Hiking Retreat in the Adjara Mountains, Georgia: Trails From the Venue (2026)

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Published 29 October 2026·20 min read·Prices and facts checked: October 2026

Five day hikes of 2 to 6 hours start at the gate of Glamping Tago in Khulo, Adjara, from village loops to Otsinari lake and the marked 8.4 km trail to Skhalta monastery, with Khikhani and the Shuamta lakes as a jeep day. Guides cost 150-200 GEL per group.

A hiking retreat in the Adjara mountains works best from one base where the trails start at the door. At Glamping Tago, on a ridge above Village Tago in Khulo at about 1,200 m, five walks of 2 to 6 hours leave from the gate, a marked trail drops 8.4 km to a medieval monastery, and the high alpine sights (Khikhani fortress, the Shuamta lakes, Green Lake) are jeep days. This guide gives every route with its km, height gain and time, what a guide costs, a 5-day programme and the 2026 prices for a group.

Pick the venue by where the walking starts and whether the place is yours. For a group of 12 to 33 that wants to walk from the door and have the whole site to itself, the camp at Tago fits; for a hotel stay with day walks in the high Caucasus, Kazbegi and Gudauri are the classic choice.

Glamping Tago (our venue), Village Tago, Khulo, Adjara

We are Jonas and Lisa, a Belgian couple who fell in love with these mountains and opened Glamping Tago in 2021; Lisa is a doctor, which is why the safety notes further down are the ones we give every group. The whole camp goes to one group of 12 to 33 at a time: twelve Lotus tents for two and the Half Dome, a shared tent for nine, along the ridge. Sessions run in a 38 m2 heated yoga dome (10 to 12 people on mats) or on a 138 m2 platform under a sailcloth tent, open on three sides, that takes 50 people on mats. Meals come from Yurtalicious, the yurt restaurant on site, with a vegetarian kitchen that also cooks vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free dishes. The camp has Starlink Wi-Fi.

More than 75 retreat groups have stayed since 2021, and many build their week around the walks: a 7-woman yoga retreat in May 2026 closed its week with a hike to Otsinari lake, a 13-woman group from Slovakia spent a full day on a mountain lake hike with lunch kept for their return, and a breathwork retreat paired daily pranayama with a trip to Skhalta monastery. The retreats page has their stories.

Adjara puts mountain trails 2.5 hours from an airport, at heights where a group can walk every day without acclimatising. Kazbegi and Svaneti have the higher peaks, but they mean a long transfer and a hotel or guesthouse you share.

Adjara: Khulo, Tago and the Goderdzi side

• Close to an airport. Batumi airport is 87 km from the camp by road, about 2.5 hours with a private transfer.
• Walkable heights. The camp sits at about 1,200 m, Otsinari lake at about 1,450 m and the Shuamta lakes at 2,150 m. Days at the camp usually reach about 19°C in May, 24°C in June and 22 to 25°C in September.
• Marked routes. The Adjara tourism department marked new routes in 2019, among them the Khulo-Tago-Skhalta walk and the Khulo-Skhalta-Khikhani route.
• The cons. It rains on 11 to 16 days a month from April to October, so paths turn muddy; the last stretch from Khulo needs a 4x4; and Tbilisi is far, 8.5 hours by private transfer.

Kazbegi and Gudauri

Kazbegi is the classic one-hotel hiking week: 2 to 8 hours a day on mountain paths up to about 3,000 m from a village base at about 1,750 m, as Maspindzeli's Kazbegi week runs it. The signature walk, to the Gergeti Trinity church above Stepantsminda, is under 500 m up and down, 3 to 4 hours. The Juta trek is about 9 km and 680 m up from about 2,150 m.

In Gudauri, south of Kazbegi, Gudauri Lodge is a ski hotel that stays open in summer, when the walks start from the slopes.

Suatis Resort, in Achkhoti on the Kazbegi road, has 40 rooms, 90 beds, a conference hall and a sauna, with the Sno valley trail toward Juta close by. It works for a group that is happy to share the hotel, but two July 2026 reviews describe a party with loud music past midnight, and the restaurant serves breakfast only.

Svaneti: join an organised week

Svaneti retreats are fixed-date weeks you join rather than a venue you hire. Embody Your Yoga ran 8 to 15 August 2026 in Lakhushdi at EUR 700 to 950 for 7 nights half board, about 4.5 hours from Kutaisi; Soul & Sun Yoga ran 26 September to 3 October in Mazeri at EUR 1,450 to 1,550 per person, 280 km and 5 to 6 hours by minibus from Kutaisi. In Kazbegi, Georgia Explore's 7-day yoga camp costs from USD 336 to 1,010.

Five documented routes leave from the camp gate, three easy walks of about 2 hours and two half to full days of 4 to 6 hours, and they are free to walk on your own. Two longer variants of the Skhalta route make a hard full day for fit groups.

Reception lends maps, checks the weather and matches a route to the group. Organic Maps and MAPS.ME show far more paths up here than the five written-up routes: old village tracks, forest roads and ridge lines. The Otsinari route is only on those two apps, so load the area offline before you leave.

All three easy walks take about 2 hours with little climbing, so they fit an arrival afternoon or the gap between a morning and an evening session. A 14:00 start is fine for any of them.

• Village walk: about 2.2 km one way and 119 m of height from the lowest tents, past a spring, a small waterfall, the photo rock and a camomile field. It shows the group the village they are living above.
• Lonely Tree: a 3.6 km loop with about 130 m of climbing to a high point of 1,261 m. It starts under the big platform, runs through Samtsukhi and comes back on the car road.
• Green Hill: 4.5 km return with about 126 m up and down, on yellow markers toward Skhalta from the upper exit, to a picnic hilltop 1.4 km south of the camp. New road works make it muddy after rain.

Both are medium days of 4 to 6 hours. Otsinari is the climb (about 600 m of ups and downs on the round trip to a lake at 1,450 m), Skhalta the descent (8.4 km and about 600 m down to a medieval monastery, with a car back up).

Otsinari lake: the half day uphill

The Otsinari lake route is 4.1 km by the short way or 4.4 km by the long way, one way, to the lake at about 1,450 m. Walk out on one and back on the other: 8.5 km with about 600 m of climbing in total. Walking takes 1 to 1.5 hours each way and most groups spend 4 to 6 hours with time at the water. The first 30 minutes are steep and muddy after rain.

You can swim until about the end of June; after that the lake dries up. Frogs and fish live in it. Days at the lake usually reach about 21°C in June, but nights drop to about 5°C in May and 4°C in October, so pack a warm layer for the stop.

Skhalta monastery: the marked trail down

The Tago to Skhalta route is 8.4 km one way with about 127 m up and 607 m down, from the camp to the monastery at about 714 m. Yellow signs mark it the whole way and the phone signal holds throughout. After 1.2 km the trail crosses a meadow with a wide view, and near the end there is a spring and a shop with snacks, water and ice cream. Visit Ajara's own track takes a slightly different line and measures 8.6 km with about 750 m of descent.

The walk back up is the hard part, so most groups walk down and ride back: the monastery is 9.5 km from the camp by road, and our taxi collects walkers there. Visit Ajara lists the route as easy and walkable in both directions, late spring to late autumn; from the Skhalta side it takes longer because of the climb. Take water, and light no fires anywhere on the route.

Skhalta is an active monastery; historians date the church to the 10th-11th or the 12th-13th century, and its frescoes, restored in the 1990s, are from the 14th to 15th century. One of them is, as the national tourism board puts it, the only fresco in Georgia showing John the Baptist as a youth. Women need a headscarf and a skirt to go into the church and men long trousers (dress code). The house-museum of Sherif Khimshiashvili stands 700 m away. The church is sometimes locked; the phone number is on the door and on the card below.

The long variants for fit groups

Instead of riding back from Skhalta, a fit group can loop back via Cheri and Dzmagula: 15.6 km and about 705 m up and down, about 5 hours of walking. The hard full day goes down to Skhalta and back over Pachkha, Otsinari lake and Mount Argineti: 18.8 km, about 1,277 m of climbing and about 10 hours. Book a guide for either.

Khikhani fortress, the Shuamta lakes and Green Lake sit at 2,000 to 2,236 m, 36 to 41 km from the camp on mountain roads, so they are jeep days with a short walk at the end. Khikhani and Shuamta make one day; Green Lake is a separate day on another road.

Khikhani fortress: the hardest hour of the week

Khikhani stands at about 2,200 m on a ridge close to the Turkish border. The road from the camp runs 36.4 km up the Skhalta valley, past Skhalta monastery on the way, and takes 45 minutes to 1 hour to Skhalta and another 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 30 by jeep. The last 1 to 1.5 km is a narrow, steep footpath with iron stairs and about 400 to 420 m of height: plan about 1 to 1.5 hours up, and 2 to 3 hours for the climb and back. There is no water on the path, and Visit Ajara does not recommend it for people with heart or breathing problems.

Part of the way runs through the border zone. Contact the State Border Protection Service ahead of the trip, and carry every passport: everyone registers at the border post on the road in.

Shuamta lakes: the easy alpine walk

The Shuamta lakes are five lakes, three large, at 2,150 m in summer pastures with seasonal huts, best from June to late September. From Khikhani they are 25 to 30 minutes by jeep, so our tour does both in one day with a picnic at the lakes. From the Goderdzi side they are about an hour on the path from Beshumi; Beshumi is not on the way from Tago (it adds 14.4 km), so treat it as a different approach.

Green Lake: a separate day on the Goderdzi road

Green Lake is 39.9 km from the camp by road, down through Khulo and up the Batumi to Akhaltsikhe road toward the Goderdzi pass, at 2,058 m. It is a half-day jeep trip with a walk along the shore, and the water is always cold. Our Green Lake guide has the road, the walk and the season.

No. The five routes from the camp are free and safe to walk on your own with a map, and the Skhalta trail is marked. A guide makes sense for Otsinari (bears, an unmarked path), for the long variants and for Khikhani.

• Our hiking guide: 150 GEL half day, 200 GEL full day, per group (tours page).
• Forest and herb walk with a local herbalist: 1 to 2 hours from the tents, 4 to 14 people, spring to autumn, from 300 GEL per group.
• Jeep tours from the camp: one destination (Khikhani, Green Lake, Shuamta or Goderdzi) 400 GEL per car; the big day (Skhalta, Khikhani and a picnic at the Shuamta lakes, 8 to 10 hours) 600 GEL per car for up to 5.
• Elsewhere in Georgia: guides usually charge 150 to 300 GEL a day, depending on region and group size.

From Batumi, Take and Hike runs organised group hikes of 10 to 15 people, including a Khikhani day: leave Batumi about 8:00, back about 20:00, about 8 km and 600 m up, passport needed, 160 GEL per person with transfer, tour leader and meals. Their shop on Tbel Abuseridze Street also rents tents, poles and sleeping bags. Yolo.ge lists guided day hikes in mountainous Adjara of about 17 km at 110 GEL per person for groups of up to 7.

Alternate a harder day with an easy one and keep the long walks in the morning. Groups that do well here run morning yoga at 08:00, breakfast at 09:30, the walk from 10:30 and an afternoon class at 17:00, with the sauna and the campfire every evening.

For a group that walks more, swap day 3 for the Skhalta walk down (ride back by taxi) and keep the herb walk for the afternoon of day 5. For a gentler week, replace the jeep day with the Skhalta walk and add a second rest day.

June and September are the best months: warm days and the high lakes open. The camp is open from 1 April to the end of October; May suits low walks and October cool, clear days.

• April and May: days usually reach about 15°C in April and 19°C in May at the camp; the five routes from the camp are open; the high lakes and Khikhani are a June to September trip.
• June: about 24°C by day, Otsinari still full enough to swim (until about the end of June), the Shuamta and Khikhani season begins.
• July and August: July days reach 24 to 28°C, and these are the most expensive weeks for the camp; Beshumi's season runs mid-June to early September.
• September: 22 to 25°C by day, the Shuamta lakes until late September.
• October: about 18°C by day at the camp and about 4°C at night up at Otsinari; we close at the end of the month.

From April to October it rains on 11 to 16 days a month, so every week needs a rain plan: the dome and the covered platform hold the sessions, and the sauna is lit every evening. More on weather by month in our retreat weather guide.

The routes from the camp are safe for a group that keeps to the rules. The real risks are dogs, ticks, slippery mud and the weather, not bears.

• Dogs: herding and guard dogs are the most common animal threat in the Caucasus. Stand your ground and wait for the shepherd.
• Bears: about 400 brown bears live in the Georgian Caucasus and avoid people. Make noise in thick undergrowth and never run.
• Ticks: cases of Lyme disease and CCHF have been recorded in the Caucasus. Check skin and clothes after walking through grass.
• Snakes: the rare Caucasus viper lives in the wetter mountains, Adjara among them. Watch where you put your hands on rocky ground.
• Phone and emergencies: 112 works free from any phone, even without a SIM card. The Batumi tourist information centre answers on +995 577 90 90 93. Magti is the operator with the best mountain coverage; the Skhalta trail has signal the whole way.
• Mud: after rain the first half hour to Otsinari and the Green Hill path are slippery. Boots with grip, not trainers.

Pack for a day that starts warm and ends cold: boots with grip, a rain jacket, a warm layer, enough water for the whole walk (there is none on the Khikhani path) and a headlamp. Bring passports for Khikhani.

• A thermos for tea at the lake in spring and autumn.
• Swimwear for Otsinari in June and for the cold plunge.
• Long trousers and a headscarf if the group visits Skhalta church.
• Offline maps (Organic Maps or MAPS.ME) on at least two phones.
• Blister plasters: the Skhalta walk is 600 m of downhill.

From Batumi it is about 2.5 hours: a private 4x4 straight to the camp, or the minibus to Khulo and our 4x4 taxi for the last 30 to 35 minutes. From Kutaisi airport plan 5.5 hours.

A group minibus or coach comes the easier way: turn off the Batumi to Akhaltsikhe road at Zamleti, 4.7 km before Khulo, and follow the Skhalta valley via Cheri and Dzmagula. The cable car from Khulo to Tago is closed, so do not plan around it. With a 4x4 you park at the camp; without one, park in Khulo centre and take our taxi up. Our how to get here page has every option and the map pins, and the Batumi to Khulo guide covers the minibus in detail.

The whole camp for up to 33 people costs from 1,962 GEL a night, rising to 4,488 GEL in July and August, and three vegetarian meals a day cost from 100 GEL per person. At the from-price, a 20-person, 4-night retreat comes to about 16,500 GEL for camp, food and walking, about 830 GEL per person.

The example: 4 nights at 1,962 GEL (7,848 GEL), food for 20 people for 4 days (8,000 GEL), two full guided days (400 GEL) and the herb walk (300 GEL). Transfers and a jeep day come on top. For comparison, the Svaneti weeks above cost EUR 700 to 1,550 per person, and there you join someone else's group.

Book the camp first, then the walking. Groups take June to September dates 6 to 12 months ahead.

1. Pick the dates and the group size. 12 to 33 people for the whole camp; June or September for the high lakes.
2. Hold the dates with 30%. Plan a call through the retreats page and we put the programme together with you. The 30% is non-refundable; until 60 days before arrival you can add or remove tents freely, the balance for the tents is invoiced 14 days before arrival, when final numbers are fixed, and food and activities are paid at the end of the stay.
3. Choose the walks. Mark which days are guided (150 or 200 GEL per group) and which the group walks alone.
4. Book the jeep day. 600 GEL per car of up to 5 for Skhalta, Khikhani and Shuamta; tell us the group size so we send enough cars.
5. Sort the border zone for Khikhani. Contact the border service ahead and collect every passport number.
6. Book transfers. Private 4x4s from Batumi or Kutaisi, or a minibus via the Skhalta valley.
7. Send the packing list. Boots, rain jacket, warm layer, passport, swimwear.

Glamping Tago for this

A hiking retreat at Glamping Tago

The whole camp on the ridge above Village Tago belongs to your group, and the walking starts at the gate: three easy loops for the gaps between sessions, Otsinari lake and the marked trail down to Skhalta monastery for the big days, and our jeeps for Khikhani and the Shuamta lakes.

Yoga happens in the heated dome or on the covered platform, the wood-fired sauna is lit every evening, and Yurtalicious, our yurt restaurant, keeps lunch for a group that comes back late. Tell us your group and your dates and we build the week around the walks.

Group size

12 to 33 people, the whole camp for one group

Beds on site

12 Lotus tents for 2 and the Half Dome for 9

Whole camp

From 1,962 GEL a night, up to 4,488 GEL in July-August (2026)

Food

Three vegetarian meals from 100 GEL per person per day

Hikes from the gate

5 routes, 2 to 6 hours, free; guide 150/200 GEL per group

Included

Yoga dome, evening sauna, campfire, coffee and tea all day

From Batumi

About 2.5 hours by private 4x4 (265 GEL per car)

Season

1 April to the end of October

Plan your retreatContact us