Zugdidi
©
Zugdidi

Zugdidi

Samegrelo city and Svaneti gateway, centred on Dadiani Palace and its eclectic princely museum.

Zugdidi is the main city of the Samegrelo region in western Georgia, historically the capital of the Mingrelian principality. The star attraction is the Dadiani Palace, now a museum housing an eclectic collection that includes one of Napoleon's three death masks — a relic of the marriage between a Dadiani prince and Napoleon's niece.

The city is the usual jumping-off point for trips to Mestia and the Svaneti highlands, and sits close to the Enguri Dam and the crossing point into Abkhazia. Zugdidi itself is a low-key, friendly place with a large botanical garden surrounding the palace.

Guide

Getting There

Zugdidi sits at a key junction in western Georgia and is well connected to the rest of the country.

By train is the most comfortable option from Tbilisi: overnight and day trains run daily, taking around five to six hours. The station is conveniently central. There are also rail connections to Batumi and Kutaisi.

By marshrutka minibuses run frequently from Tbilisi (around five hours), Kutaisi (two hours), and Batumi (three hours). They depart from the main bus station adjacent to the train station.

To Svaneti: Zugdidi is the main gateway to the Svaneti highlands. Daily marshrutkas run to Mestia (around five hours along a spectacular mountain road) from the bus station, departing in the morning. A small regional airport serves summer flights from Tbilisi to Mestia, though these depart from Natakhtari near Tbilisi rather than Zugdidi itself.

Guide

Things to Do

Zugdidi's main draw is the Dadiani Palace complex — the palace museum, its eccentric collection, and the surrounding botanical garden make for a rewarding half-day. Beyond the palace grounds the city is low-key: a lively bazaar, a couple of churches, and the pleasant tree-lined streets of the old centre are the rest of it. Most visitors are passing through on their way to Svaneti, but Zugdidi rewards a leisurely morning before the marshrutka departs.