The Transcaucasian Trail (TCT) project aims to build a long-distance hiking trail (3000+ km) through Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan following the Greater and Lesser Caucasus mountain ranges. Since our UBES exped in 2017, a huge amount of effort has gone into developing the trail. It’s now much more hiker-friendly and there are route guides available for many of the sections (including excitingly the first sections in Azerbaijan) on the TCT website. So don’t be put off by our tales from 2017! Another fantastic source of route information, tips, and info on current conditions is Jozef’s Caucasus Trekking site and the associated Facebook page and group. If you’d like to get involved in the project, the TCT team are always on the lookout for trailbuilding volunteers.
Val and Lea were the first hikers to thru-hike the Lesser Caucasus TCT route, both solo. They played a crucial role in defining the route, blazing the way for future hikers:
In the Greater Caucasus, Rich Hartfield completed a thru-hike starting on the Russian side, and made a stunning film about the adventure.
Svaneti
In June and July 2017 I led a team of 13 on a UBES trip to Svaneti, Georgia to gather route data for the TCT and test the first built section of trail as a backpacking route, hiking 180km in total. The trip was kindly supported by the University of Bristol’s Knowlson Trust.
Media about the Svaneti expedition:
Alaverdi - Haghartsin
In July 2018 I hiked an unmarked 100km section of the TCT in Armenia from Alaverdi to Haghartsin monastery with my friend Rhodri gathering route data for the TCT team. Sadly due to injury we didn’t manage to hike our planned TCT section in Georgia.
Return to Svaneti
In autumn 2021 I returned to Svaneti with Raef and Charlie to enjoy lots more khachapuri, kubdari, khinkali, and Natakhtari lemonade (if you’ve never tried chocolate lemonade, you don’t know what you’re missing out on…) and, er, yes, also to do some hiking. We hiked from Mukhuri to Khaishi via the stunning Tobavarkchili Lakes (ft. unexpectedly clear views of Elbrus) - a section of the TCT that we’d planned to do in 2017, but was infeasible that year due to the high snow levels. We then did lots of exploring around Mestia and Mazeri before hiking into Lower Svaneti from Ushguli over the Latpari Pass, with breathtaking views of the Bezengi Wall and 9 glaciers visible at once. On this trip we also had our first peek at the Kazbegi region, although didn’t have time to explore fully. Will I be back again? Most probably! I can’t recommend hiking in Georgia highly enough.
Gegham Mountains
In summer 2024 Charlie and I returned to Armenia to hike the TCT across the Gegham mountains, a wild and remote chain of (extinct) volcanoes inhabited only by herders in summer. Starting at Orbelian’s Caravanserai, a 14th-century inn for Silk Road travelers with views across to neighboring Azerbaijan and Iran, and crossing the range to finish at Sevan, this trip featured:
- Endless views of Mt Ararat 😍
- Swims in volcanic craters
- An unstoppable Lada that drove right through a river!
- Accidentally gatecrashing a family’s party (who insisted that they should marry Charlie and I on the spot)
- And travelling back in time visiting a mountain-top Soviet-era military base overlooking what used to be the USSR’s border with Turkey and Iran.
Check out the full route guide here (and pay close attention to the safety info about shepherd dogs - you will be chased by them!).
