Imereti

Georgia's third city and capital of the west, with Bagrati Cathedral, a busy food market and easy day trips to caves and monasteries.

Manganese-mining town in a deep gorge, known for the cable cars that have carried people over its rooftops since Soviet times.

Kutaisi's favourite bridge over the Rioni and the old streets around it, with balconied houses, a historic synagogue and the climb to Bagrati.

Georgia's third city and capital of the west, with Bagrati Cathedral, a busy food market and easy day trips to caves and monasteries.

Kutaisi's early 11th-century cathedral, rebuilt in 2012, standing on Ukimerioni Hill with wide views over the city and the Rioni valley.

David the Builder's 12th-century monastery and academy above Kutaisi, a UNESCO site with a gold apse mosaic, royal frescoes and his tomb.

Small cliff-top monastery above a bend of the Tskaltsitela River, honouring two brothers martyred by Arab invaders in the 8th century.

Western Georgia's biggest show cave, near Tskaltubo: six lit halls of stalactites and stalagmites and an optional underground boat ride.

Forested reserve near Kutaisi with real dinosaur footprints, a lit karst cave, Colchic forest trails and a glass platform over the cliff.

Compact two-level karst cave east of Kutaisi, packed with stalactites, stalagmites and columns, with a modern visitor centre.

A metal walkway fixed to the cliffs of the Okatse Canyon near Khoni, reached by a forest trail through the old Dadiani estate.

A 70 m waterfall pouring off a limestone cliff in the Okatse gorge, a short drive beyond Okatse Canyon.

Soviet-era spa town near Kutaisi with warm radon baths, a large park and grand sanatoriums, some restored and many abandoned.

A 40 m limestone pillar near Chiatura topped by a tiny hermit church, where a monk lived on the summit for about 20 years.

Manganese-mining town in a deep gorge, known for the cable cars that have carried people over its rooftops since Soviet times.

Site museum on the hill of ancient Vani, a Colchian city of the 8th to 1st centuries BC, displaying its gold, bronzes and temple finds.

Quiet monastery near Kharagauli with a rare cycle of late 14th-century frescoes by the painter Damiane and a defensive tower of 1141.

Forest spa resort at about 950 m above Baghdati, known for its mineral springs, thermal pools, zipline and cool summer air.

A 13th-century cliff monastery on the eastern edge of Chiatura, built into a natural cave above the Kvirila valley.

Ruins of a 12th-century royal palace south of Kutaisi, a favourite retreat of King George III and Queen Tamar.

Ruins of ancient Sarapana on a rocky hill where the Dzirula meets the Kvirila, guarding the old route between Colchis and Iberia.

Kutaisi's favourite bridge over the Rioni and the old streets around it, with balconied houses, a historic synagogue and the climb to Bagrati.

Shady 19th-century garden beside the Rioni in Kutaisi, known for a tiny chapel built inside the trunk of an ancient oak.

House museum in Baghdati where the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky was born in 1893, on the road from Kutaisi to Sairme.

One of Georgia's oldest regional museums, in central Kutaisi, with Colchian bronzes, medieval icons and manuscripts from western Georgian churches.