Prepared by Sakhva Travel Georgia Guide, a tours and travel platform for Georgia. Sakhva Travel office: 14 Merab Kostava St, Tbilisi.
Tour on this topic: Zugdidi tour — from ₾255
Dadiani Palace
The Dadiani were a princely family that ruled Mingrelia for several centuries. Their 19th-century palace complex is now a museum of history and architecture. The collection includes old icons, weapons, household items and one of Napoleon's death masks: it came to the family when Princess Salome Dadiani married Achille Murat, the grandson of a Napoleonic marshal.
Around the palace is a botanical garden laid out in the 19th century, with exotic trees and avenues for walking.
Megrelian cuisine
Zugdidi is a good place for lunch: Megrelian khachapuri with cheese on top, elarji — corn porridge with sulguni cheese, gomi, chicken in satsivi walnut sauce and spicy adjika. The sulguni here is fresh and stretchy.
The way to Svaneti
From Zugdidi the road climbs into the mountains to Mestia — about 3–3.5 hours past the Enguri hydropower dam and the Jvari reservoir. Many people travel to Svaneti via Zugdidi with an overnight stop.
How to get there
From Tbilisi it is 5–6 hours by car or by night train. From Kutaisi, about 2 hours. Marshrutkas to Mestia leave Zugdidi station in the morning.
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