Stepantsminda, still known to everyone as Kazbegi, sits at the far end of the Georgian Military Highway, roughly 155 kilometres from Tbilisi. We deliver here on request and hand the car over at your guesthouse.
Most guests take the car in Tbilisi and drive up: three hours, one mountain pass, and the best road in the country. Gudauri sits on the way, so a stop there costs nothing extra in time.
We also deliver the car directly to Stepantsminda when that suits the trip better — a one-way from here back to Tbilisi is common, and we quote it before you book.
The thing everybody wants to do here is drive up to Gergeti Trinity Church. That track is steep, rough and genuinely hard on a car, and a standard rental contract does not cover it. Walk it, or take one of the local 4×4 shuttles that exist for exactly this.
We would rather say this before you go than settle it afterwards. The same logic applies to the passes further out — our Journal has a piece on which off-road routes are worth self-driving and which deserve a local at the wheel.
Kazbegi is high, and the weather changes faster than the forecast. The Military Highway is kept open most of the winter but closes for storms without much warning, and the tyre rules that apply to Gudauri apply here too.
Summer is the easy season: asphalt all the way, long light, and the Dariali gorge north of town worth the extra twenty minutes.
No — that track is not covered by a standard rental contract, and it is hard on a car. Walk up, or take one of the local 4×4 shuttles that run for exactly this purpose.
About three hours for roughly 155 kilometres, on asphalt the whole way. Drive it in daylight the first time.
Usually, but it closes for storms with little warning. We check before every delivery and tell you if it is not going to happen.
Not for Stepantsminda itself — the highway is paved. For anything beyond it, ask us first: several of those routes sit outside what a rental contract allows.
Yes, on request. Tell us the dates and where you are staying, and we will bring it up.