Travel date
| TRIP DATES | AVAILABILITY | PRICE | SPACE LEFT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 3, 2026 | Available | €1.690 |
12 Available
|
Tushetian shepherd on horseback during the autumn cattle drive — Greater Caucasus, Georgia. Photo: Heiner Buhr
Once a year. Once in a lifetime.
A journey unchanged for centuries.
The cattle drive of Tusheti is one of the last great transhumances of the Caucasus. Every autumn, Tushetian shepherds move their herds — sheep, cattle, horses, dogs — from the high mountain pastures down to the winter lowlands of Kakheti. We join them for four days on foot.
This is not a trekking tour with fixed waypoints. The pace is set by the animals. The route follows an ancient path through gorges, over passes and across rivers. Nothing is staged. Everything is real.
9 days from Tbilisi · 4×4 offroad transfer to Tusheti · Small group · Once a year
She and the dog watch the flock descend toward the Abano Pass — Greater Caucasus, Georgia. Photo: Kaukasus-Reisen
Once a year, the shepherds of Tusheti leave the high Caucasus behind. We go with them.
Every autumn, Tushetian shepherds drive their herds down from the mountain pastures of the Greater Caucasus to the winter lowlands of the Alazani valley in Kakheti — just as their fathers and grandfathers did before them. Sheep, goats, cattle, horses and enormous Caucasian shepherd dogs move together through passes, ravines and valleys, through fog, rain and early snow.
We join this journey. On foot, side by side with the shepherds. Four days of hiking through some of the most remote and spectacular landscapes in the Caucasus — no crowds, no tourist infrastructure, nothing but mountains, animals and the rhythm of an ancient way of life.
One morning on the trail, a wolf crossed our path. The shepherd dogs tensed. The herd fell silent. Then the wolf turned and disappeared into the fog. Nobody said a word. That moment — raw, unscripted, unrepeatable — is what this trip is about.
Six images — one journey. The Cattle Drive Tusheti: passes, animals, dust and the Greater Caucasus. Photo: Heiner Buhr
The cattle drive of Tusheti is a disappearing tradition. Younger generations are leaving the mountains. Every year there are fewer shepherds making this journey. We have been organising this trip for years in close cooperation with Tushetian families — and that trust is what makes it possible.
Tusheti lies in the north-eastern Greater Caucasus — the cattle drive descends from Omalo through the mountains to the Kakheti lowlands and Tbilisi. Map: Kaukasus-Reisen
This trip takes place once a year — for a maximum of 12 guests. Spaces for autumn 2026 are still available.
See for yourself — impressions from the Cattle Drive Tusheti:
Filmed in October in Tusheti — the departure of the shepherds at dawn, the herds moving through the ravines of the Greater Caucasus, and the crossing of the Abano Pass.
„So they still exist — jobs for real men.”
Björn-Erik Sass, Die Zeit, 2010 — Germany’s leading weekly newspaper reported on the Cattle Drive Tusheti. — zeit.de/2010/44/Georgien
📷 Photo book — Michael Fröhlich documented the cattle drive in a photo book: blurb.de — Viehtrieb in Tuschetien
Packing List — Cattle Drive Tusheti
Documents & essentials
Copies of your travel documents · Travel insurance · Cash in Georgian Lari · Personal medication
Clothing & footwear
Sturdy waterproof hiking boots and good socks · Sports shoes for the camp · Slippers for the guesthouse · Anorak or rain jacket · Warm mid-layer (fleece or down) · Warm hat and gloves · Sun hat and sunglasses · Sunscreen
Hiking equipment
Hiking poles · Sleeping bag (temperatures can drop below zero at night) · Headlamp or flashlight · Sit pad / cushion for outdoors · Camping cutlery and a thermal mug
Electronics
Camera and photographic equipment · Power bank to charge your phone · Spare memory cards and batteries (no charging options on the trail)
Food & comfort
Personal snacks for the trail · Book to read during rest stops
Overview
Tusheti lies in the north-eastern Greater Caucasus — a remote highland region that feels untouched by the modern world. It is the homeland of the Tushi people, a mountain culture defined by centuries of pastoral life, stone towers and seasonal migration.
Twice a year, the Tushetian shepherds move their herds between worlds. In spring, they drive their sheep, goats, cattle and horses from the southern steppes of Shiraki — on the Azerbaijani border — northward through Kakheti and up over the 2,926-metre Abano Pass into the mountain villages of Tusheti. Through the summer months, the herds graze on lush high-altitude meadows, the shepherds produce their renowned Tushetian cheese, and life follows rhythms that have barely changed in centuries.
Then, at the end of September — after the potato harvest, before the first snow — the camps are dismantled. Horses and donkeys are loaded. The herds begin their long journey back to Kakheti, covering 20 to 30 kilometres a day across the passes and gorges of the Greater Caucasus. This is the cattle drive. This is what we join.
We offer this trip on one date per year only. It cannot be repeated, rescheduled or replicated. The participants can expect vast landscapes, Tushetian hospitality, deep silence and an adventure that moves at the pace of the animals — on foot or on horseback, through one of the last great wildernesses of Europe.
Tusheti is an Eldorado for nature lovers, riders, adventurers, photographers, writers and artists. If you have ever wanted to witness a way of life that is disappearing — this is the journey.
📷 Photo book — Photographer Michael Fröhlich documented the Tusheti cattle drive in a beautiful photo book: blurb.de — Viehtrieb in Tuschetien
Highlights
- Tbilisi & the road to Tusheti A city tour of Tbilisi — the old town, the sulphur baths, the first taste of Georgian cuisine and hospitality. Then the spectacular offroad drive over the Abano Pass (2,926 m), one of the most dramatic mountain roads in the entire Caucasus.
- The villages of Tusheti We visit the ancient villages of Omalo, Dartlo, Parsma and Girevi with their medieval defensive towers — some almost entirely abandoned, all strikingly beautiful. An afternoon in the shepherd's camp gives you a first glimpse of the world you are about to walk through: sheep shearing, campfire, shashlik.
- The cattle drive Four days on foot alongside the shepherds and their herds — through gorges, across rivers and over the passes of the Greater Caucasus. The pace is set by the animals. Nothing is staged. Everything is real.
- Kakheti — the journey's end The cattle drive descends into the warmth of Kakheti, Georgia's great wine region. The journey ends with a celebratory dinner at a family winery — Georgian food, local wine and stories from the trail.
