Guided climbs · Kazbek, 5,054 m
Guided Kazbek climbs, compared
Georgia's 5,054 m dormant volcano is climbed from Stepantsminda via the Gergeti Glacier and the Meteo Station (Betlemi hut). Georgian guide companies sell 3–9 day ascents for roughly €850–€1,185 a head; UK companies run 8–12 day trips for £2,136–£2,995 or US$4,165 before flights. Spring ski ascents are sold too, mostly via guide marketplaces.
Start here
What kind of trip do you want?
Copied from each company’s own pages on Oct 22, 2026. Every “See dates” button opens the page we used. Where a page says which season a price is for, we show it. Prices are in each company’s own currency; sorting by price uses rough exchange rates. Prices change; the operator’s page wins if it disagrees with this one.
Free · no guide
Climb Kazbek yourself
Everything above is for hiring a guide. If you have the skills, this is what you need to do it on your own, free. Facts come from the summit’s own page on PeakSeeker, with sources.
- Normal route
- South Route via Gergeti Glacier and Betlemi Hut
- Grade
- PD / Russian 2A
- How long
- 4-7 days
- Best season
- Mid-July to end of August (most stable weather); September possible with more wind and cold
- Permits
- A border-zone movement permit is required, since Kazbek sits near the Russia-Georgia border; foreign climbers typically arrange it via Georgia's Agency of Protected Areas through a local operator.
- Start from
- Gergeti Trinity Church / Stepantsminda trailhead
- Climb from there
- 11,483 ft (3,500 m) of ascent over 13 mi one way
- Getting there
- Climbers drive roughly 3 hours from Tbilisi along the Georgian Military Highway to Stepantsminda, then hike or take a 4x4 track up past the Gergeti Trinity Church to AltiHut and on to the Betlemi Hut. Nearest airport: Tbilisi International Airport (TBS).
- Hazards
- Crevassed glacier travel, high-altitude weather, and border-zone access restrictions.
- Gear
- Standard glacier mountaineering kit (crampons, ice axe, harness, rope) plus cold-weather gear for the 3,650 m Betlemi hut; a 4x4 track or long hike reaches the hut from Stepantsminda.
A mapped way up: Stepantsminda–Kazbegi (no trailmarks)
Line from OpenStreetMap; profile approximate. Map and GPX download →
Sources: mountainfreaks.ge ↗keadventure.com ↗adventurepeaks.com ↗muchbetteradventures.com ↗
Read this before you pay a deposit
Book in Georgia if you only want the mountain. MTA's private tour is €850 a head for four, Caucasus Trekking's group tour €1,100 with four Meteo Station nights and meals, Climbing Georgia's fixed dates €1,185 — against £2,475–£2,995 land-only from UK companies.
Read what the cheap prices leave out. Explore-Share's €600 express and Climbing Georgia's €990 economy tour exclude huts and meals; Mountain Freaks' €990 (2023) excludes mountain food and the 60 GEL Meteo Station nights. Caucasus Trekking's €1,100 includes both.
Watch the schedule length. Short programs (Climbing Georgia's 3 days, Explore-Share's 4) suit already-acclimatised climbers; first-timers at 5,000 m are better on the 6–10 day trips with acclimatisation and a reserve day (Caucasus Trekking, Adventure Peaks, KE, Jagged Globe).
UK trips sell the package, not a different mountain. Adventure Peaks (£2,475, 10 days) includes permit fees, horses and meals; Much Better Adventures (£2,136, 7 nights) is the cheapest UK option but includes only one summit attempt. KE is the priciest at US$4,165.
Jagged Globe is the only one that sets an entry bar: PD alpine routes or Scottish Grade II. Everyone else takes fit trekkers, so ask about crampon training before summit day.
Most Georgian price sheets are 1–3 years old (Mountain Freaks' are 2021–2023). Get a 2027 quote in writing, and ask whether hut nights, gas and horses are in it.
- Mountain Freaks' 2023 price sheet charges the Meteo Station (Betlemi hut) separately: 60 GEL per person per night, with gas canisters about €16 each. mountainfreaks.ge ↗
- Summit day from the Meteo Station gains about 1,400 m over 10–12 hours, with glacier travel and roped sections; no technical climbing skills are required (KE Adventure). keadventure.com ↗
- The main summer season runs June–September (Much Better Adventures); Mountain Freaks takes private groups from May to the end of October and runs ski-touring expeditions in April–May. mountainfreaks.ge ↗
- Adventure Peaks lists 'permit fees' among its inclusions. Kazbek lies on the Georgia–Russia border; we could not confirm the border-police registration rules from an official Georgian source, so ask your operator who arranges it. adventurepeaks.com ↗
- Local guide companies run one guide per three climbers on the summit; Much Better Adventures says an extra summit attempt costs about €500 per guide. muchbetteradventures.com ↗
The companies
Mountain Freaks
- Based
- Stepantsminda / Tbilisi, Georgia
- Programs
- 5
- Deposit
- Staged payments; the 2023 open-expedition sheet has €190 of the €990 paid on the spot during the expedition.
- Private
- Open groups run one guide per 3 participants. An individual guide for acclimatisation and the summit push was €700 extra in the 2023 sheet (€600 per peak in 2021 sheets). Private groups (max 3 per guide, up to 6 days of mountain action) on request.
- Contact
- +995 593583596
info@mountainfreaks.ge
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit Mountain Freaks ↗Policy from: mountainfreaks.ge, mountainfreaks.ge, mountainfreaks.ge, mountainfreaks.ge
Mountain Travel Agency (MTA)
- Based
- Stepantsminda, Georgia
- Programs
- 4
- Deposit
- €400 on the fixed-date expedition, due two months before departure.
- Private
- Private Kazbek tour, per person: €1,450 (1), €1,100 (2), €1,000 (3), €850 (4+). Private climbs last 4–5 days or more.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit MTA Kazbek Climbing ↗Policy from: kazbekclimbing.com, kazbekclimbing.com, kazbekclimbing.com, kazbekclimbing.com
Climbing Georgia
- Based
- Georgia
- Programs
- 8
- Private
- Private tour any dates, per person June–September: €1,790 (1), €1,485 (2), €1,395 (3–4), €1,285 (5+); includes airport transfers and two Tbilisi hotel nights; single room +€15/night. Fixed-date tours are guaranteed to run even with one participant.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit Climbing Georgia ↗Policy from: climbinggeorgia.com, climbinggeorgia.com, climbinggeorgia.com, climbinggeorgia.com
Caucasus Trekking (Welcome to the Caucasus)
- Based
- Tbilisi, Georgia
- Programs
- 1
- Deposit
- €200 per person.
- Private
- Custom dates offered; climbs run with IFMGA-certified local guides. Fixed groups take 3–8 participants; the operator decides before the start date whether a departure runs.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit Caucasus Trekking ↗Policy from: caucasus-trekking.com, caucasus-trekking.com, welcome2caucasus.com
Georgia.to
- Based
- Georgia (prices in GEL)
- Programs
- 1
- Private
- Price based on a minimum group of 3; smaller groups 'can be adjusted'. Small groups of 3–6 with a certified English-speaking guide.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit Georgia.to ↗Policy from: georgia.to, georgia.to
Armland
- Based
- Yerevan, Armenia
- Programs
- 1
- Private
- Groups capped at six people including two guides.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit Armland ↗Policy from: armland.am
Adventure Peaks
- Based
- UK
- Programs
- 1
- Deposit
- £400 at booking, a further £400 four months before departure.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit Adventure Peaks ↗Policy from: adventurepeaks.com
Jagged Globe
- Based
- UK
- Programs
- 1
- Deposit
- £350.
- Private
- Group size 3–12. Single room supplement £150.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit Jagged Globe ↗Policy from: jagged-globe.co.uk, jagged-globe.co.uk, jagged-globe.co.uk
KE Adventure Travel
- Based
- UK
- Programs
- 1
- Deposit
- US$425 (on the US-dollar listing).
- Private
- Single supplement US$260 (two nights in the group hotel).
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit KE Adventure ↗Policy from: keadventure.com, keadventure.com
Much Better Adventures
- Based
- UK
- Programs
- 1
- Refunds
- Only one summit attempt is included; the guide picks day 5 or reserve day 6 by weather. Extra attempts cost about €500 per guide (1 guide per 3 clients).
Policy from: muchbetteradventures.com, muchbetteradventures.com, muchbetteradventures.com
Explore-Share (guide marketplace)
- Based
- Marketplace for local IFMGA/GMGA guides
- Programs
- 5
- Private
- Prices are 'from' figures per person at the listing's stated group size; individual guides set them, and smaller groups pay more.
Cancellation terms not published where we looked. Get them in writing before you pay.
Visit Explore-Share ↗Policy from: explore-share.com, explore-share.com, explore-share.com, explore-share.com
Get an email when bookings open
Most Georgian companies still show 2023–2025 price sheets. Get an email when 2027 Kazbek dates and prices are posted.
Before and after the trip
Most programs start in Stepantsminda, Georgia. Lodging is extra on nearly all of them.
Kazbek on PeakSeeker → routes, live summit weather and permits.
More comparisons
How this page makes money: links to Booking.com, Viator and 57hours may earn PeakSeeker a commission if you book. Links to the guide companies themselves don’t, and nobody pays to be listed or to change what we say. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
Sources
- mountainfreaks.ge/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/OPEN-EXPEDITION-TO-MT.-KAZBEK-2023.pdf
- keadventure.com/holidays/climb-mount-kazbek
- mountainfreaks.ge/en/skitouring-in-georgia/
- adventurepeaks.com/expeditions/mount-kazbek/
- muchbetteradventures.com/products/9252-adventures-climb-mount-kazbek-georgia/
- mountainfreaks.ge/en/mount-kazbek-expeditions/
- mountainfreaks.ge/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ENG-EXPEDITION-TO-MT.-KAZBEK-MT.-ELBRUS_compressed.pdf
- mountainfreaks.ge/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ENG-TREKKING-IN-TUSHETI-MT.-KAZBEK-MT.-ELBRUS-_compressed.pdf
- mountainfreaks.ge/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/INDIVIDUAL-EXPEDITION-TO-MT.-KAZBEK-HIRING-A-GUIDE-FOR-MT.-KAZBEK.pdf
- mountainfreaks.ge/en/expeditions-timetable/
- kazbekclimbing.com/
- kazbekclimbing.com/plan-mount-kazbek-climb/
- kazbekclimbing.com/mount-kazbek-open-expedition/
- kazbekclimbing.com/mount-kazbek-and-ortsveri-expedition/
- climbinggeorgia.com/mount-kazbek/
- climbinggeorgia.com/mount-kazbek-and-ararat/
- climbinggeorgia.com/aragats-kazbek-elbrus/
- climbinggeorgia.com/gudauri-mount-kazbek/
- climbinggeorgia.com/skitouring-mount-kazbek/
- climbinggeorgia.com/mount-kazbek-south-east/
- caucasus-trekking.com/climbing-tours/mt-kazbek-climbing-tour
- caucasus-trekking.com/climbing-tours
- welcome2caucasus.com/tour-item/mount-kazbek-climbing-tour/
- georgia.to/en/tours/active/kazbek-climb/
- georgia.to/en/tours/active/kazbek-climb/detailed/
- armland.am/climbing-mount-kazbegi/
- jagged-globe.co.uk/climb/exp/i/mount+kazbek.html
- jagged-globe.co.uk/climb/exp/i/elbrus+kazbek.html
- jagged-globe.co.uk/news/item.html?id=3690
- keadventure.com/blog/20-new-adventures-for-2026
- muchbetteradventures.com/en-us/products/9252-adventures-climb-mount-kazbek-georgia/
- muchbetteradventures.com/magazine/climb-mount-kazbek-guide/
- explore-share.com/mountain-climbing-trips/georgia/mount-kazbek/
- explore-share.com/trip/mount-kazbek-climb-georgia-all-inclusive/
- explore-share.com/trip/mount-kazbek-mountaineering-expedition/
- explore-share.com/trip/kazbek-summit-ski-splitboard-tour/
- explore-share.com/trip/10-day-mount-kazbek-north-route-ski-mountaineering-expedition/
- explore-share.com/trip/mount-kazbek-georgia-11-day-guided-splitboarding/
- Each climb’s own page, linked from its “See dates” button.