Georgia · Imereti
Where to Stay in Kutaisi, Imereti
Kutaisi (ქუთაისი) is the capital of Imereti, one of the world's oldest cities, on the Rioni River below Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery.
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Where to stay in Kutaisi
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
The centre sits close to the Rioni River, and a bed near the Red Bridge, the Kutaisi State Historical Museum and the Lado Meskhishvili State Drama Theatre puts the working city and its collections in the same short walk. Riverside Kutaisi is the practical choice. The Kutaisi Synagogue and the David Kakabadze Fine Art Gallery belong to the same ground, and the Kutaisi Botanical Garden is the place to walk off an afternoon of them without leaving the low ground by the river.
Rooms are easiest here. The mountain slopes are the other option. Staying nearer Gelati Monastery or Bagrati Cathedral trades the shops for the view, since both look down over the city and the Rioni River from the mountain slopes.
Beds thin out on the way up. Mtsvanekvavila church and Kazreti monastery belong to the older list, and the Kutaisi Museum of Sport and the Kutaisi Museum of Martial Art are reachable from either base. If you want the UNESCO World Heritage pair on your doorstep, take the slopes; for the museums, the theatre and the Rioni River, take the centre of Kutaisi.
About Kutaisi
What is Kutaisi known for?
Two UNESCO World Heritage sites carry the name: Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery, both on the mountain slopes with the Rioni River and the city spread out below them. Age is the other claim. Kutaisi counts among the oldest continuously inhabited cities anywhere, and the Kutaisi State Historical Museum holds the record of that, while the Lado Meskhishvili State Drama Theatre and the David Kakabadze Fine Art Gallery cover the theatre and painting.
The Kutaisi Botanical Garden is the green stop.
What are the main landmarks in Kutaisi?
Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery carry the UNESCO World Heritage listing, both on the mountain slopes above the Rioni River. The rest is in town. The Kutaisi Synagogue, Mtsvanekvavila church, Kazreti monastery and the Red Bridge are the built markers, and the Kutaisi State Historical Museum and the David Kakabadze Fine Art Gallery hold the collections.
Two museums cover sport alone. The Kutaisi Museum of Sport and the Kutaisi Museum of Martial Art make that pair, the Lado Meskhishvili State Drama Theatre takes the stage, and the Kutaisi Botanical Garden takes the green.
What is the history of Kutaisi?
Kutaisi is old beyond dating. It counts among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and that continuity, rather than any single founding, is what the Kutaisi State Historical Museum sets out to record. Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery are the two survivals that carry the deepest history, and both are UNESCO World Heritage sites, standing on the mountain slopes above the Rioni River.
Faiths sat side by side. The Kutaisi Synagogue, Mtsvanekvavila church and Kazreti monastery each belong to that layered record, alongside ქუთაისის არქიელის გორის წმინდა გიორგის ეკლესია and ქუთაისის ღვთისმშობლის ხარების ეკლესია. Imereti has its capital here.
Kutaisi ranks with Tbilisi and Batumi among the cities of Georgia, and the Lado Meskhishvili State Drama Theatre and the David Kakabadze Fine Art Gallery show what a city of that standing keeps. Sport has its own two museums. The Kutaisi Museum of Sport and the Kutaisi Museum of Martial Art sit alongside the older collections, and the Kutaisi Botanical Garden and the Red Bridge fill out what the city has made of its ground since.
The Rioni River ran through all of it.
Where is Kutaisi?
The Rioni River runs through the middle. Kutaisi lies along it in Imereti, with mountain slopes rising beyond the built ground, the slopes that carry Gelati Monastery and Bagrati Cathedral and give the views back over the city. Tbilisi lies 221 kilometres east.
The Red Bridge crosses the Rioni, and the Kutaisi Botanical Garden gives the city its open green. Batumi and Tbilisi are the larger cities of Georgia, and Kutaisi stands apart from both as the capital of Imereti and the seat of its older history.
What is the climate of Kutaisi?
The mountain slopes above Kutaisi wring the rain out of the air moving in, which is why the Rioni valley stays green and the Kutaisi Botanical Garden has something to work with. Winter sits on the slopes first. Gelati Monastery and Bagrati Cathedral stand high enough to feel the weather before the streets by the Rioni River do, and a clear day there is worth waiting for because the view runs across the whole city.
Indoors, the Kutaisi State Historical Museum, the David Kakabadze Fine Art Gallery and the Kutaisi Museum of Sport take a wet afternoon.
How do you get to Kutaisi?
Tbilisi is 221 kilometres away. The road west from the capital is the main approach into Imereti, and Kutaisi sits at the end of it on the Rioni River. Gelati Monastery and Bagrati Cathedral need the climb up to the mountain slopes, which puts them above the rest of a visit.
The Red Bridge crosses the water.
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Updated August 2026