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I first got to know Georgia through Kutaisi, which is among the world’s oldest cities. The city’s existence has been verified through archaeological digs dating back to the 6th-5th centuries BC. In present times, Kutaisi remains a cultural hub and a key city in Western Georgia. It sits on both sides of the Rioni River, which is one of the largest rivers in the South Caucasus region.
Kutaisi is an excellent hub for traveling around Georgia: you can stay here for a couple of days and then explore other regions. It is located approximately in the middle between the two largest cities in the country: 220 kilometers from Tbilisi and 150 kilometers from Batumi.
I found myself in Kutaisi on my way to Tbilisi in September 2022. I read about the city in various sources and decided to stay. And I was right: I was lucky to see the cozy capital of Imereti in a beautiful warm autumn.
In the article, I will share a walking route through the city center. It is designed for one day – during this time, you can visit the iconic places of Kutaisi so that there is something to tell your friends back home.
First, we will go to the botanical garden and climb the hill to the Bagrati temple. We will enjoy the views of the Rioni river, which reminded me of Italy, and take a cable car to the Old Town with its cobblestone streets. We will buy the tastiest Georgian fruits and churchkhela at the market and see the most expensive fountain in Georgia.
We will conclude our tour of the city at the temple complex of Mtskheta Kavila. If you go there at sunset, you can take beautiful photographs in the warm light of the setting sun.
What will you see?
- Kutaisi Botanical Garden
- Bagrati Cathedral
- The embankment of the Rioni River and the bridges.
- The Besarion Gabashvili Park of Culture and Recreation
- Former residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Imereti.
- Old town
- Historical Museum
- “The Green Market”
- David Agmashenebeli Square with a fountain and theater.
- Jewish quarter with a synagogue.
- Mtsvane Kvavila Temple Complex
How to get to Kutaisi?
On the plane. The Kutaisi airport is located 22 kilometers from the city center. You can get there by Georgian Bus transfer for 10 GEL ($5). The ticket can be purchased in advance on the website, or you can pay with cash at the airport or to the driver. The departure times of the buses are linked to the flight schedule.
You can also call a taxi through the Bolt or Maxim application. The ride costs 20—25 GEL ($8—$10), and it can be paid in cash or with a bank card in the application. I didn’t install it in advance. I decided that it would be faster to find a car at the airport, but there was no taxi there.
The parking guard came to help – an elderly man who spoke Russian. He called his acquaintance, who arrived in 40 minutes and took me to the city center. The trip cost 40 GEL ($16), and I also left a 20 GEL ($8) tip. 50% of the trip amount is a lot, but the driver was friendly and helped me load and unload things. The café where I asked to be taken turned out to be closed – he took me to another one. Tips in Georgia are usually 10-15%.
On the train from Tbilisi. Train №18 departs to Kutaisi at 08:50. The journey takes about 5 hours. A ticket in a sitting carriage costs 9 GEL ($3,6), it can be purchased on the Georgian Railway website after registration or at the station ticket office.
The Kutaisi railway station is located in the center of the city, and it is convenient to get to the starting point of the route from there. A taxi to the botanical garden will cost 4 GEL, and a ride on public transport will cost 0.4 GEL. Buses number 1L, 4, and minibuses number 1, 20, and 34 run there. Upon exiting the stop, it is necessary to walk approximately 1.5 kilometers.
On the bus from Tbilisi. Buses to Kutaisi leave every hour from 06:00 to 19:00. They depart from the Didube bus station. The journey takes 4.5 hours, the price of the trip is 20 GEL. Tickets are purchased at the bus station ticket office or from the driver for cash.
The bus arrives at the Kutaisi bus station, which is located away from the city center, but you can still get to the botanical garden on the same minibuses and buses. The travel time is 20 minutes.
Route
The Kutaisi Botanical Garden was founded in 1969 on the site of a 19th century garden. It features a collection of 700 species of plants native to Georgia and brought from other countries. There are camellias, mimosa, magnolias, Japanese quince, and sequoias. Each plant has a sign with its name in three languages: Georgian, English, and Russian. Admission costs 1 GEL and the garden is open every day from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm.
There are also small gazebos and artificial ponds with bridges in the botanical garden. Two small greenhouses are closed on weekends, so I couldn’t get in. I saw plenty of greenery in pots and on beds through the window. Admission is free.
The main attraction of the garden is the 400-year-old Garvis oak. It is a rare species that is listed in the Red Book. The most interesting thing is the tiny chapel, which was arranged in a natural cavity of the tree in 2014. This idea came to the director of the botanical garden, Amiran Khvadagiani, and he received the blessing of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Similar chapels are found in Europe. For example, the oak chapel in Normandy is considered the oldest oak tree in France. A chapel was built in the trunk of a centuries-old plane tree in the Greek village of Platanotissa near Athens. However, there has never been anything like this in Georgia before.
To find the oak tree, you need to go straight from the main entrance, past the amphitheater. I approached the tree, pulled the door handle, and entered the chapel inside. An adult can stand there at full height. Orthodox icons hang on the walls inside the trunk, brought by local residents. It’s an unusual feeling: as if you are in a familiar chapel, but the green crown of a live tree rustles above your head.
In the amphitheater, local creative groups perform and lectures are given. I saw a school excursion come with a teacher, and the children with their parents settled in the rows. In front of them was a magnetic board, which could be seen from all sides. The class was in Georgian, and I didn’t understand anything, but I managed to catch a pleasant wave of nostalgia: I remembered my school lessons.
In general, the garden is small and can be walked around in an hour: to walk along the paved paths and rest with a thermos of tea in the shade of ancient trees.
From the main gate of the Botanical Garden, David and Konstantin Mxeidze street stretches. It leads to the Ukimerion hill with the Cathedral of Bagrati on top – this is the next point on our route.
Bagrati Temple. The climb to the cathedral via the stairs takes 15 minutes at a leisurely pace. From the top of the hill, a beautiful view of the entire Kutaisi and the Rioni River opens up. Parts of the fortress wall that helped defend against enemy raids in ancient times have been preserved around the cathedral.
The Bagrati Cathedral was built in the early 11th century. It was the main cathedral of the united Georgian kingdom. Nowadays, it is one of the most recognizable and popular tourist attractions in Kutaisi.
The temple has seen a lot in its centuries-old history: both conquering wars and destruction. For a long time, it was in a dismal condition. In 1994, it was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, and in 2012 it was restored.
The cathedral was being restored and returned to its original appearance, but a modern glass elevator was added on the outside. According to UNESCO, this violated the integrity and authenticity of the historical appearance of the temple. In 2017, it was excluded from the World Heritage List.
The temple was built in the shape of a cross from huge stone blocks. It stunned me with its monumentality: just the two-meter bronze cross on the dome weighs 300 kilograms. It seemed that deep tranquility emanated from the temple. On the hill, I felt the spirit of millennia of history.
Inside, the magnificent building made an even greater impression on me. The ancient history of the temple can be touched with your own hands: on one of the walls, there is an inscription about the completion date of the construction in 1003.
The dome is supported by four impressive columns. There is so much free space underneath that the scale is even more noticeable than from the outside. If it wasn’t for the pedestrian route schedule, I would have probably stood here with my head thrown back for a long time. Entrance to the temple is free, it is open every day from 08:00 to 18:00.
The descent from Ukemerion hill leads to the embankment of the Rioni River. This is a long walking area from which you can enjoy a beautiful view of the centuries-old houses that loom over the river. They look authentic and remind me of Italian buildings on the cliffs of Cinque Terre. It was interesting to wander along the embankment and watch the flow of the river. From time to time, I stopped to examine the stairs, roofs, and balconies of the houses on the other bank of the Rioni.
On the way from the Bagrati temple towards the Old Town, I passed three bridges over the Rioni River. They also became a sightseeing spot in Kutaisi.
Red Bridge is the first metal bridge in Transcaucasia. From here you can enjoy a beautiful view of ordinary Kutaisi – the houses of local residents and fragments of their everyday life: plants in pots, laundry drying over the river.
The next bridge is the Chain Bridge. It is located on the site of the previous bridge, which was laid over the Rioni River 1500 years ago. In 2020, the supports of the modern bridge celebrated their 250th anniversary.
The third one is White or Glass: that’s what it’s called because of the transparent sections on the floor. This pedestrian bridge was opened in 1872. Its main feature is the sculpture “Picasso Boy”. This character was named after the 1968 film “An Unusual Exhibition” by Eldar Shengelaya, which was filmed here. The boy sits on the bridge railing with two hats in his hands and reminds of the mid-20th century, when adults had picnics on the banks and children jumped off the bridge and swam in the river.
Rioni is one of the most water-rich rivers in Georgia. From April to October, rafting trips pass through canyons, cliffs and waterfalls. The company Georgia4Travel offers a six-hour rafting trip for a group of up to four people for €125.
Besarion Gabashvili Park of Culture and Recreation on the banks of the Rioni River seemed suitable for a family vacation to me: there are pedestrian paths, a low Ferris wheel, electric cars, a shooting range, and a snack stand. The park is open 24/7.
The rides don’t look new and modern, but I saw a lot of preschoolers in the park. They ran after each other, joyfully yelled and spun on the carousel, while the parents stood nearby and captured their smiles on their phones. A ticket for the carousel costs 1 GEL.
There are no extreme attractions for teenagers and adults in the park, but it’s nice to just walk around. When I was there, middle-aged tourists and elderly locals were leisurely walking along the paths, and groups of young people were sitting on benches.
In the park, there is the upper station of the cable car. There is almost no difference in height with the lower one – the road simply connects two banks of the river. The designation of the upper and lower stations is rather conditional. For city residents, this is a usual means of transportation, and for tourists – an interesting adventure. I try to ride funiculars in every city where I see them.
One-way fare costs 1 GEL, tickets are purchased at the ticket office. In the first half of the day, there is a small queue at the lift to the park, and in the evening, the opposite occurs – from the park downwards. I recommend buying a round-trip ticket for 2 GEL right away to save time.
During the retro cable car ride of the 1970s, I enjoyed the views. From a height of 50 meters, a panorama of the city and a roaring river open up. It’s especially beautiful at sunset. The journey only takes a few minutes, but it’s enough time to take photos.
Okros Chardakhi near the lower station of the cable car is what remains of the summer residence of the rulers of the Imeretian Kingdom. Translated from Georgian, the name of the palace means “Golden Tent”.
Once there was a whole complex here: the Big and the Small Palaces, a church, fortified walls. The exact date of construction of the Golden Shatyor is unknown, but the first mentions appear in records of the 15th century. Nowadays, only the small two-story house, the Small Palace, where guests were received, has been preserved. In the mid-20th century, the building was restored, and now it is one of the symbols of the history of Kutaisi.
It seemed curious to me that from the side of Tsisperkantselébi street, the second floor is at ground level – it looks like a one-story building. Due to the height difference on the steep bank, only the bottom part of the house is visible near the river.
The first floor of the palace was not rebuilt or changed in appearance. Thanks to its high stone arches, it creates an impression as if the building is floating above the ground. The second floor underwent a redesign inside, while outside it was plastered and painted. The house is surrounded by a wooden balcony around the perimeter.
In the building, ancient objects from the Bagrationi dynasty era are stored: paintings, icons, and jugs. I wanted to take a tour there, but in 2022 they were not conducted. I came in the evening, and the gates to the complex with park paths and an 800-year-old plane tree were also closed. They are usually open from 10:00 to 18:00.
I had to examine the Okros Chardakhi from the cable car cabin or through the lattice fence. I looked at the building and could not wrap my head around the fact that it was many centuries old, so inconspicuously nestled on the riverbank amidst the hustle and bustle of modern city life. But it was all the more curious to imagine how the Imeretian kings welcomed their high-ranking guests here.
The Old Town. The Okros Chardakhi is closely adjacent to the Old Town. This is the name of the historic center of Kutaisi – a few narrow streets paved with stone. The buildings here were built in the 18-19 centuries.
The neighborhood can be walked in half an hour, but I enjoyed strolling there slowly and carefully studying everything: facades, lanterns, green cafe verandas, souvenir shop windows, and inner courtyards of residential buildings. In the Old Town, it’s nice to have breakfast and coffee at a table with an umbrella, and have dinner on the balcony of a restaurant with live music in the evening. In Kutaisi, the verandas are open even in December.
In this area, I want to take pictures of everything: both the general views of the streets and the insignificant details. In my opinion, these little things convey the unique charm of Georgia: colorful laundry on clothespins, which flutters against the background of the sky, vines with clusters of grapes right above the sidewalk.
Here, you can create many frames at old doors and gates with history. In search of unusual backgrounds, I advise you to look into all the courtyards one by one – not only in the Old Town, but also in other districts of Kutaisi.
When I was walking in the Old Town on Pushkin Street, I constantly felt like it reminded me of Italian province. There is the same measured rhythm, and the locals do not forget to enjoy delicious food and friendly conversations every day.
The State Historical Museum on Pushkin Street is one of the largest in the country. It is named after the Doctor of Historical Sciences and academician Niko Berdzenishvili.
I didn’t have enough time to visit there, but Kutaisi is one of the oldest cities in the world, so it would be interesting to visit its history museum. It has been operating for 100 years and has 230,000 exhibits in its collections.
The museum collection includes ethnographic, archaeological, numismatic, and other findings: items of clothing and household items from past centuries, icons, jewelry made of precious metals, rare coins – Colchis didrachms from the 5th century BC and drachms from the 6th century BC. The collection of ancient Georgian manuscripts includes 800 exhibits. Among them are handwritten copies of the poem “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” by the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli.
Exhibitions with exhibits from the museum’s collections travel throughout Georgia and abroad. One such exhibition, “The Gold Treasure,” features a collection of icons and Orthodox crosses adorned with precious metals and stones. One of the most valuable items is an 11th-century icon from the Bagrati church, which is considered miraculous.
The museum is open from 10:00 to 18:00, the price of an adult ticket is 3 GEL, a school ticket is 1 GEL, and for children under 6 years old – it is free.
Green Bazaar is an indoor market near the Old Town. It is open from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm every day. There, I experienced the national flavor and found everything Georgia is famous for: spices, fruits, nuts, churchkhela, pastila, and other delicacies.
Friendly merchants invite customers to their shops, actively attract attention, communicate in Russian, joke and laugh: “This is not a fake, this is real Georgian, try it!” After visiting the market, I was so uplifted that I smiled at every passerby.
I bought several nectarines, a kilogram of grapes, three churckhelas, three pastilles and a cup of hazelnuts from an elderly Georgian woman. All of this cost me 24.5 GEL. I suspect that I could bargain, but in such moments I feel awkward, so I don’t even start.
Next to the market is the Central Park. It’s small and more like a square. It’s nice to walk in, especially if you’re staying in the Old Town and want to stroll through the greenery in the evening. Some vendors sit on benches, selling various small items such as socks, plastic toys, and vegetables for 2-3 GEL. Other retirees smoke and play chess, loudly talking and arguing with each other, gesturing expressively. Mothers with children and young couples also walk around and hug each other here.
David Agmashenebeli Square, or David IV the Builder, adjoins the entrance to the park. In the center stands the Colchis Fountain – a multi-level structure with 30 gilded figures of deer, rams, lions, tigers and horses. All of the animals are enlarged copies of bronze figurines and jewelry from the Bronze Age, found during excavations in Imereti and other regions of Georgia. Some of the sculptures I recognized, for example, the figure of a lion from the Alazani Valley is depicted on a five lari banknote.
On various websites, I saw information that this is the most expensive fountain in Georgia. It was decorated with Haragauli stone, gold, and blue mosaic. The structure is located in the center of a circular traffic intersection, so I could not approach it and take a closer look. I also did not notice any pedestrian crossings to the fountain.
On David Agmashenebeli Square there is one of the oldest theaters in the country – the Georgian Kutaisi Theater named after Lado Meskhishvili. It was founded in the mid-19th century – the audience saw the first performance in 1861. The building was designed in the Renaissance style. At the entrance stands a monument to the People’s Artist of the Georgian SSR, Ippolit Khvichia, who served in this theater. Russian cinema lovers know the actor for his role as Kukusha in the film “Mimino” – he sold a cap to the main character Valiko.
Currently, the theater is putting on plays by Shakespeare, Griboyedov, Ostrovsky, Gogol, Chekhov, as well as performances based on works by Georgian authors such as Kldiashvili, Eristavi, and Kazbegi. There are also children’s productions, such as “Pinocchio”. The schedule of performances can be viewed on the theater’s website.
Tickets are purchased on the Biletebi website. For example, in April 2023, a ticket for a production of the play “Le Vent des Peupliers” by contemporary French playwright Gérald Sibleyras costs 15 GEL. Attending a children’s play will cost a minimum of 5 GEL.
The performances are in Georgian language, without translation into Russian or English. My acquaintances from Russia have visited the Kutaisi theater more than once. In their opinion, it is sufficient to read a brief summary before the show, and it will be easy to understand what is happening on stage. Everyone I talked to is impressed by the actors’ performances and believes that visiting a Georgian theater helps to overcome the language barrier.
The Kutaisi theater regularly participates in various festivals, such as the “Theatrical Imereti”. Usually, it takes place in Kutaisi during the summer. Theater troupes from all over Georgia come to the event. Admission to such performances is free.
In the 17th-19th centuries, Jewish families from the province actively resettled in the Jewish quarter. By 1835, there were 500 Jewish families living in Kutaisi, for whom three synagogues were built.
I took a walk along Boris Gaponov Street, who translated Shota Rustaveli’s poem “The Knight in a Tiger Skin” into Hebrew. It is quiet and there are hardly any cars. The neighborhood reminded me of a village: everyone knows each other, children run from one yard to another with screams, the elderly watch the sun from a bench on the porch, and neighbors randomly meet on the street and gossip about something personal.
Time has left its mark here: in some places the plaster has crumbled off the walls, the glass in the entrance doors is broken, and the paint has peeled off the wooden window frames. But the residents maintain order: there are flower pots and dwarf trees on the cornices and by the entrances, benches with soft cushions along the sidewalks. The streets are clean, trees bloom in spring and summer, and mandarins and persimmons ripen in autumn.
On Boris Gaponov Street is the Kutaisi Synagogue, also known as the Grand Synagogue. The building was constructed in 1887. Despite the fact that in the late 20th century most Jewish families left for Israel under the repatriation program, the synagogue still operates. Representatives of the small Jewish community in Kutaisi and Israeli tourists come here to pray. The quarter is popular among them, as in other cities in the country almost nothing has been preserved from the traces of the history of Georgian Jews. There are no similar places in Tbilisi.
The synagogue is visited on weekdays from 08:00 to 10:00 and from 20:00 to 22:00, on Saturday – from 09:00 to 12:00. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the schedule in advance and came on a weekday at 18:00 – the synagogue was closed.
Mtsvane Kvavila, or “Green Flower,” is a historical and architectural complex with a poetic name. You come here when you pass through the Jewish Quarter on Boris Gaponov Street, which leads to a hill. Admission is free at any time.
The “Green Flower” ensemble consists of three churches, a defensive tower, and a pantheon. Famous Georgians are buried in it: composer Meliton Balanchivadze, artist and sculptor Valerian Mizandari, the first Georgian documentary filmmaker Vasil Amashukeli, and others. In total, 40 public figures are buried in the pantheon, and in the center there is a small 17th-century chapel where services are held.
The oldest church of the complex was built in 1117, but now only ruins remain. However, the church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, built in 1889, is still in use. I arrived at the end point of my route in the evening, but the entrance to the church was closed. Instead, I was treated to a panoramic view of the western part of the city in the fiery orange rays of the setting sun.
It was a powerful moment. It reminded me that everything eventually comes to an end. Kutaisi seemed to invite me to look back on the millennia of human history and the years I have lived. Here I am, a thirty-year-old person, in one of the oldest cities in the world, where people just like me lived, created, and loved for centuries. There was something simple but important in this realization.
Details
Food. Most cafes and restaurants are located in the Old Town, the main tourist area of Kutaisi. I recommend checking out places with traditional Georgian cuisine. I will mention two such establishments.
The Kartuli restaurant is located on Pushkin Street, in the neighboring building from the house where I lived. The food here is delicious, and the prices are lower than in other Georgian cuisine cafes where I had the opportunity to visit. For 30 GEL, I received five khinkali with mushrooms, lobio in a clay pot, eggplants with walnuts, vegetable salad, and tea. The portions are large, and I even took something with me. Also, at Kartuli, they serve quickly, even when most tables are occupied.
Palaty is a popular place with live music. It is beautifully decorated, with a fireplace and an old piano, lots of flowers, and on one of the walls, notes, drawings and stickers from visitors from different countries are collected. It is better to book a table in advance in the evening. Prices are higher than in Kartuli: the average bill is 45 GEL. I recommend trying the bean salad with nuts for 10 GEL, spinach pkhali with pomegranate seeds for 9 GEL, and various sauces such as nut bazhe, tkemali and blackberry. They cost 2-5.5 GEL.
Many cafes in Kutaisi only open at 11:00-12:00. For breakfast, I have chosen MiniArt Cafe: it starts working at 9:00, and there is vegan food on the menu.
Inside the cafe there is a mini-gallery. Local artists’ paintings, mostly postmodernist, hang on the walls. It took me a while to notice that some of them had prices listed. For example, a painting of a Georgian courtyard measuring 30×40 cm cost 350 GEL. I think something like this would make a great gift from Kutaisi.
Waitress Kristina, who usually served my table, spoke Georgian, English, and Russian fluently without an accent. I was surprised by this, and she told me about her Russian grandmothers. By the end of my week-long stay in Kutaisi, we had become somewhat friends, and Kristina remembered my standard morning order: a vegetable salad for 14.9 GEL, a small vegan pizza for 8.9 GEL, and homemade lemonade for 9 GEL.
In the café, ready-made breakfasts are also served – omelette, toast with cheese and salad – for 11 GEL, croissants with various fillings for 4-5 GEL, khachapuri Adjaran style for 16 GEL and pizzas. A large pizza on average costs 20 GEL.
Once the cafe owner treated me to local persimmons. Such attention is always pleasant and remains a warm memory of the trip. In Georgia, such an attitude is not uncommon: the people here are hospitable and open.
Accommodation. I lived on Pushkin Street in the Old Town. I found the apartment on Booking.com, it cost 117 GEL per night. I had a view of the Bagrati Cathedral from my window. I could walk to any sightseeing spot, and to have breakfast at a café, all I had to do was step out of the entrance onto the street.
However, proximity to cafes and restaurants was also a downside. The noise on the open terraces only subsided closer to the morning. Once, I tried to fall asleep to the sounds of a Georgian wedding. The festivities lasted all night – with loud music, emotional conversations, and songs on the cafe porch. I took it as immersion in the local culture, but overall I recommend bringing earplugs.
Souvenirs. Traditional items are sold in souvenir shops on the central streets of the Old Town, which are usually brought back from vacation as gifts for friends: magnets for every taste – from the flag of Georgia to khinkali – for 4-20 GEL, keychains for 6-10 GEL, postcards for 2-6 GEL, bells for 14-15 GEL.
I bought practical gifts with the spirit of Georgia for my friends and loved ones. Funny cotton socks made in Georgia with images of khinkali and mountains cost me 11-14 GEL per pair. Churchkhela cost 1.5-2 GEL at the local market and 5-7 GEL in stores. I paid 10 GEL for a 150-gram jar of Georgian spices – khmeli-suneli and Svan salt at a souvenir shop.
Language. I always started the conversation in English. Often older people switched to Russian or started speaking it first, for example at customs control at the airport and at the Kutaisi railway station. Young people prefer English, but they understand a little Russian – there is no discomfort in communication.
I decided that it would be polite to learn a few phrases in Georgian. The locals warmly responded to this. I didn’t just say “hello”, but “good morning” or “good evening” in Georgian – and they lit up in response. Georgians also like it when you ask how they are doing.
I will share some basic phrases that are easy to remember but will help you establish contact with the locals while traveling in Georgia. In the Georgian language, every sound is pronounced, and stress is placed evenly on each syllable.
- “Hello” – Gamarjoba.
- “Good morning” – Dila mshvidobisa.
- “Good evening” – Saghamo mshvidobisa.
- “Thank you” – Madloba, but more politely – Gmadlobt.
- “Yes” – Diah, casual – Ki.
- “No” – Ara.
- “Menu, please” – Menu tu sheidzleba.
- “Check, please” – Angarishi tu sheidzleba.
- “Goodbye” – Nakhvamdis.
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