Guria
Tea plantations between the sea and the mountains — the magnetic sand of Ureki and the high resort of Bakhmaro.
Click a marker for details. Coloured lines are ready-made road trips.
Guria is a small region between the Black Sea and the Meskheti range, and that contrast defines it: two hours after leaving the beach you can be at two thousand metres. The climate is subtropical and humid, and the landscape is a mixture of tea and hazelnut plantations, bamboo and dense forest.
On the coast lies Ureki, a beach of black magnetic sand which has been credited with therapeutic properties since Soviet times and remains a family holiday place. In summer it is busy, and the water is exactly as warm as at Kobuleti further south. Shekvetili, with its park and concert arena, sits a little to the north.
Inland the region quietens down. Ozurgeti is the administrative centre, and beside it stands Shemokmedi Monastery, one of the principal religious sites of Guria and once a rich repository of icons and metalwork. Nabeghlavi, in the foothills, is the village behind the mineral water of the same name.
The main mountain destination is Bakhmaro, a resort of timber houses at around two thousand metres, known for its horse races in August. Bakhmaro is strictly seasonal, roughly July to September, and can only be reached on an unpaved road.
The season is clear-cut: June to September on the coast, and an even narrower window in the mountains. One or two days is enough unless Bakhmaro is on the plan, in which case add a full day for the drive alone.
Best for
- Beach days on the magnetic sand of Ureki
- A stop on the drive down to Batumi
- Tea and hazelnut country in the foothills
- Bakhmaro between July and September, 4x4 only
Driving conditions
The coastal highway through Ureki and Shekvetili is good asphalt and an economy car is entirely adequate. In summer, especially at weekends, this road is busy and parking near the beaches becomes difficult — arriving early solves most of it. The roads to Ozurgeti and Shemokmedi are also surfaced and easy.
Bakhmaro is another matter. From Chokhatauri it is about forty-five kilometres of unpaved road, and it takes up to three hours: loose gravel, deep ruts, a river crossing and steep climbs. Only a 4x4 belongs here, and conditions worsen sharply after rain. In winter the road is closed altogether.
Rain in western Georgia is frequent and sudden. Visibility drops quickly and the asphalt becomes slippery under the first shower after a dry spell, so leave more space than usual. Fuel is available in Ozurgeti, Lanchkhuti and Chokhatauri, but there is nothing on the climb to Bakhmaro.
In this region — 16 places
Spa resort★★★★★5Bakhmaro
A mountain resort of wooden chalets at 1,950 m where sea and alpine air meet — open only in summer.
- Time needed: 6 h
- From Tbilisi: 355 km · 6:30
- Car needed: Off-road 4x4
Beach★★★★★5Ureki
A black magnetic-sand beach on the Guria coast — the region's best-known family summer resort.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 320 km · 4:40
- Car needed: Economy class
Town★★★★☆4Ozurgeti
The administrative centre of Guria — a quiet provincial town with a park, a market and one good museum.
- Time needed: 3 h
- From Tbilisi: 325 km · 4:50
- Car needed: Economy class
Monastery★★★½☆3.5Shemokmedi Monastery
The burial monastery of the Gurieli princes near Ozurgeti, with a famous history of icons and metalwork.
- Time needed: 1 h
- From Tbilisi: 335 km · 5:00
- Car needed: Economy class
Town★★★★☆4Shekvetili and the Black Sea Arena
A pine-shaded resort next to Ureki, and Georgia's largest open-air concert venue.
- Time needed: 3 h
- From Tbilisi: 325 km · 4:45
- Car needed: Economy class
Spa resort★★★½☆3.5Nabeghlavi
A mineral water village in the Guria foothills — springs, a green valley and the start of the Bakhmaro road.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 345 km · 5:30
- Car needed: Crossover / SUV
Nature★★★★☆4Shekvetili Dendrological Park
A coastal park where century-old trees were transplanted here from all over Georgia.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 322 km · 4:45
- Car needed: Economy class
Monastery★★★½☆3.5Jumati Monastery
A monastery of the Archangels on a hill north-west of Ozurgeti, known for enamels it no longer holds.
- Time needed: 1 h
- From Tbilisi: 320 km · 4:50
- Car needed: Economy class
Town★★★★☆4Tsitsinatela Family Park
Shekvetili's amusement park — the main evening destination on the Gurian coast if you have children.
- Time needed: 3 h
- From Tbilisi: 324 km · 4:45
- Car needed: Economy class
Monastery★★★½☆3.5Likhauri Church of the Virgin
A village church on a hill south of Ozurgeti, with the remains of a fortress in the woods above it.
- Time needed: 1 h
- From Tbilisi: 335 km · 5:05
- Car needed: Economy class
Beach★★★★☆4Grigoleti
A quiet shore village north of Ureki, where the sand meets the Kolkheti wetlands.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 315 km · 4:30
- Car needed: Economy class
Fortress★★★½☆3.5Askana Fortress
The ruins of a fortress of the princes of Guria, on a wooded hill east of Ozurgeti.
- Time needed: 1.5 h
- From Tbilisi: 340 km · 5:15
- Car needed: Crossover / SUV
Town★★★★☆4Lanchkhuti
Guria's northern gateway — a town of tea and hazelnuts on the edge of the Kolkheti marshes.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 298 km · 4:20
- Car needed: Economy class
Town★★★★☆4Chokhatauri
The eastern town of Guria — the junction for the roads up to Bakhmaro and Nabeghlavi.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 315 km · 4:50
- Car needed: Economy class
Town★★★★☆4Shukhuti and Lelo Burti
Two villages that fight each other over a fifty-kilogram ball once a year, on Easter Sunday.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 305 km · 4:35
- Car needed: Economy class
Mountain★★★★☆4Zoti
The last real village in the Gubazeuli valley on the road to Bakhmaro, all forest and wooden houses.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 345 km · 5:45
- Car needed: Crossover / SUV