Poti

Poti is a port city in Northwestern Georgia. The main reason to visit Poti is nearby Kolheti National Park with its wetlands and bird life.

Get in

By plane

The airport in Poti has been closed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Batumi International Airport is the closest airport, with flights from Baku, Istanbul, Kyiv, Moscow and Tel Aviv amongst others. However, the number one gateway to Georgia is still via Tbilisi, not too far away.

By train

Train services are quite good: Georgian Railways provides two daily trains from the capital, Tbilisi, taking 5½ hours.

By bus

Buses are plentiful from nearby Batumi; the journey time is just about one hour.

By car

European road E70, which starts in Spain, has its endpoint here. From Tbilisi, take the M27 road westwards and then turn off to A305 just outside the city of Senaki. A305 continues further to Batumi, so travel from there is straightforward.

By boat

• Varna<->Poti. Once a week. Passenger: €130, car: €250, motorbike: €150. (updated Aug 2019)
• Chernomorsk-Poti (near Odesa). Also http://www.navbul.com has this connection. Passenger: from €110, car: US$380, motorbike: US$150. (updated Aug 2019)

Poti is a port city, and there are several ferries arriving here from across the Black Sea. UKRFerry offers a service from Varna via Ilyichevsk just outside Odesa. Departures are once or twice a week, and prices range between €140 and €320 depending on class. The service from Burgas via Novorossiysk with Intershipping has been suspended.

There are also twice weekly ferries from Sochi to Batumi. A single journey costs 4000 руб.

See

• Palm Boulevard
• Chapel
• Poti Free Industrial Zone
• Temple of Saint Nickolaus

Further afield

• 1 Kolheti National Park (S 4 km; there are marshrutkas running from the city to the National Park's visitor center). Excellent spot for bird watching. It includes east coastline of the Black Sea and Lake Paliastomi basin. The visitors center can help organize boat tours on Lake Paliastomi and river Pichori gorge.