Georgia Military Highway (348 km)
Tbilisi to Vladikavkaz · one way, about 348 km back to the start
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Why this ride
A one-way ride of 348 km, Tbilisi to Vladikavkaz - roughly 4 h 43 in the saddle. The stops in between: Ananuri, Gudauri, Jvari Cross Pass and Stepantsminda. The highest point is about 2,750 m. It crosses from Georgia into Russia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Roadbook
- Tbilisi
start
Tbilisi spreads along the Mtkvari river in a bowl of dry hills, and its first impression is of balconies. Old houses lean over narrow streets with carved wooden verandas, sulphur bathhouses sit under domes of brick in the Abanotubani district, and on the ridge above, the ruined Narikala fortress watches the city. The name Tbilisi comes from a Georgian word for warm, and the story says that a hunting king found hot springs here and decided to found a city.
This is where the Georgian Military Highway begins, the old road north to Russia across the central Caucasus. Russia built it in the nineteenth century after taking over Georgia, to move troops and supplies, and it follows an even older caravan route through the Darial gorge. Writers and travellers, from Pushkin to Lermontov to Dumas, have described the journey, and the road still has a romantic reputation. Soon after leaving the city you pass Mtskheta, Georgia's ancient capital, where the sixth-century Jvari monastery stands on a hilltop above the junction of two rivers.
From Tbilisi the road goes north along the Aragvi, past the Zhinvali reservoir and up through Gudauri, a ski resort, to the Jvari Pass at about 2,400 metres, before dropping to Stepantsminda beneath Mount Kazbek. Surfaces are mostly good, though lorry traffic is heavy, and tunnels and avalanche galleries add to the adventure. Snow can close the high section from late autumn to spring. Summer is the best season, with clear air, wildflowers and blue skies.
Tbilisi has everything a rider needs. Fuel stations are everywhere, and there are bike mechanics, shops and plenty of lodging. The city traffic is lively and drivers are creative, so be alert, especially on roundabouts. Food is a delight: khachapuri, the cheese-filled bread, and khinkali, spiced dumplings you eat with your hands, are on every menu, along with the local amber wine made in clay vessels. A day to wander the old town is a good investment before heading north.
- Ananuri
scenic
Ananuri is the first place on the Georgian Military Highway where history interrupts the scenery. The fortress stands on a bluff above the Aragvi river, which here is dammed into the bright turquoise Zhinvali reservoir, and its pale stone towers and walls make a striking picture against the water and the mountains behind. It was the seat of the Dukes of Aragvi, built in the seventeenth century, and its walls enclose two churches, one of which has carved crosses and vines around its doors that are worth a close look.
The fortress was a place of fighting as well as faith. In 1739, a rival noble family attacked and burned it, killing the duke and his household, and it later became a stronghold against invaders from the north. The castle guarded the route that runs from Tbilisi through the Caucasus to Russia, which has been one of the most important roads in the region for centuries, and walking among the walls you feel how many travellers have passed this way. Stalls near the gate sell local honey, churchkhela and souvenirs.
The riding on this section is great. The road from Tbilisi follows the Aragvi valley north, climbing steadily through hills of oak and beech and then into the mountains, with wide, open bends and a surface that varies from smooth to rough, with potholes and patches where the road has been repaired. Lorries, minibuses and cattle share the road, and the drivers can be unpredictable, so stay alert and expect a lot of overtaking. The reservoir is at its most colourful in summer, and spring brings green slopes and snowy summits.
Fuel needs a little planning. Zhinvali, a small settlement beside the reservoir, has basic services, but the larger towns are further away, so fill up in Tbilisi or in a bigger town before you set out, and check the tank again at the next major stop, as the road to Gudauri is long and there are only a few stations. Bring warm clothing, as the weather changes fast in the mountains, and carry water, since the climb can be hot in summer. Give yourself time to walk around the fortress, because it deserves more than a quick photograph.
- Gudauri
scenic
Gudauri is a ski resort first and a village by accident, strung along the road a little below the Jvari Pass in the High Caucasus, at roughly two thousand metres. In winter it is full of Georgians, Russians and Gulf visitors with skis, and the lifts rise from just behind the hotels. In summer it empties out, the slopes turn into flower meadows, and paragliders drift above the grass. Either way the main road, the old Georgian Military Highway, runs straight through the middle, and everything on it, from lorries to cows, goes by at its own speed.
The highway is the story. For centuries this was the one real road through the central Caucasus, linking Tbilisi with Vladikavkaz and Russia, and the Russians strengthened it after they took over Georgia in 1801. The climb from the south is long and steady, up the valley of the Aragvi, with grassy slopes and then bare mountain, and above Gudauri the road tackles the pass, with hairpins, tunnels and snow galleries. The surface is much better than it used to be, though potholes, rockfall and roadworks are a fact of life. The weather is the real boss: fog, sleet and sudden snow can arrive in any month, and in winter the pass is sometimes closed to heavy traffic.
Just beyond the resort, a big curved concrete viewing platform, decorated with a Soviet-era mosaic, sits on the edge of a vast gorge. It was built in 1983 to mark two hundred years of friendship between Georgia and Russia, and today it is mainly a viewpoint, with a long drop into the green valley below and the road wriggling across the mountainside opposite. Stalls sell wool socks, honey and local sweets, and on a clear day the light on the ridge is fine.
Gudauri has a few stations and shops, but supplies thin out quickly, and prices are those of a resort. The nearest proper town to the south is Pasanauri, about twenty kilometres away, with more services, and it is wise to start the climb with a full tank. Bring warm clothes, even in summer, because the wind at this altitude cuts through a mesh jacket, and keep an eye on the cattle, which have no fear of motorcycles and a firm belief in their right of way.
- Jvari Cross Pass
scenic · 2379 m
Jvari means cross in Georgian, and the pass gets its name from a cross that, according to tradition, was raised here in the early centuries of Georgian Christianity, high on the saddle of the Greater Caucasus at 2,379 metres. This is the summit of the Georgian Military Highway, the road that the Russians built in the nineteenth century to link Tbilisi with Vladikavkaz on the far side of the mountains. For two centuries it has been the main route between Georgia and Russia, a road of armies, traders, poets and now, in summer, a rising number of motorcyclists.
The climb from the south starts in the broad valley of the Aragvi and rises through villages, with the Gudauri ski resort, perched on an open bowl of grass a few kilometres below the summit, as the last settlement. The road is paved, with a steady series of hairpins that climbs the slope toward the saddle, and at the top, a wide viewing platform and a huge circular monument, a Soviet mosaic from 1983 commemorating the friendship of Russia and Georgia, look out over a deep, green gorge. The mosaic, painted with scenes of national history, is a cheerfully faded piece of Soviet art, and the drop below it is dizzying. You can see the wind turning the clouds.
Be careful with the road. Surfaces vary, with potholes, patches of loose gravel and sections damaged by landslides and winter frost. Lorries labour up the slopes in a line, and overtaking on blind corners is a national habit, so keep to your side and watch the oncoming traffic. Cows and sheep wander across the carriageway. The pass is often closed in winter because of snow and avalanches, and conditions can change quickly even in summer, with cold fog and sudden rain. The best months are June to September.
The Caucasus here are young, steep and wild, with grass slopes dotted with wild flowers in July, and snow lingering in the gullies. Griffon vultures soar on the updraughts, and the air is thin and fresh. Over the pass, the road drops into the Kazbegi region, where the peak of Kazbek rises to more than five thousand metres and the Gergeti Trinity Church sits on a ridge above Stepantsminda.
Services are good for such a high place. Gudauri has fuel stations, small shops, cafés and guesthouses, serving khachapuri, the national cheese bread, and grilled meat, and it is the best place to fill up before the climb or after the descent. Carry a warm jacket, even in summer, because the wind on the saddle is cold.
- Stepantsminda
scenic
Stepantsminda sits in a green bowl below Mount Kazbek, which at 5,047 metres is one of the great peaks of the Caucasus, and when the clouds part the mountain seems to hang over the roofs. The town was long known by the Russian name Kazbegi, and many signs and maps still use it. The Terek river, called the Tergi in Georgian, runs through the valley on its way north to the Caspian, and a few kilometres further on the gorge narrows toward the Russian border, so this really is the end of the road for most travellers.
The reason most people come is the church on the hill. The Gergeti Trinity Church stands alone on a ridge above the town at about 2,170 metres, a small stone building of the fourteenth century with the great white cone of Kazbek behind it, and it is one of the best known sights in Georgia. A rough track climbs to it, passable on a motorcycle but steep and stony, and a walk of a couple of hours is the traditional approach. Early morning is the best moment, when the mountain is clear and the hill is quiet. Later the clouds often roll in and hide the summit.
The ride from Gudauri is a high, wild stretch, over the Jvari Pass and down through the valley of the Terek, where black slopes, rushing rivers and a few old stone towers fill the view. Heavy lorries heading for the Russian border use this road in large numbers, so there can be queues in the Dariali gorge north of town, and the surface suffers from the traffic. In winter, snow and avalanches can close the road, so check conditions before setting out.
Stepantsminda has a small centre with guesthouses, cafés and shops, and the food is hearty, with khinkali dumplings, cheese bread and grilled meats. Fuel is available in the town, but supplies can run short in busy periods, so do not leave the stop with a nearly empty tank. Gudauri, about twenty-four kilometres back, is the next sizeable place. Nights are cold even in summer, and a warm layer is as useful as a camera.
- Vladikavkaz
finish
Vladikavkaz means rule the Caucasus, which tells you what the Russians thought of it when they built a fortress here in 1784. It stands on the Terek river where the mountains meet the plain, capital of North Ossetia, and from the broad avenues you can see the snow-covered chain of the central Caucasus on a clear day. It is a calm, orderly city with a colonial look, with tree-lined streets, a long riverside promenade and a scattering of old merchant houses.
This is the northern end of the Georgian Military Highway. The road was created to give Russia a safe route through the mountains to its new Georgian possessions, and Vladikavkaz was the gateway, where convoys gathered before heading into the gorges. The Ossetians who live in this region are an Iranian-speaking people with their own proud culture, with traditions of feasting, toasts and stone tower villages. Ossetian pies, with cheese, potato or beef fillings, are a regional speciality, and are usually ordered in threes, with a toast to the Almighty over the first.
The ride south follows the Terek into the Darial gorge, a spectacular narrow defile with vertical cliffs, and then climbs to the border near Upper Lars. The scenery is tremendous, with castle-like ruins on crags, but the road is busy with trucks and often troubled by landslides and avalanches, particularly in spring. Border crossing rules for foreigners have changed several times in recent years, so check the current position before planning to cross. Even without crossing, the valley road is worth a day.
Vladikavkaz and the nearby town of Nogir have fuel and basic services, and the city has hotels, cafes and bike-friendly guesthouses. Before heading into the gorge, fill up, since stations are fewer. Summer is the best season, with warm days and clear mountains, while winter brings snow and closures. Pack warm layers and be ready for sudden weather in the gorge, and carry your documents at all times, since checkpoints are common.