Kutaisi

Understand

thumbnail|360px|Kutaisi old town thumbnail|300px|Downtown Kutaisi Kutaisi is the traditional rival of Tbilisi for capital status. Since the days of the Golden Fleece, Kutaisi has been considered the capital of Western Georgia (then Ancient Colchis). It is Georgia's third largest city (after Tbilisi and Batumi), but, to the irritation of the proud locals, it does not come even close to Tbilisi's present size and wealth. Nevertheless, Kutaisi is more respectful of pedestrians than Tbilisi. Its sidewalks are generally even and flat with very few cars parked on them, whereas in Tbilisi pedestrians are often forced into the streets because of cars sitting on sidewalks. Kutaisi drivers generally stop in front of crosswalks to let pedestrians cross, whereas in Tbilisi pedestrians have to be in the middle of the street to get a car to slow down for them.

Since the Georgian Parliament moved to Kutaisi in 2012, there has been a lot of work on restoring streets, buildings, parks and monuments in the city, and it has become much safer. There seems to be a bit more variety in the materials, facades, and designs of the buildings along Kutaisi's streets. In Kutaisi as in Tbilisi, a look up to the second floor can reveal balconies of elaborate ironwork. Kutaisi's central park is a nice (and safe) place to sit and watch people.

Get around

The interesting parts of the town are walkable. To visit the monasteries in the mountains nearby booking a day-tour may be a time-saving option.

See

thumb|Bagrati Cathedral thumbnail|White bridge

Buy

The homemade wine in the bazaar in Kutaisi is apparently not that good, because more than often they mix with sugar and other stuff. This is at least what some locals are saying.

Eat

Kutaisi has quite a number of decent restaurants. They are mainly in the city center, but a bit spread out, so just walk around to find what you're looking for.

In the city center is a US fast food chain which is less common worldwide: .

Drink

Kutaisi does not have a great bar or club culture like Tbilisi, but you can check out the following:

Connect

The tourist office kiosk between the two main bridges is staffed during the summer season only. Rest of the year it is located in the annex building left to the city hall at the ground floor. (It is a bit hard to find since the mayor don't want to have signs to it. Ask in the city hall if you cannot find it.)

Dingy post office on Tamar Mepe St.

Go next

The minibus station is located close to Kutaisi II train station behind the McDonald's. Most of the following destinations can be reached from there: Batumi – The capital of Ajara and Georgia's third largest city is a pleasant Black Sea port with great Ajaruli cuisine Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (for details see Borjomi) – The largest national park in Georgia. The diversity of physical, geographical and especially climatical conditions of it has shaped the wealth and variety of its flora and fauna. Apart from the largely untouched nature of Borjom-Kharagauli, there are numerous cultural monuments. In particular, there are two easily accessible churches, built in 9th century. Eight tourist trails are operating in the national park. They vary in length, duration and complexity. Open from April until October. Jvari – A small town with a couple of great attractions nearby, namely Enguri Dam and Silver Lake. The latter is one of the most impressive alpine treks that you can do in Georgia. The marshrutka to Zugdidi leaves from the main marshrutka station behind the central McDonald's. The journey is 133 km. In Zugdidi connect with the Jvari marshrutka just over the bridge and a minute's walk away. Mestia – The "capital" of Svaneti and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Tbilisi – The beautiful and interesting capital, Georgia's largest and most cosmopolitan city. Tskaltubo – A balneological ex-resort that was very popular during Soviet times (8 km…