Ushguli — Europe's high village

2-min read

Ushguli, a cluster of four hamlets at about 2,100 metres, is among the highest permanently inhabited places in Europe — a few dozen families, their towers, and half a year of snow. With the Mestia towers it forms the UNESCO-listed heart of Svaneti.

Civilisation arrived recently and lightly: cows own the lanes, hay dries on wooden balconies, and the little Lamaria church has watched over the village since around the turn of the first millennium.

🎒 The 13 km trek gains height gently but steadily — start hydrated, and the village cafés at the end do strong coffee and khachapuri.