Western Georgia is a completely different country from the dry east. It is wet, green, subtropical in places, and underneath it the limestone is full of holes. The result is a cluster of attractions within an hour of Kutaisi that almost every visitor sees on a single rushed day trip: a large lit cave you walk through and leave by boat, a narrow gorge you row down between turquoise walls, and a canyon with a walkway bolted to the cliff. It is worth two days rather than one.
The three main sights
Prometheus Cave, a large lit system near Tskaltubo, walked in timed groups with an optional boat exit.
Martvili Canyon, a narrow limestone gorge with a short boat ride between the walls.
Okatse Canyon, a metal walkway fixed high along a cliff face above the river.
Gelati Monastery, outside Kutaisi, a UNESCO listed medieval complex with extraordinary mosaics.
Bagrati Cathedral, in Kutaisi itself, large and heavily restored.
Tskaltubo, a spa town of abandoned Soviet sanatoriums, which is a separate and stranger visit.
How to structure it
Base in Kutaisi, which is central to all of it and has the airport.
Two days rather than one, because the driving between sites eats the time.
The cave at opening, before the groups build up.
A canyon at midday, when the light reaches the bottom.
Gelati late, in the afternoon light, which is when the interior is best.
A car, because no public transport joins these up.
Practical notes
Entry is in timed groups at the cave, so allow waiting time.
The boat exit at the cave and the boats at Martvili both depend on water levels and may not run.
Non slip shoes: the cave walkway is wet and the canyon steps are worse.
A layer for the cave, which is cool year round regardless of the weather outside.
Cash for entry at the smaller sites.
Photography rules vary; tripods are generally not allowed in the cave.
Kutaisi as a base
The airport, which is a common low cost entry point into Georgia.
Gelati and Motsameta monasteries, both a short drive out and both worth the trip.
A workaday city with good cheap food and no pretence.
Central to the whole western cluster within an hour.
Cheaper than Tbilisi or Batumi for the same standard of room.
Onward roads west to the coast and north towards Svaneti.
Where this fits in a Georgia trip
Two days in the west, usually between Tbilisi and the coast or on the way to Svaneti.
For how this fits a full week and what order to take the country in, our seven day Georgia itinerary covers the shape.
For the regions that take more effort and repay it, our guide to off the beaten path Georgia covers where else to go.
And for the other great Georgian cave complex, which is carved rather than natural, our guide to Vardzia covers the south.
The short version
For the fuller version of that advice, our five days in Imereti spreads the cave, both canyons, the monasteries and a cave town across a week rather than compressing them into two long days.
Base in Kutaisi, hire a car and give the region two days rather than one, because no bus joins these places up and the driving takes longer than it looks. Do the cave at opening and a canyon in the early afternoon, which is the reverse of what the coaches do. Keep the cave for a wet day, because the canyon water runs brown after rain and the cave does not care. Add Gelati in the late afternoon, and Tskaltubo if abandoned sanatoriums appeal.
All of this sits within easy reach of one base, and that base is Kutaisi, which most itineraries treat as a transit stop between the airport and somewhere else. It is a real city with a cathedral above it and a market worth an hour, and our guide to Kutaisi makes the case for giving it a night rather than a change of bus.
