hours, and for some travelers to this area, this tiny church is just the first stop during a longer adventure. Some hikers continue upward for an all-day trek to the glacier below Mount Kazbek: https://www.caucasus-trekking.com/treks/kazbegi-hike-to-glacier I think Shawn and I will have to train a bit more for that one — and perhaps bring our trekking poles. :)
This looks like a fascinating place! I think we are all wishing to travel again soon. All the best for 2021! Stay well and safe. xo
Darlene, it is a fascinating spot. Given the area’s rugged terrain, I’m in awe that people managed to build these elevated structures more than 600 years ago.
Wishing you a wonderful 2021 that is full of health, joy, and new adventures! In the meantime, we have the gift of reminiscing about past trips.
Sounds spectacular! Georgia is one of the destinations we hope to get to when travel restrictions ease. Your wonderful descriptions make me even more eager to go.
Hi Bobbi, when you start planning your trip to the Caucasus, please feel free to send any questions my way. While in Georgia, Shawn and I also made weeklong trips to neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan. The overnight trips to get to those two countries (via Soviet-era trains) are worthy of their own posts thanks to the interesting people we met along the way.
It’s worth pointing out that we visited before the recent conflict in AZ and AR, however, we did not visit the contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. You can’t travel overland between AR and AZ, so Georgia makes a great hub for exploring the other two countries.
Happy 2021 to you and Jeremy! Thanks for stopping by.
A massively wonderful look upon your time in Georgia 🇬🇪 !
Hi Henry, glad you enjoyed this peek at Georgia. I’m sure I’m feeling like most people are in the world right now: looking forward to socializing again, going to museums and events, and doing a bit of exploring too. In the meantime, I feel fortunate to have many wonderful travel moments — such as this one in Georgia — to reminisce about. I’m guessing you’ve probably been reflecting upon some of your trips to Germany these past months. Do you already have a rough itinerary lined up for when travel is safe again?
A very happy new year to you!
Tricia and Shawn, I am just mesmerized by these pictures and the hike you took, it’s an adventure by itself to follow you on these paths. The landscape and the mountain are just majestic and the church itself. Thank you so much for sharing, it brought me much Joy and hopefully travelling will be possible again after this pandemic, when ever that might be. I like to recommend a book of a world traveler to you, but I will send it to you on FB messenger, have to look up the title. Be blessed and stay safe my friends from afar.
Cornelia, I’m happy this glimpse of Georgia’s majestic mountains brought you joy. Your kind words made me smile — much welcomed on a cloudy day. :)
Since you’re originally from Oberbayern, I’m curious if you’ve made it up to Germany’s Zugspitze? As we rode through the mountainous landscape of the Caucasus, there were times when I was reminded of the Alps. But the flora was distinct from what I remember in the Alps. I think the vegetation blanketing the mountains on the way to Kazbegi looked rather velvety.
When you get a chance, I’d love to hear what book you recommend. Wishing you much happiness in 2021!
I was thinking you would have been better off paying more and taking a private taxi and was quite relieved to read that’s what you did on the return journey. What amazing scenery you saw.
Hi Carol, ironically, it was a frightening private taxi ride we’d had when we first arrived in Georgia that made us think the minivan (marshrutka) would be a safer option for this trip to Kazbegi. :) We hoped that someone driving a minivan might be less inclined to speed than a private driver wanting to maximize his number of trips. In the end, we found it was hit or miss with the private drivers — even when we asked them to drive at a reduced speed before we got into the car. Some were more than happy to do so, others got into race-car driver mode once we were underway.
Another option in Georgia is train travel, which is probably my favorite mode of transport. We took the train whenever possible, but Georgia’s connections are limited. I do think that as more and more travelers head to Georgia, we’ll see less minivans and more big buses. Hopefully that’ll lead to less road accidents and fatalities.
Wishing you a wonderful 2021!
We enjoy train travel too. Happy New Year to you both!
Hello Tricia, I had a blast “hiking” with you and Shawn up the mountains to Georgia’s Gergeti Trinity Church. What a fantastic trip. Did you really have to wear a dress? :) Hope 2021 is a much better year so you can continue to travel the world. Happy New Year!
Hi Zlatica, I’m glad you enjoyed the virtual hike. :) The “dress” they mention in the sign outside the church is really more like an apron or a sarong that you can wear over your clothes. That sign did make me smile as I was looking back at the photos, though. You can see some visitor just couldn’t resist editing the sign’s English. It’s unfortunate that the Georgian equivalent wasn’t nearby, as the Georgian script is lovely.
Thank you for your thoughtful new year’s greetings. May you and your family also have a wonderful 2021!