Zagari Pass
A wild 2,620 m pass between Lentekhi and Ushguli — one of the highest and most beautiful roads you can drive in Georgia.
- Time needed
- 3 h
- From Tbilisi
- 420 km · 9:00
- Road
- 4x4 only
- Car needed
- Off-road 4x4
- Season
- June–September
- Entry
- free
Zagari is the road that ties Lower and Upper Svaneti together — and at roughly 2,620 m it is one of the highest motorable passes in Georgia. From Lentekhi you follow the Tskhenistskali valley up through the last villages — Mele, Mami, Tsana — until forest gives way to alpine meadow and the track climbs to the very rim of the sky. On the far side, just 6–7 km on, waits Ushguli, one of Europe's highest permanently inhabited villages.
Most of the way is hard dirt track: rocky sections, small fords, narrow shelf road. Near Tsana the abandoned buildings of Soviet arsenic mines appear — a ghost industry stranded in the wild mountains. In return, the pass unrolls a panorama of the Svaneti Range and the Greater Caucasus so vast that many travellers remember the road more vividly than Ushguli itself.
Snow keeps the route shut most of the year; realistically it opens from mid-June until September or early October. Sections are being upgraded in recent years, so conditions change season to season — ask locally before you commit.
Practical advice
Go only with a real 4x4 and only in dry weather — after rain the fords swell and the clay turns slick. Start with a full tank: there is no petrol station between Lentekhi and Ushguli. Mobile signal disappears for long stretches, so download offline maps. Carry water, food and warm layers — at 2,600 m it is cold even in August. If the car gives trouble, push on to Tsana or Ushguli rather than overnighting alone on the pass.
How to get there from Tbilisi
From Tbilisi take the E60 towards Kutaisi, then the Tsageri–Lentekhi road into Lower Svaneti — about 367 km (6 hours) to Lentekhi, mostly asphalt. From Lentekhi it is another ~55 km of rough track to the pass, worth 2–3 hours; around 420 km and 9 hours in total. The route is open roughly June–September only. A genuine 4x4 with high clearance is mandatory — this is no place for an economy or mid-class rental.
Click a marker for details. Coloured lines are ready-made road trips.
Nearby places
Ushguli
One of Europe's highest permanently inhabited settlements at 2,100 m, under Mount Shkhara — UNESCO-listed as part of Upper Svaneti.
Lentekhi
The centre of Lower Svaneti in the Tskhenistskali valley — green, heavily wooded and almost untouched by tourism.
Lailashi
An old Jewish heritage village of Lechkhumi above the Tskhenistskali valley — home of the 10th-century "Lailashi Bible" and a famous secret pool.
Best car for this trip
Guides
- Do You Need a 4x4 in Georgia? We rate the road surface and the minimum car class for all 267 places in our database. 227 of them need nothin
- Winter Driving in Georgia: What Closes, What Opens, Which Car Of the 267 places we map, 161 are in season in winter and 52 are flagged as not reachable year-round. The pass
Pickup locations
Car Rental in Kutaisi — 78 km (straight line)
Booking and enquiries
The easiest way to reach these places is by car — you pick the route and the stops.