We had a pretty decent six months in Batumi and decided to explore the third largest city in Georgia, Kutaisi! We were told that Kutaisi was smaller than the capital city of Tbilisi & more laid back than the seaside tourist hotspot of Batumi. Kutaisi’s total population of a little over 160,000 would be considered a mid-sized city. How would we feel about so much ‘quiet’ after the loud Batumi? We were willing to give it a shot & arrived in August during the late summer season. It was warm but nothing we couldn’t handle.
Immediately, the first difference I saw was fewer high rise apartments going up! From our window in our Kutaisi neighborhood we could count the number of cranes in the city landscape going up. It was quite the difference from Batumi where EVERY block seemed to have at least two, three, four or more cranes lifting construction supplies to the workers making that city crazy busy with construction.
Though we did meet a number of ‘foreigners’ from other countries visiting Kutaisi, it was still a pretty quiet with town which we loved.
A Little Kutaisi History
The city is around 3,500 years old & at one time was the capital of the Kingdom of Colchis.
In 978 AD Kutaisi was made capital under the rule of King Bagrat III.
Bagrati Cathedral was built under King Bagrat’s reign. It sits high enough that it can be seen from several areas of town. We didn’t make it up to this 11th Century Cathedral but you can read about it here.
In 1122 the capital was returned to Tbilisi under David the Builder’s successful recapture from foreign hands.
Kutaisi Today!
If you don’t want the hustle & bustle of a seaside city like Batumi, then Kutaisi is the town for you – quiet with very welcoming people.
I wanted to buy a couple books just because I love books. Of course, I would not have been able to read them but some of these looked so old & worn but to me they were beautiful BUT in the end because of the weight carrying books in luggage I had to do with just looking!
Batumi is a huge melting pot of multiple ethnic backgrounds vs Katuisi’s population of mostly Georgian with just a small touch of out of country tourist.
We were told by a few folks that Georgian food will differ a bit depending on area of Georgia you are in – each has their own take on authentic foods. I personally found the bread & khinkali in Katuisi more to my liking than in Batumi (less oil).
In Kutaisi there didn’t seem to be any set times for the water or electric to be turned off. Luckily in our experience it was only hour or so at a time & we actually really were not bothered by it.
Speaking of what was a pain in the behind was in our first Airbnb, the elevator only operated when you placed a 10 or 20 Georgia lari coin in the slot within 30 seconds of the elevator door closing. Yep, I’m pretty sure this elevator had seen many many many years although the building was being renovated. Plus, if you happen to not get the coin dropped into the coin slot within 30 seconds, electric would shut off in the elevator leaving you in the dark digging for the light on your phone! Happened to us a couple of times. Lastly, you really have to have a stash of .10 or .20 GEL coins to feed the box or take the uneven gamut of stairs with no handrails.
There are a lot of buildings (both Russian era & newer) for viewing on walks. I am amazed at the history this country has & what those walls could say if they could talk.
Grape vine arbors in almost every yard hanging over sidewalks was just beautiful to walk under watching the grapes grown from greens to purples. Almost every family makes their own wine!
The Soviet era cable cars were a gas! For five GEL for ‘foreigners’ you could ride one of the two cars across the Rioni River to the Besik Gabashville Park on top of the hill on other side. If I remember correctly, locals were charged one GEL to cross.
Kutaisi Cost of Living
As economical as Batumi was on our budget, Kutaisi was even more compatible. Now we didn’t eat out that many times which meant we had to buy more groceries but still it was a win win for our budget!
Housing thru Airbnb was high compared to what we told we should be paying but… you can use the website https://home.ss.ge/en/real-estate to find rents more economical than Airbnb. We made friends with people in our apartment & they told us that should we return they would help us find a non-Airbnb apartment that would be more economical. I have found that true in Batumi as well. Again, as in Batumi or any city we are in, we tend to lean toward working class neighborhoods & not in the tourist areas. At least for now.
In the End…
Kutaisi had a lot in common with Batumi other than the Georgian language. For the most part it was a nice place to visit.
Customer service was definitely a hit or miss in both cities. You were either greeted with a warm smile & friendly hello or you were treated like you were an unwanted customer & followed around the business like a criminal that needed to be watched, but not offer any assistance.
Even with the huge tourist numbers in Batumi, there were very few black people. Whenever the Big Guy would see a Black person they would act like long lost friends. Most times they would walk up to each other & start talking like they had known each other for years. The Big Guy tells me that this type of interaction is an unwritten rule amongst black people. If you are reading this blog, please leave a comment & let me know what you know or have heard about this custom/tradition.
Day Tour
We had met another person from Texas (Stephanie) on a social media group. We set up a day tour & asked the fellow Texan to join us as we had planned to visit a couple of waterfalls in the Kutaisi area. For part of the tour we started walking up a mountain trail to view a religious site located on an adjacent mountain, but decided to turn back due it being a light rainfall & heavy clouds. At one point, we were walking in clouds which was pretty cool though somewhat eery. The rainfall made the mountain trail very slippery as there were a number of wet rocks, so between the muddy path &d wet rocks, we decided to visit our tour guide’s winery instead.
To me, the cherry on top of our perfect tour day was when we were pulled over to let a herd of cattle wander down the curvy road with the trusty herding dog beside them & the old man behind the herd. The cows wore cowbells that we heard before we saw them – it really was quite the scene & so not what any of us had seen in our lifetimes. Cows, pigs, horses shared the mountain roads with us at different times which was very fitting & added to the magic. It was a great day even though it was cloudy & raining at times!
Sit back and relax enjoy viewing the pictures that I’m finishing this post with from places around Kutaisi! Enjoy.
Was two months too long for this mixed race senior couple? Probably, looking back I probably would have gone for maybe two weeks BUT that works against budget so…don’t get me wrong we did have a good time in Kutaisi!
WHERE WILL WE LAND FROM GEORGIA? WELL, NEXT STOP IS THE OTHER SIDE OF EUROPE TO PORTUGAL! Follow Travels With The Big Guy on F/B, I/G & TikTok!
