Day four of our trip to Georgia… I’d have to say it was our most “meh” day. It wasn’t like our day in Batumi when we had a guide that really didn’t do a good job, so it felt like a waste of money, because we also did some really awesome things in Batumi as well; it was my son’s favorite day of our trip, period. Our day in Kutaisi wasn’t a bad day, but it wasn’t anything that I would say “Everyone, go do what I did here, use this itinerary!” But I’m leaving it here because it is an account of what we did, how much it cost, so people can see my review, and maybe when they Google “What to do in Kutaisi” they’ll see it and see what they shouldn’t bother doing.
The main disappointment for me was the Sataplia Cave and Nature Reserve. When I travel, I try to focus on finding the unique attractions, something that is quintessential to the place—something I can’t experience just anywhere. So when I heard that actual fossilized dinosaur prints had been found in Georgia, at a place called Sataplia, I was excited to see them. It felt similar to when I made sure to visit the EU Parliament and the canal city of Bruges during my trip to Belgium. I don’t think my country has any real dinosaur fossils, so my 15-year-old son, Ike, whom I brought with me, had never seen any in person. The same national park also has a karst cave system, the kind with stalactites and stalagmites, which I’ve visited before and enjoyed. But overall, I found the nature reserve disappointing.
First off, the entrance to the park is 25.5 GEL, about $9, and then you need to pay for parking. (Ok, only 2 GEL, but I think it’s ridiculous to have to pay for parking at a national park when you anyhow have to pay to enter. But maybe that’s just me.)
They told us a group was just leaving, so we should run to catch up with them.
We walked down some external stairs with a view of the nearby mountains, then entered the cave.
And once we entered the cave, that was the extent of the guide’s instructions. He just told us to walk straight through till the end.
And made a game trying to find different shapes in the stone formations.
And then finally we found the building with the fossilized dinosaur footprints.
You know what was in it?
A rocky floor with some footprints.
A diagram showing you the shape of a footprint.
A ramp walking over it.
A mural of some jungle-type flora.
And that is it. No signs. No information. Absolutely nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
To try to make it more interesting, I googled the place and tried to find information about the place and we watched a little video I found.
But what a let down.
I think it is clear why I found this disappointing. I had hoped it would be something really awesome and special and it was a huge dud.
Anyhow, after that, we headed to Kutaisi, with the intention of checking out a few museums and going on a self-guided walking tour following the path laid out by the Wander Lush blog.
We started out at one of the most notable landmarks in Kutaisi, Fountain Square. Driving there was something else. It officially is a roundabout, so you go counterclockwise around it, but that was the only traffic rule anyone there followed. There were no set lanes, no rules of the road.
Fountain Square is named for the fountain in its center (big surprise) that is made with enlarged replicas of archeological remains that were found in a dig in Sataplia, where we just were.
On one side of the square you could see the Kutaisi Opera House with its domed roof.
On the other side of the square is the Meskhishvili State Drama Theater.
Our first stop was the Kutaisi National Museum of Military Glory. Entrance was free and we were the only ones there other than the quiet receptionist.
It quite clearly was not meant for tourists, as there was almost no English anywhere; everything was written in Georgian or Russian. But Google Lens to the rescue and we were able to read what was written.
It was pretty dinky. Some old uniforms and medals, a few weapons. But mostly it was black and white images, some old documents, and then there were also new images from recent wars in Georgia.
Not necessarily something I’d recommend, but you can take a peek in it, since its free.
Inside the same building, across the hall, was this wall of portraits. I have no idea who they are.
After that, we went to the Kutaisi State Historical Museum. It is 1 GEL for children, 3 for adults, but free for people with disabilities, and they accepted our disability- they didn’t even care to see our cards, so we got in free.
It was a random museum, filled with a large variety of items from across the millenia.
There were fossils in the entrance hall.
There were really only 2 rooms. This is the main one.
There were really old tools, arrow heads, etc…
All sorts of old metalwork, including jewelry.
There were figurines, pretty gold jewelry as well.
There was a bunch of religious iconography. Georgia has a rich Christian history.
The next room had more modern items, from the past few hundred years.
Household items…
Historic clothing…
Armor…
And paintings. All in all, a cute and quaint museum. Some pretty stuff there, but it was mostly things I’ve seen in many other museums over the course of my life. But for locals who this is their historical museum, it is sweet. Again, not something I’d recommend, but only because this type of museum is a dime a dozen around the world. Nothing about it screamed “GEORGIA” or felt like it was teaching me about the country’s history, specifically.
After that, it was time to wander the streets, hoping to see the things mentioned on the Wander Lush blog for its “self guided street tour”.
There was this mural of a famous Georgian woman baking bread.
The city at this point had a very European feel.
There’s an alley with murals.
This is the entrance to that alley.
It also had these very European feeling restaurants.
And then we got to this park with a bunch of statues.
Which I knew was where we could catch the cable cars. There are so many cable cars in Georgia, from the time of the Soviets. These are just about the dinkiest cable cars I’ve ever been on, but I guess that’s part of its charm.
The amusement park brought to mind images I’d seen of abandoned Soviet era amusement parks.
But then we saw there was the occasional ride running. It wasn’t actually empty.
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So, how was Kutaisi? It was cute. It was sweet. But I wanted to give an honest review of what I did, and after all of it I definitely wouldn’t say to put it on your bucket list. If you need a stop over between Batumi and Tbilisi, then go ahead, stop and walk around, but in my opinion, it isn’t the type of place I’d recommend to put on your itinerary.
Sorry.
