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Geotour

Zugdidi

Svaneti · City

Getting there
About 330 km (about 5 h) from Tbilisi by road or about 5.5–6 h by train
Best time
April–October
Recommended stay
1–2 hours

About Zugdidi

Zugdidi is the main town of Samegrelo in western Georgia, about 330 km (5 h) from Tbilisi and the gateway to Svaneti: the mountain road to Mestia starts here, and the Tbilisi train ends here. Its main sight is the Dadiani Palaces museum, the former residence of the princes of Mingrelia, with European paintings, family treasures and one of the death masks of Napoleon Bonaparte, set in a botanical garden. Most travellers stop for 1–2 hours and a Megrelian lunch on the way to or from Mestia.

Tours Including Zugdidi

See all 5 tours

Must-See Attractions

  • Dadiani Palaces museum

    The princes' palace with portraits, weapons, church treasures and Napoleon's death mask; the treasury hall is a separate small ticket.

  • Zugdidi Botanical Garden

    The old palace park behind the museum, laid out in the 19th century, with exotic trees and ponds.

  • Zugdidi bazaar

    A large, busy market for Megrelian cheese, spices and fruit, best in the morning.

Nearby

  • Enguri Dam

    One of the world's tallest concrete arch dams (271 m), with a viewpoint on the road to Mestia, about 30 km (35 min).

  • Martvili Canyon

    Boat trips in a limestone canyon near Martvili, about 55 km (1–1.25 h).

  • Mestia

    The main town of Upper Svaneti, about 130 km (about 3 h) on a paved mountain road.

  • Anaklia

    A Black Sea beach village, about 30 km (40 min).

Location

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Good to know

Getting there

About 330 km (about 5 h) from Tbilisi by road or about 5.5–6 h by train; about 105 km (1.5–2 h) from Kutaisi; Mestia is about 130 km (about 3 h) further on a paved mountain road.

Best time

April–October

Best time

Spring and autumn are warm and green; summer is hot and humid in the lowlands, and winter is mild, with tangerines in the markets.

Recommended stay

1–2 hours

Getting there

The morning train from Tbilisi takes about 5.5–6 h, and we book the current timetable; by road it is about 5 h.

Fees

Low, a few GEL for each hall of the Dadiani museum.

Hours

Museum opening hours vary; we plan around them.

Heads-up

Zugdidi is close to the occupation line of Abkhazia on the Enguri river; the Enguri bridge crossing is not a tourist route.

Time needed

1–2 hours for the museum and garden.

History & culture

Culture

Many people here speak Megrelian (Mingrelian), a language related to Georgian, alongside Georgian. Samegrelo is known across Georgia for its spicy cooking, and Zugdidi's large market is a good place to see local produce: sulguni cheese, ajika pastes, hazelnuts and tangerines in winter.

History

From the late Middle Ages Zugdidi was the seat of the Dadiani, the ruling princes of Mingrelia (Samegrelo). The palace buildings date from the 19th century, when the family married into European nobility: Salome Dadiani married Prince Achille Murat, a grandson of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, and his family's Napoleonic relics came to Zugdidi, including a death mask of Napoleon. Mingrelia lost its autonomy under the Russian Empire in 1867. The palace became a museum in 1921 and today holds about 41,000 items.

Local Cuisine

Samegrelo is the home of Megrelian khachapuri (with cheese on top as well as inside), elarji (cornmeal mashed with sulguni), gebzhalia (sulguni rolls in a minty yoghurt sauce), Megrelian kharcho with walnuts and spice, and red and green ajika. Try them at a family restaurant in town or in cafés on the road to Mestia.

Accommodation

Several small and mid-range hotels and guesthouses in the centre, used mainly as a stopover between Mestia, Kutaisi and the Black Sea coast.

Nearby destinations

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