Kutaisi

Kutaisi spreads along both banks of the Rioni River about 220 km west of Tbilisi and is Georgia's third-largest city. It feels slower and greener than the capital, with low-rise streets, old wooden balconies and a central square built around the Colchis Fountain, decorated with enlarged copies of gold figures from ancient Colchian finds. Bagrati Cathedral looks down on the city from Ukimerioni Hill. The Green Bazaar is one of the liveliest food markets in Georgia, stacked with Imeretian cheese, churchkhela, spices, pickles and seasonal fruit.

Most visitors use Kutaisi as a base. Gelati and Motsameta are 15 to 20 minutes away, Sataplia and Prometheus Cave about half an hour, and Okatse and Martvili canyons around an hour. In town, cross the White Bridge, visit the Kutaisi State Historical Museum, take the short cable car up to the hilltop park, and walk through the Botanical Garden. Evenings are for the restaurants and cafes around the central square.

Kutaisi was a major town of ancient Colchis, and Greek tradition placed Aia, the city of King Aeetes and the Golden Fleece, here. In 1008 it became the capital of the newly united Kingdom of Georgia under Bagrat III and stayed so until David the Builder moved the court to Tbilisi in 1122. From the 15th century until the Russian annexation of 1810 it was the capital of the Kingdom of Imereti. Between 2012 and 2018 the Georgian Parliament sat in a new building in Kutaisi.