Give it three days. One for the city: Bagrati on its hill, the Colchis Fountain, the Green Bazaar and the White Bridge, all inside an hour's walk of each other. One for Gelati and Motsameta, the two monasteries above the Tskaltsitela gorge. One for the karst, which means Prometheus Cave, Sataplia's dinosaur tracks and the Okatse boardwalk. Tskaltubo's sanatoriums fit onto either of the last two.
Kutaisi holds about 123,000 people on the Rioni in western Georgia, and has been the capital of Colchis, of Abkhazia and of Imereti in turn. The city itself is a morning on foot. Everything else is inside an hour: a UNESCO monastery, two show caves, three canyons and an abandoned spa town.
Founded by David the Builder in 1106 as a monastery and an academy, and the one thing here carrying a UNESCO inscription of its own, from 1994. The interior mosaics and wall paintings are the reason to come. Go before Motsameta; they sit on the same road out of town.
Completed in 1003 under Bagrat III, blown up by Ottoman forces in 1692, and rebuilt so heavily by 2012 that UNESCO struck it from the World Heritage list in 2017. Judge the reconstruction for yourself. The hill it stands on is the best view of the Rioni and the city.
Eleven kilometres of karst, of which 1.4 km is walkable, run as a guided route through six named halls and finished either on foot or by boat along the underground Kumi. It is cool inside whatever the forecast says, so take a layer.
Motsameta means place of the martyrs, for the brothers David and Constantine Mkheidze, killed after an 8th century revolt against the Arab invasion. The church sits on a spur above the red river gorge, and the setting is the reason to go rather than the building.
A steel walkway bolted to the canyon wall, cantilevered out over the drop at the far end. Kinchkha waterfall is seven kilometres further north and is normally driven as the same trip. Allow for the walk in from the visitor centre, which is longer than people expect.
Nineteen sanatoriums and nine bathhouses around a park, built for Soviet spa tourists who arrived on four trains a day from Moscow. Most emptied after 1990 and then housed families displaced from Abkhazia. Many are still lived in, so read the place before you photograph it.
A karst cave and a sheltered slab of dinosaur footprints, plant eaters and predators both, inside one small reserve, with a glass viewing platform over the Kolkheti forest at the top. Smaller and quicker than Prometheus, which makes it the easier half day of the two.
A 40 metre limestone monolith with a church on top, and eleven kilometres on, a manganese town strung with cable cars. The Soviet cars were retired in 2021 and replaced with gondolas, and the first restored original relaunched in late 2024. A full day, and worth the drive.
Imereti in one shed and the streets around it: brined Imeretian cheese and sulguni, walnut paste, churchkhela on strings, ajika, and buckets of tkemali. It is a working market rather than a visitor attraction, which is the point of it. Go in the morning.
Thirty scaled-up copies of the gold animals excavated at Vani, cast in bronze and stacked over the central square since 2011. It is the shorthand for the city, and the square around it is where Kutaisi actually gathers after work.
The 19th century footbridge over the Rioni, named for the white railings it once had.
Ruined walls on the hill beside Bagrati, held from the 780s under the Kingdom of Abkhazia.
Opened in 2012, the seat of parliament until January 2019, and largely empty since.
Worth the detour for the small chapel built inside a hollow oak, icons and all.
A cascading stair of the late 1940s up to the Balakhvani terrace, refurbished in 2022.
The city's main stage, on the central square, and the venue for the Kutaisoba gala.
Named for the composer Meliton Balanchivadze, and the building the rooftop bars look across at.
A small municipal collection on the city's athletes and on Torpedo Kutaisi.
Bohemian rooms, live piano or strings most nights in season, and the original of the pair with Sisters.
Non-smoking, large portions, plenty for vegetarians, and the Adjaruli khachapuri people come for.
Six standing tables, one kind of kebab, a beer or a lemonade. The local answer to lunch.
A set-menu cellar dinner built around Imeretian wine and the Imeruli khachapuri.
The Batumi pub's Kutaisi outpost, open since 2023: beer garden, big screen, fish and chips.
The oldest quarter, holding the Colchis Fountain, the central park and the royal district.
Reached by the cascading staircase, and marked by two Stalinist blocks, one with a belvedere.
Founded in 2015 by Baia Abuladze with her sister and brother. Organic, qvevri, and a table to eat at.
Ramaz Nikoladze's cellar at Terjola, one of the names that carried Georgian natural wine abroad.
Tours and tastings of traditional Imeretian wine at Vartsikhe, southwest of the city.
The Colchian site whose excavated gold the Colchis Fountain copies, with its own museum.
Services across the city, and the Alilo procession, the Georgian carol walk, on Christmas morning.
The biggest date in the Georgian calendar. Moveable, and the city goes quiet for the weekend.
The city's own day, named for the chamomiles schoolgirls once sold to fund TB care. Markets, concerts, a theatre gala.
Imereti's organic winemakers pour together at Tskaltubo. Ticketed, and all you can drink.
Georgia marks the 1918 declaration. A public holiday, so offices and museums close.
The Assumption, a public holiday, and one of the days Gelati and Motsameta fill up.
The grape harvest. Imereti's cellars open up and the qvevri go under for the winter.
St George's Day, a public holiday, and the churches are the place to see it.
David the Builder Kutaisi International, 14 km west of the city and Georgia's second busiest, with 1.7 million passengers in 2024. Scheduled buses meet arrivals for Kutaisi, Tbilisi and Batumi.
Georgian Railway runs a daily intercity from Tbilisi Central in about two and a half hours, with economy and business seats. Book on the operator’s own platform rather than at the window.
Marshrutkas are the default between Georgian towns and how most people reach Tskaltubo, Martvili and the canyons. Cash only, and they leave when they are full.
Bolt covers the city and is the cheapest way out to Gelati or Motsameta. For a full day around the canyons, agree a driver and a price before you set off.
The region's own cheese bread: round, thin dough, brined Imeretian cheese sealed inside.
Cornbread cooked flat on a pan, the standard partner to Imeretian cheese and lobio.
Coarse cornmeal porridge served hot, with cheese folded through it. Western Georgia eats it as bread.
Chicken or turkey served cold in a walnut sauce with garlic, fenugreek and cinnamon.
Aubergine, tomato, pepper and herbs stewed down. The vegetarian order in any Georgian kitchen.
Fried aubergine rolled around walnut paste and garlic, finished with pomegranate.
Spiced pork and beef sausage, heavy on garlic and coriander, grilled and served hot.
Walnuts on a thread, dipped over and over in thickened grape must until they set.
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