Search Flights from San Diego to Kutaisi

There is the Rioni river at the entrance of Kutaisi, which is the second largest and most developed city of Georgia, and this river literally divides the city into two. Kutaisi is located in the Imerati Region in the western part of Georgia and its distance to the country’s capital, Tbilisi, is approximately 221 kilometers. The city’s population is around 201.000. Kutaisi’s urban transportation is mostly composed of buses, trolleys, taxis and mini-buses called marshrutka.

There is also a big train station in the city. But from this train station, daily express trains from Kutaisi to Georgia’s other major cities depart. As the area of the city is small, majority of the visitors walk or use taxis for transportation.

Kutaisi railway terminal is directly connected to Georgia’s capital city, Tbilisi. All of the trains leaving from this terminal are operated by Georgian Railways. You can travel to Tbilisi from Kutaisi in around 5.5 hours by taking the train #18, which departs from Kutaisi I station. There are also daily express trains.

The train starts its trip at 08.50 every morning and arrives at Tbilisi in 6 hours. This train also stops in Mtskheta, the former capital of Georgia. There are also regular bus trips from Didube bus station in Didube, where the metro station in Tbilisi is located at, to Kutaisi. Price for this bus trip is only 10 Lari.

In addition to the marshrutkas and buses, you may also consider using car rental services or taxis for transportation to city centre from the Kutaisi Airport.

Marshrutka

After arriving at the Kutaisi Airport, take the exit from the arrival terminal and proceed to the bus stops. As well as the buses, marshrutkas also depart to Kutiasi city centre or suburbans from the bus stops at the area in front of the terminal building. Marshrutka drivers may not accept paying with dollar or euro, so do not forget to stop by the exchange office in the airport just in case.

Marshrutkas leaving from Kutaisi Airport go directly to the Kutaisi bus station just behind McDonalds. Marshrutkas, which run in every 20 minutes, provide transportation services to the town of Samtredia from Kutaisi Airport for a fee of 2 Lari. There are also vehicles named ‘direct marshrutkas’, which have a fare of 5 Lari. These direct marshrutkas will take you to your destination as well.

There are direct marshrutkas running between Kutaisi Airport and Tbilisi, and fare is currently 20 Lari. Likewise, there are also marshrutkas going directly to Batumi, another major city of Georgia, for a fare of 18 Lari.

Bus

Bus service timetable are usually updated according to the flights' arrival times. You don’t need to worry if you forget to get Georgian currency, as it is possible to buy bus tickets with euro or dollar as well.

Taxi

Taxi is the most economical vehicle you can use for traveling to the city centre from Kutaisi Airport. Traveling to the city centre from the airport by taxi costs around 25 Lari, but you can drop the price to 20 Lari by bargaining with the taxi driver.

Rent a Car

The only thing that you need to do to go city centre from Kutaisi Airport by your rented car is to take the highway, which passes right by the airport, and follow the direction signs to the city. You can reach the city centre in around 20 minutes by your vehicle.

As well as you can find several rent a car services at the exit of Kutaisi Airport terminal, you can also make benefit of discounts by making an online reservation. People visiting Kutaisi often prefer renting a car as they usually include visiting other Georgian cities such as Tbilisi and Batumi  in their travel plans.