The White Bridge (Tetri Khidi) crossing the Rioni River is one of the most photographed spots in Kutaisi, particularly from the hill near Bagrati Cathedral, where the bridge and the city centre form a clean panorama with the mountains behind. The bridge itself dates to the Soviet era but the setting is natural.
The riverbanks here are a useful orientation point for exploring the old city. The market quarter on the east bank — centred on the central bazaar — is a working Georgian market, not a tourist attraction, and worth walking through in the morning when the vegetable, cheese, and churchkhela sellers are at full stretch. Churchkhela, the Georgian walnut-and-grape-juice sweet shaped like a candle, is made throughout Imereti and the Kutaisi market is a good place to buy it directly from producers.
The streets rising from the river towards Bagrati Cathedral pass through a residential neighbourhood of old wooden houses with carved balconies — a style typical of western Georgia — that is slowly being restored after decades of neglect.