15 Things to Do in Poti, Georgia’s ‘Little Paris’ on the Black Sea

A complete travel guide for the the master-planned Black Sea port city dubbed ‘Little Paris’. Includes the best things to do in Poti, how to visit the nearby Kolkheti National Park, transport info, handy travel tips, and restaurant recommendations.

Poti is normally associated with two things: its port and its mosquitoes.

It was last on my list of cities to visit in Georgia, and honestly I’m a bit regretful that I waited so long.

Poti is exactly the kind of place I love to explore: It’s walkable, brimming with beautiful buildings and street art, with a vibrant market and a couple of great restaurants. Nicknamed ‘Little Paris’, its unique city plan and gorgeous heritage architecture makes it quite unlike anywhere else in the country.

Poti’s story is tied up with the Kingdom of Colchis and the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, and it’s home to Georgia’s first lighthouse, first railway, and yes, the deepest sea port. All this makes for a completely fascinating history.

On top of that, Poti is the gateway to Kolkheti National Park, one of Georgia’s most impressive and biodiverse landscapes. Taking a boat across Paliastomi Lake and exploring the ‘Georgian Amazon’ is a must-do in this area – but as I discovered, the city itself has its own charms and is well worth spending a day strolling around.

This guide brings together the best things to do in Poti, travel tips, and everything else you need to plan a visit.

About Poti

Poti is located on Georgia’s Black Sea Coast in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, roughly 75 kilometres north of Batumi. The city is best known for its seaport, one of the most strategically important anchorages in the region, and for being the headquarters of the Georgian Navy.

The long-awaited deep seaport up the coast at Anaklia will eventually usurp Poti. But for now, this remains the main point of entry for goods entering Georgia by ship.

One of my recent trips to Poti was to pick up my second-hand car that was sent over from the US. That was quite an adventure!

This part of the Black Sea Coast has been an important trade and transit centre for the entirety of its long history, beginning in the 7th-6th centuries BC when the Ancient Greek colony of Phasis was located here. (The name ‘Poti’ is derived from ‘Phasis’.)

If you believe the myth, this is where Jason and the Argonauts caught their first sight of Colchis. They entered the Rioni River at Poti and travelled up to Kutaisi (Aia) to claim the Golden Fleece.

In 1858, Poti was appointed a port city and in the years that followed, it acquired an artificial harbour and lighthouse. The first railway in the Caucasus linking Poti and Tbilisi was constructed in 1867-1874 and carried the bulk of Georgia’s coal and manganese exports.

Between 1894 and 1912, a man named Niko Nikoladze served as city mayor and single handedly transformed Poti into the country’s most important maritime centre.

He is considered the founding father of modern Poti and worshipped as such – you can find his statue by the sea port, opposite the beautiful domed corner building that is now a TBC Bank.

Under Nikoladze, Poti received an oil refinery, a power station, several schools, a cathedral and a theatre.

In 1901, he enlisted German-Lithuanian architect Edmund Fryk to engineer the city centre and design dozens of public and private buildings. Many of these edifices are still standing – read on for my favourites.

Fryk’s blueprint for Poti shaped the entire city and endures to this day. Inspired by the City of Lights, he came up with a neat radial street plan where thee main arterial, St. George Street (let’s call it the Champs-Élysées of Poti), emerges from an encirclement. On the opposite side of the canal, a more conventional system of parallel streets and symmetrical blocks was laid out.

And there you have it: Little Paris.

The redesign and rebranding carried a deeper meaning for Nikoladze, who was determined to help Poti shake the negative stigma attached to it at the time. Under the Ottomans, it had played a nefarious role as a place where slaves were gathered and put onto ships bound for Istanbul.

Fryk helped immensely in realising Nikoladze’s vision of Poti as a modern, efficient European city.

From my perspective, Poti has an orderly appearance and a calm feel – quite unusual for a Georgian city! Even the traffic seems to flow more smoothly here thanks to the one-way encirclement that syphons cars through the centre, around the park and cathedral and across the water.

Like anywhere in Georgia, Poti still has its issues. But it also has huge potential as a tourism destination.

The city itself is beautiful and fascinating, while its proximity to the sea and to Kolkheti National Park, part of the UNESCO-listed Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands, makes Poti a great base for exploring this end of the Black Sea Coast.

Best time to visit Poti

Being an industrial centre rather than a resort town, Poti is not as seasonal as places like Kobuleti. It’s more like Batumi in this regard: restaurants and other businesses are open year-round. But it still feels more upbeat and lively in the warmer months.

Summer brings rain, flash floods and giant mosquitoes. Winter is anchovy fishing season and apparently an unpleasant smell settles on some parts of the city.

I recommend visiting in late spring or early autumn, when it’s warm but not too hot and the landscape around the city is nice and green.

If you happen to be in the area in mid-August, consider timing your visit for the annual Kefal Fest, a beachside cultural celebration.

One thing to watch out for is strong wind: boat trips to Kolkheti National Park are cancelled if it’s gusty. We almost missed out when we visited Poti at the end of April – luckily the wind died down on our second day.

15 things to do in Poti

Here are the best things to do in Poti. You will need two full days to see everything listed here at a comfortable pace.

The city is small but quite spread out. Everything mentioned here is walkable aside from Kolkheti National Park, Okros Tba and the Heroes Memorial.

The Bolt app works in Poti if you need to order a taxi. Public bus #4 travels between the lighthouse and downtown.

The red-and-white candy striped Poti Lighthouse is the most recognisable landmark and ‘top attraction’ in Poti.

The cast-iron structure was manufactured in London in 1862 by Easton, Amos & Sons Engineers (see their name stamped above the door in both Russian and English). It was then broken down into plates and steam-shipped piece by piece to Georgia, where it took a full two years to reassemble. The lights in the French-made Fresnel lens were finally switched on in 1864.

This was the first navigational facility of its kind in the country and at 36 metres high, it still holds the title of the world’s second-tallest cast-iron lighthouse.

The lighthouse is now located inside the State Hydrographic Services, an agency responsible for processing meteorological data and navigational maps to assist mariners. Staff are always exceedingly friendly when tourists like me show up at the gate.

The bottom two floors contain a small museum with archival photos, old beacons, navigational instruments and other ephemera.

A spiral iron staircase takes you 160 steps to the top of the lighthouse, where there is an open viewing deck. Here you can see the estuary formed by a canal of the Rioni River, which originates in Racha and flows through Kutaisi before joining with the Black Sea, and on the opposite side, a sprawling cemetery.

Note that it might not be possible to climb the lighthouse if there is strong wind or rain. I was recently in Poti when gusts of 30 KPH forced staff to close the stairs (the museum was still open).

After you’ve climbed back down, walk over to the adjacent seafront. A big pod of dolphins resides here – we saw at least a dozen ducking and diving through the water.

Judging from the posters and signs around the park, they are a regular fixture! As long as the waters are calm you have a good chance of seeing them.

• Location: 93 Demetre Tavdadebuli Street
• Hours: 9am-6pm daily
• Cost: Free

Poti’s seafront Boulevard extends north from the lighthouse towards the Sea Port. Honestly it is not a patch on the boulevards in Batumi, Kobuleti or Anaklia, but it’s not a bad place to take a quick stroll if you want to take in the sea views. (There is no similar walking path in the south of the city.)

The shore here is all boulders and the waters can be very rough. For this reason, entering the water is strictly prohibited. If you want to go swimming in Poti, you will need to head south towards Poti Beach (see #14 on this list below).

As you near the top of the embankment you start to see cranes and machinery working away at the nearby Sea Port. We spotted this set of brightly coloured shipping containers stacked in somebody’s front garden.

There used to be a great Jason and the Argonauts street art mural close to the Boulevard, but unfortunately it has been destroyed. There is one small mural depicting dolphins located off Tamar Mepe Street, but honestly it is not worth going out of your way for.

The symmetrical, low dome design is the work of architects Alexander Zelenko and Robert Marfeld, who oversaw the construction of the cathedral in 1906-1907 under Niko Nikoladze’s patronage.

Nikoladze was very astute and knew that the Imperial Russian forces in charge at the time would frown upon a traditional Georgian church design. Hence the decision to err on the side of Byzantine.

In Soviet times, the cathedral was deconsecrated and used as a theatre.

The cavernous interior has clearly been renovated recently. The tops of the columns are beautifully decorated, and the iconostasis is carved from the same gleaming white stone.

The cathedral holds 2,000 people and is decorated with tangerine-coloured marble and golden icons. The bright sanctuary at the entrance is also very pretty.

Similar to Sameba Cathedral in Tbilisi, the church grounds are enclosed by walls with a big arched facade and gate at the entrance. As you exit, go to the right (towards the tower) and you will find a small gate into the adjacent Central Park.

Looking back over the fence from this point, you can get a lovely view of the main dome and the ‘stacked’ facade (pictured top left).

• Location: Rustaveli Encirclement
• Hours: From 8am daily

Located on the western side of the park, this tower is the oldest structure in Poti. It dates to 1578 and was part of a larger fortress built by the Ottomans after they conquered the city for the first time (Poti fell to the Ottomans again in 1723, and again in 1812).

During his tenure as Mayor of Poti, Niko Nikoladze took up residence in the tower, adding two more floors to the structure and installing a mechanical clock on the facade, which was made in Paris in 1870.

The tower contains a small museum dedicated to Nikoladze – the first Georgian to receive a doctorate from a European university. Inside, there are blueprints and city plans arranged on antique tables. The first two floors are joined by a very photogenic red spiral staircase.

Officially the museum is open from 10am until 5pm Tuesday to Sunday. In practice it is quite casual and you will often find the side door is closed (as it has been on the last two occasions we have tried to visit).

Nikoladze’s main house museum is located 80 kilometres east in Didi Jikhaishi, the Imeretian village where he was born.

• Location: Rustaveli Encirclement (opposite Carrefour)
• Hours: 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays)
• Cost: 15 GEL

Located inside another heritage brick building on the opposite side of the canal, the Kolkheti Culture Museum – officially the Giorgi Chitaia Museum of Colchian Culture of Poti – is quite typical of local museums in Georgia. It’s collection is vast and important – some 20,000 objects apparently – but it is crying out for a bit of TLC. As usual, staff are equal parts passionate and welcoming.

The bottom floor has several rooms full of artefacts unearthed during archaeological digs in the area. This includes clay vases, weapons and jewellery recovered from dives in Paliastomi Lake, which is believed to be the site of Ancient Phasis.

Upstairs, the second part of the exhibition explores the modern history of Poti. This section has more signage in English and was the most interesting part of the museum for me. There are wonderful archival photos showing the construction of the lighthouse and cathedral, and lots of antiques.

The building itself is a typical Fryk design: heavy set with neo-Gothic flourishes and a red brick facade. It was completed at the turn of the century (around 1907) as a private residence for the Greek merchant Omer Avgerinos.

As the story goes, Avgerinos commissioned the house for his lover – either an Austrian opera singer pining for the comforts of home, or a local Colchian woman with expensive taste. It depends who you ask!

Either way, the house was transformed into a museum during the Soviet period.

Museum staff speak Georgian and Russian. Even if you can’t communicate with staff, there is enough information in English to still make a walk-through worthwhile.

Important note: The museum is temporarily closed for restoration.

• Location: 26 May Street
• Hours: 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays)
• Cost: 15 GEL

There are around 70 buildings in Poti with Cultural Heritage status. Many of them date back to Nikoladze’s era and are located near the seaport.

Pictured above, the terracotta-and-white corner building that is now the Bristoli restaurant (I also recommend eating here – more info below) was a hotel of the same name in its past life. It was built by Fryk in 1910 and follows a long tradition of ‘Bristol Hotels’ – there are more than 200 in total the world over – that stretch from Belgrade to Beirut.

Another Fryk-designed lodging in Poti, the former Grand Hotel predates the Bristol by three years. It is located closer to Central Park on Chanturia Street.

On the same side of the canal at the corner of St. George and Dzuku Lolua Streets, the former house of Dr. Nikoloz Ter-Nikogosov is one of Fryk’s earliest works in Poti. The pretty corner building features a double-storey front and an inset portal with the year ‘1894’ stamped above the door.

My favourite building is definitely the two-storey red brick and stone manor house closer to the port. Listed as ‘Former State Security Service Building’ on Google Maps, it was also designed by Edmund Fryk.

When I first visited Poti in 2022, the house was in very poor condition. This year I was thrilled to see that it has been fully restored. It remains empty – perhaps the Poti Museum will be relocated here?

There are more houses attributed to Fryk nearby. On Gegidze Street (the opposite side of Aghmashenebeli Avenue), there is a curious pair of houses known as the ‘Twins’ or ‘Gemini Building’ (tkupebi in Georgian). Finished in 1907, they are also neo-Gothic in style and crafted from Fryk’s signature red brick.

Another highlight is this Art Nouveau facade on Aghmashenebeli Avenue (below left). Formerly used by the communication company Phazisi, it has very unique decorations including a spider’s web motif.

The hollow shell was up for sale a couple of years ago, but I noticed the sign has been removed. Perhaps it too will be restored?

More intriguing neoclassical buildings with expressive mascarons (above right) and detailed stuccowork can be seen at the eastern end of the Aghmashenebeli Avenue near the river.

If you have time, you could walk the length of the avenue from the seaport down to the bridge (about 1.5 kilometres in total).

A more recent addition to Poti is a series of large-scale murals painted on old buildings throughout the city in 2019/2020. These were created by various local artists in cooperation with Niko Project, an inspiring initiative responsible for bringing street art to Batumi and other cities around Georgia.

Each of Poti’s murals is connected to the city and offers commentary on some aspect of local culture or society. There were five large-scale works, but several of the murals have since been destroyed or painted over.

My favourite is definitely Medea by David Samkharadze (2019). Pictured above, it depicts the mythological daughter of King Aetes who fashioned botanical potions and ran away with Jason.

Just around the corner, Cowsquito depicts an elephant-sized mosquito – a jab at the giant insects that swarm Poti in the summer season. It was painted by Poti-born artist Goga Katsarava in 2020.

Beauty Buried in a Swamp by Musya Qeburia (2020) is another stunning mural that shows a partially submerged woman with plastic bottles floating around her face.

It is a response to the issue of pollution and a reference to Poti’s other nickname, ‘Swamp City’ (doesn’t have quite the same right to it as Little Paris, right?).

I’m always on the hunt for Soviet-era mosaics. Poti has a couple of notable examples, but unfortunately they aren’t in the best condition.

One mosaic that is in pretty great nick is the bandstand or summer theatre mosaic inside Central Park. It lines the inside of the domed outdoor stage building and has a curved shape.

I love the subtle greens and blues and the use of negative space for the lower half of the mosaic. Perhaps the author (whose name has sadly been lost to history) did this so that the backdrop would not detract from the performers on stage. The two characters are pictured with traditional Georgian musical instruments.

The vast mosaic pictured above covered the entire end of an apartment complex on 9 April Street. When I took this photo, most of the pannos had already fallen away, but some parts were still decipherable, including a frieze of tea pickers. Very sadly this mosaic was plastered over in 2023.

More mosaics are located in a yard on Gegidze Street, opposite Restaurant Qalaquri. On one side, the low decorative wall depicts stage actors and musical performers. I love how the author (also very sadly not documented) has used ombre tiles in places to create the illusion of light and dark – as if the characters are stepping into the spotlight or perhaps peering through the stage curtain.

On the other side, nautical-themed pannos depict Poseidon and women riding on the backs of dolphins.

I was expecting Poti Market to be dominated by seafood, but the covered hall is much like any other agricultural market in Georgia: brimming with fresh produce, churchkhela and honey.

This being Samegrelo, you will also see lots and lots of different kinds of adjika in all shades of red, orange and green.

The market has a mezzanine so you can climb up the stairs and look directly down over the stalls.

There is a great retro painting outside the manager’s office on the upper level – it shows a woman swimming in a bounty of produce, with the Caucasus mountains in the background.

Stalls spill out onto the streets around the market, selling more food products plus clothing and hardware. This is an interesting area to walk around if you’re curious about local life in Poti.

The market is located on the same side of the canal as the cathedral, approximately a 10-minute walk from Central Park.

• Location: Giorgi Chanturia Street
• Hours: From 10am daily

Megrelian is far and away my favourite regional cuisine in Georgia, so I was pretty pumped to gorge on kharcho and elarji in Poti. Nothing will ever trump Diaroni in Zugdidi for Megrelian food. But Poti has a surprisingly great foodie scene for a city of its size!

The first restaurant I recommend is Bristoli. It is located inside one of Fryk’s historic buildings that I mentioned earlier. It has a cosy interior, with framed archival photos and booth seating.

While the menu is pretty wide-ranging, there are plenty of Georgian classics and a number of Megrelian specialties on offer (along with draft beer!). The chef puts spicy adjika in the ojakhuri (fried meat with potatoes and onions) – it’s absolutely delicious. They also do a great Rachan-style lobiani with ham.

I saved my kharcho and elarji cravings for Beer House, another popular restaurant on the same street. The walnut sauce is rich and spicy and was everything I needed. Two more items on the menu caught my eye: Colchian Ostri, and their signature dish, the Ghomi Board – a huge platter of cornmeal and kharcho to share.

For something different, Limena is a new restaurant in Poti that specialises in cocktails and Italian-style pizza. It is run by a young chef and is a bit of a cool hangout. The space doubles as a gallery and community space. I love the DIY vibe and the kitchen absolutely delivers.

Perhaps the greatest surprise of all was finding really excellent coffee in Poti. AERO Coffee & Wine by Beauty Laboratory is attached to a hair salon opposite Bristoli and ticks all the boxes: great ambiance and music, friendly staff, perfect coffee, and delicious cakes.

I am seriously contemplating a day trip back to Poti purely for their Basque Cheesecake. Oh how I wish Kutaisi had a cafe like this one!

We first spotted this strange sculpture on our way into Poti and drove back down the highway for a closer look before visiting the National Park (see #13 below). It is located right by the entrance to the visitors centre, so you can easily pop in for a quick look.

A memorial to fallen WWII (Great Patriotic War) soldiers, the Heroes Memorial depicts a bronzed David-like figure standing atop a tall column. Three huge white sculptures – crashing waves or crashing fists, depending how you look at it – loom behind him.

I read somewhere that the official title for the monument is Dead in the Sea. Other sources refer to it as the Monument to the Heroic Sailors, which implies a connection to the navy.

The ensemble and its adjoining Memorial Park were created in 1979. The sculpture itself is a joint effort between Georgian artist Elguja Amashukeli and the architect Vakhtang Davitaya.

In front of the main sculpture, a cascade of large stone slabs carry the names of lost soldiers and epithets written in both Georgian and Russian.

Amashukeli is an absolute titan of applied arts, famous for giving Kutaisi its statue of King David the Builder (1994) and Tbilisi its monument to King Vakhtang Gorgasali.

He is also the name behind the most iconic sculpture in all of Georgia, the Kartlis Deda monument on Tbilisi’s Narikala Hill (1958). A section of the Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi is dedicated to his work.

• Location: E70 highway

Kolkheti National Park is one of the coolest national parks in Georgia and a must-see when in Poti. A visit includes a boat trip across Paliastomi Lake to the Pichori River, where you follow the snaking waterway deep into the maze of forests and wetlands in search of nesting birds and wild horses.

Reservations for the boat trip are mandatory and must be organised by phone in advance. See my detailed guide to visiting Kolkheti National Park for info and more travel tips.

The coastline near Poti Lighthouse is all rocks. To the south, there are several large beaches with fine, dark, magnetic sands. Unfortunately there is also a lot of trash in this area, which completely detracts from its beauty.

On the beaches in front of Golden Lake there are bars, cafes and other infrastructure (including lifeguard towers) – but since it was not the season, everything was shuttered at the time of our visit. I’m sure it has a different feel in summer but in spring, it was quite desolate and dystopian in a wonderful way… I mean, just look at that half-buried grandstand on the beach.

If you want to swim in Poti, I highly recommend you go further south to Maltakhva, an outer suburb where there are nicer magnetic beaches, or go to Grigoleti. If you have a car, it’s only a short drive to Ureki and Shekvetili where you’ll find better-kept swimming beaches.

Note that the sand gets more coarse the further south you go before eventually turning to pebbles and then large stones.

Poti’s answer to the Golden Gate Bridge – the Golden Lake Bridge. Okros Tba (‘Golden Lake’) is a long, narrow lake squished between Paliastomi and the coast. It’s more built up with a few bars and a resort on the shore.

This place must have been a tourist magnet (or perhaps a location for summer camps) back in the day. There is an old abandoned hotel on the lake’s edge and a huge abandoned above-ground pool. I spotted an amazing artwork depicting the Argo boat painted above the deep end, but unfortunately the complex is fenced off with barbed wire and I couldn’t get my camera in at the right angle.

How to get to Poti

Driving to Poti

It is quite handy to have your own car in Poti. There is plenty of street parking in the centre, and the traffic is not bad at all compared to other cities.

The drive through Guria and Samegrelo to reach Poti is very beautiful. For ideas of what to see along the way, see this regional guide.

As always, I recommend hiring a car from a local agent using the Local Rent website. See my tips for driving in Georgia here.

Tbilisi to Poti

There is a direct daily train to Poti that departs Tbilisi at around 5.30pm. The journey take 6 hours, and tickets cost 16-43 GEL depending on the class you choose. Buy your tickets in advance online via TKT.GE.

Alternatively, marshrutka vans to Poti depart from Didube Bus Terminal in Tbilisi at least once an hour from 8am onwards. For safety reasons, I do not recommend travelling such a long distance after dark.

Drivers take the Kutaisi Bypass and arrive on the coast at Grigoleti before turning north. Travel time is 5-6 hours, and the fare is around 30 GEL.

Kutaisi to Poti

Marshrutka vans to Poti depart from Kutaisi’s Central Bus Station approximately every hour between 8am and 7pm. Travel time is 2 hours and the fare is around 10 GEL.

If you prefer to travel by rail, you can pick up the evening Tbilisi-Poti train at Rioni Station, 20 minutes south of the centre of Kutaisi by Bolt taxi or city bus #3. The train takes 2 hours and arrives in Poti at midnight. Tickets cost 12-39 GEL and can be purchased online through TKT.GE.

Batumi to Poti

Marshrutka vans to Poti depart from Batumi’s old bus station throughout the day. Travel time is just over one hour, and the fare is approximately 10 GEL.

There is no direct train to Poti from Batumi – the two cities are on different branches of the railway line.

Departing from Poti

To travel onward from Poti to Batumi, Zugdidi, Kutaisi or Tbilisi, you can either take a van from Poti Bus Station or a train from the Railway Station. Both are located on the opposite side of the canal from the market (see the Poti Map for exact locations). Shared taxis to various destinations around Georgia are also available from this area.

A passenger ferry between Poti and Constanta, Romania is operated by E60 Shipping Line. Last I heard, the boat only accepts people travelling with a vehicle (no foot passengers). If you have any experience travelling to or from Poti via the Black Sea route, I would love to hear your tips in the comments below!

Poti travel tips

• Don’t forget to call ahead and book your boat trip to Kolkheti National Park – reservations are mandatory and should be made in advance by phone. See my dedicated guide for tips and contact phone numbers.
• If wind/heavy rain is forecast, boat trips will not go ahead – it’s a good idea to stay in Poti for a couple of days to hedge your bets.
• Bring mosquito repellent, especially if you’re travelling in summer.