Things to Do in Abastumani, Georgia: Detailed Travel Guide (original) (raw)

A detailed guide to visiting Abastumani, Georgia’s stargazing capital and almost-forgotten health retreat.

Nothing piques my interest quite like a washed-up old spa town in the mountains of Georgia. I don’t remember if it was the pretty heritage architecture or the imposing dome of the Astrophysical Observatory that first caught my eye, but I do know that Abastumani – lovingly known as Georgia’s ‘closest place to the stars’ – has been on my wish-list for a long while.

I finally got a chance to spend a couple of days in Abastumani this summer as part of my road trip through Samtskhe-Javakheti region. After a few hours wandering the main street with my camera, I decided that it’s one of my favourite places in Georgia.

The main street in Abastumani. You can see why I fell in love.

The story of Abastumani’s rise and fall is a real page-turner: This was a stomping ground for the Romanovs in the final days before the Russian Revolution. The architecture – both the freshly painted houses and the dilapidated ones – is divine, as is the subalpine setting.

But I was wrong about one thing: This is not a washed-up spa town. At least not anymore. Though foreign tourists are a rare commodity, the area is very popular with Georgians who come here in summer to seek reprieve from the heat of the cities.

Heritage details in Abastumani.

There are some serious renovations going on and Abastumani has undergone quite a transformation in the past couple of years. Project Abastumani 2.0 started with revamping a set of houses on the main street (completed in 2020) and improving basic infrastructure for residents in the village.

The observatory has just reopened after initial work and promises to be even better once it’s fully restored to include a planetarium, working telescopes and a new hotel. (On the flip side, this has unfortunately meant that residents who live on the observatory grounds, including former employees and their families, haven’t been able to enter their apartments for some time now.)

In 2023, the road to Abastumani is being repaired. Adjara Group (the same crew behind Rooms Hotel in Tbilisi and Rooms Kazbegi) has plans to open a new property in Abastumani, too.

Before you visit Abastumani, it’s important to understand that the town is still a work in progress. Many of the most interesting buildings – including the Romanov Palace and the Tsar’s Bath – are closed and hidden from view by scaffolding. It’s unclear when they will reopen. (I’ve been trying to visit the Romanov Palace in nearby Likani since 2019 and was dismayed to find it’s still closed!)

Naturally this means my Abastumani guide is a work in progress too, and I will definitely be returning to update it in the near future. Here are the best things to see and do in Abastumani right now, plus everything you need to know to plan a visit.

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Very brief history of Abastumani

Remnants of stone towers and fortresses scattered across the ridges above Abastumani are a clue to the first chapters of this area’s history. Megalithic structures that date back to the Bronze Age can be found nearby atop the Abuli and Shaori mountains.

Abastumani was part of the medieval Odzrkhe district before falling to the Ottomans in the 16th century. In 1842, a German colony called Friedenthal emerged here, but it was short-lived. By the 1850s, the area came under the patronage of the Russian Viceroy Mikhail Vorontsov and was resettled.

In the 1890s, Abastumani was put on the map when Grand Duke George Alexandrovich Romanov, the younger brother of the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II, was sent to live there. He was suffering from tuberculosis at the time and it was hoped that Abastumani’s hot springs – long used by locals – would aid in his treatment.

George spent the final years of his life in a palace in Abastumani (and at a second residence in nearby Likani, near Borjomi) before he died unexpectedly following a road accident in July 1899. By that time, Abastumani had become a mecca for high society with many families travelling to this southern reach of the Empire to build their summer houses.

A beautiful restored house in Abastumani.

The area also attracted the attention of Sergey Glazenap, an astronomer from Saint Petersburg, who installed his telescope atop the nearby Mount Kanobili. Papers published by Glazenap were later used by Georgian academic Evgeni Kharadze as evidence to convince Soviet authorities that the USSR’s first mountain-top observatory should be built here.

The Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory launched in 1932.

Archival photographs at the observatory museum show Abastumani’s telescopes in action.

While scientists were star-gazing up on the hill, back down in Abastumani, a number of Soviet sanatoria were built to house holidaymakers and TB patients who were brought here from across the USSR. Public bathhouses and pavilions were erected to perform various hydrotherapy treatments.

Much like Georgia’s other resort towns of Borjomi, Kobuleti, Menji and Tskaltubo, Abastumani’s popularity waned after the fall of the Soviet Union. Many of the bathhouses, historic homes on the main street and sanatoria were left to ruin.

A relic of Abastumani’s days as a Soviet spa town.

The last of seven telescopes, a 40cm Zeiss Double Astrograph, was mounted at the observatory in 1978 before it too was shuttered in the 1990s.

As mentioned, both the observatory and the resort town of Abastumani are now receiving some much-needed TLC, with state-funded restoration projects underway. Even the Soviet-style mosaic on the main street appears to be undergoing rehabilitation.

How to get to Abastumani

Abastumani is located in the Lesser Caucasus south of Kutaisi. The easiest way to get there is by transiting through the small city of Akhaltsikhe, roughly 30-60 minutes away by road.

Note that Abastumani resort town – the area I cover in this guide – is a separate entity to Abastumani village, a small settlement of around 1,000 people further down the road towards Akhaltsikhe. This is why you’ll see two Abastumanis marked on the map.

Driving to Abastumani

If you have a rental car, I recommend driving up from the south via Akhaltsikhe. As you leave the city, it’s simply a matter of following the Batumi-Akhaltsikhe road then turning onto the Kutaisi-Benara road after Benara. The road is paved with a few potholes – we managed just fine in our Prius. The trip takes less than an hour.

The road gets a lot rougher after Abastumani heading north. Therefore if you want to drive down the opposite way – from Kutaisi via Baghdati and Sairme – you should have a car with high undercarriage clearance.

This road crosses the Zekari Pass and is supposedly very beautiful. We were planning to continue up to Kutaisi this way but didn’t dare attempt it in a Prius, so we went the long way around via Borjomi and Khashuri instead.

To summarise: You can quite easily drive to Abastumani via Akhaltsikhe in a regular sedan because this section of road is paved and in good nick. If you want to drive from Kutaisi via Sairme and the Zekari Pass, you will need a car with high clearance and a lot of patience – you have to take it slow.

Important update: There are currently extensive roadworks going on in Abastumani and parts of the area might be inaccessible as a result. The main street is closed, and the bus station has been temporarily relocated. I will return to update this guide when roadworks are finished.

Marshrtuka vans to Abastumani

There are only one or two direct vans to Abastumani from Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi each day – so wherever you’re coming from, I recommend you transit through Akhaltsikhe.

In summer, there are five marshrutka services to Abastumani from Akhaltsikhe daily, departing from the bus station at 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2pm, 3.30pm and 5pm. The fare is 2.50 GEL and travel time is around an hour. Services are reduced outside of summer (3 vans per day).

Vans return to Akhaltsikhe at 9.30am, 10.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 4.30pm. Double check times locally at the bus station or at Tourist Info inside Rabati Castle.

Akhaltsikhe’s bus station is very well organised – times are clearly posted, and tickets can be purchased from the cash desk inside.

If you’re staying in Akhaltsikhe for a couple of days and you want to visit Abastumani as a day trip instead, it might be easier to organise a taxi. This should cost you around 60 GEL return (including the Astrophysical Observatory).

The teeny tiny bus station at Abastumani resort.

Where to stay in Abastumani

Lots of people keep summer houses in Abastumani so you can find some nice apartments and cottages being rented out on Airbnb and Booking.com.

LALO Hotel Abastumani has studio apartments and is my top choice. Cottage Galileo has four cottage villas and is set back in the forest.

There are only a couple of hotels in Abastumani at this point with more under construction (including a fancy looking Marriott and a new Rooms). For now, Hotel Iveria has the highest ratio of positive reviews and is probably your safest bet.

Demand exceeds supply in the summer months when people come here for their holidays, so book as far in advance as possible if you plan on travelling between June and August.

Tips for visiting Abastumani

• There are several ATMs along the main street, including one at the front of the new Spar supermarket.
• The closest petrol station is on the highway just after you leave Akhaltsikhe, so make sure you fill up before you leave.
• Pack your bug repellent as there are lots of mozzies around.
• Bring your bathers, a towel and most importantly flip flops if you plan on using the sulfur baths during your visit.

1. Tour the Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory

Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory.

Touring the observatory was definitely the highlight of our visit to Abastumani. We showed up expecting to be able to walk around the grounds ourselves, but quickly realised that the entire area is gated and you need a guide to enter. Luckily we were just in time for the last tour of the evening at 7.30pm.

Note: Under normal circumstances you can do a night tour or even a midnight tour of the observatory, which includes stargazing through one of the telescopes (provided the skies are clear enough). At the time of writing, only day tours are available – night tours have been suspended and the observatory closes at 9.30pm. More information and updates here.

The first (and for a long time the only) alpine observatory in the USSR, Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory was established in 1932 by Georgian academic Evgeni Kharadze. The weather conditions on Mount Kanobili (clear skies, scarce wind) were perfect for stargazing, and a number of important discoveries were made here by Georgian and Soviet scientists.

My favourite part of the tour was seeing the archival photos and publications from the observatory’s heyday.

The observatory shuttered (I assume because of a lack of funding) and its seven telescopes lay dormant before restorations finally started a couple of years ago. Funded by the World Bank, the first phase of the project was completed in February 2020 and saw many of the buildings restored. Work is ongoing, our guide told us, and other facilities (a cafe, a new hotel and a planetarium) will be added later.

It’s still very rough around the edges, but the telescopes are still in working order. I do hope it becomes a place of discovery and learning once again . It’s a wonderful piece of history and a reminder of Georgia’s contribution to the global scientific community. From the way our guide spoke, it’s clear there is still a lot of passion and drive among the astronomers who once worked here.

Evgeni Kharadze’s old office, now part of the observatory museum.

The observatory tour runs for around 90 minutes and costs 10 GEL per person. During the program, you walk through a small section of the grounds, visit the museum, and see one of the telescopes up close. Our guide, an astronomer and former student of Kharadze, was absolutely wonderful and translated everything into English for us (despite us being the only two non-Georgian speakers in the group).

With the cable car running on an erratic schedule (see below), the easiest way to get up to the observatory is either to hike (following the trail marked that starts near the bottom cable car station) or to drive. Note that the road up to the observatory is quite windy and narrow in parts, so take extra care if you’re coming down after dark.

2. Photograph the Abastumani cable car

The Abastumani cable car.

Did you know that an estimated 62-75 passenger cable cars were erected around Georgia during the Soviet period? Abastumani has a hill, so naturally it has a ropeway too.

The Abastumani cable car was built to ferry people to and from the observatory by connecting the resort town with the top of Mount Kanobili. The bright yellow gondolas on this line were manufactured by the Tbilisi Aviation Factory – you can see the same standard oval-shaped cabins in Khulo (painted red) and at Tbilisi’s Turtle Lake (painted blue).

The modernist lower station building is quite striking. You can find it nestled in the forest back from the main road. From here, the ropeway whisks passengers up through the pine trees to the entrance to the observatory.

The lower cable car station building.

The cable car is still operational today, but at present it can only be used by staff at the observatory. The rest of us can still visit the bottom station building and photograph the yellow gondola suspended midway on the line.

3. Admire the restored summer houses on the main street

One of a dozen beautiful restored heritage buildings in Abastumani.

Abastumani’s most beautiful houses front onto Queen Tamar Street, the main drag that runs through the middle of town. The two and three-story houses with verandahs and widow’s walks were summer houses, while one of the single-story buildings was used as a pharmacy.

Built in the Tsarist days, the wooden houses were in pretty rough condition up until a couple of years ago. A dozen or so of the heritage properties have been restored and repainted in vivid shades of blue, sage green and lemon. Some are occupied by families, some are rented as holiday homes, and one is now the local police station.

The wide footpath makes it easy to walk the entire length of the street and take in the most beautiful of Abasumani’s heritage homes. Leafy trees line both sides of the road, casting shadows on the gallery windows and fretwork, making the scene even more magical.

4. Photograph the old houses

I love all the old architecture in Abastumani.

Not all of Abastumani’s houses have been so lucky and a great number are in various states of disrepair and decay. The most abandoned beautiful buildings I found are located opposite the police station on a parallel ‘street’ that runs behind the rivulet.

Some of these were clearly private houses but I also found what I think might have been the local fire station and a schoolhouse. A lot of the homes have round fountains out the front. Most of the buildings are sealed off with police tape for safety reasons, but you can still see a lot of detail from the outside.

A cute little lemon-coloured cottage. Possibly an old school house?

Abandoned building in Abastumani.

Details. A lot of the homes in Abastumani share this blue-and-white fretwork in common.

My favourite house in Abastumani.

My favourite piece of architecture in all of Abastumani is this Oriental-style house pictured above. It looks abandoned to me, but I did see the glimmer of a chandelier coming from the top window.

5. Visit the Romanov Palace

Built in 1893 for Grand Duke George, the Romanov complex in Abastumani consists of two houses, a summer palace and a winter palace. Designed by Tbilisi-based architect Otto Jacob Simons, the summer house – a single-story building with opulent windows – was built completely from wood, as was considered good for the lungs, while the winter palace was finished in stone.

The complex was mostly abandoned after Grand Duke George’s death, but its said that the summer house was a favourite hangout for the party elite during the Soviet era. In the 1990s, the area was turned into a nunnery and the sisters of St. Panteleimon moved in. Then a few years later, fire decimated one of the buildings.

The abandoned Romanov palaces and overgrown yard were accessible until recently, but at present the entire area is fenced off for renovation. I tried to get a peek at the summer house but it’s completely covered in scaffolding so I only got as far as the front gate. You can see photos of the house pre-renovation here.

The Romanov Palace in Abastumani. All I could manage was a photo of the front gate!

As I mentioned earlier, the Romanov Palace at Likani is also undergoing restoration work. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t get inside but honestly, I’m so glad to see these buildings are finally receiving the TLC they deserve.

6. Find the old Tsar’s Bathhouse

The Tsar’s Bathhouse or ‘Royal Abastumani’ is built atop one of three natural hot springs in the southern part of Abastumani, about 10 minutes’ walk from the centre. The waters here range from 39-48.5 degrees Celsius and are rich in sulfate-sodium chloride, traditionally used to treat tuberculosis and other respiratory disorders.

The royal pavilion was built between 1879-1881 and designed by St. Petersburg physician, Adolf Remmert. The baths offered different hydrotherapies and continued to function into the Soviet period.

Now privately owned by a development company, the complex is part-way through a 12 million dollar restoration project. This is a construction site so it’s not possible to enter – plus there are guard dogs (and they will bark and charge if you get too close, believe me!).

The Royal Abastumani baths – now under renovation.

The facade of the pavilion is still visible from the fence. The wooden balcony and fretwork has been removed and the red-and-blue paint stripped back to reveal the building’s stone bones, but the Henry Lepaute of Paris clock is still there, as is the fountain.

The two wings that stretch out on either side would have housed men’s and women’s bathing quarters. Once restorations are complete, it will be a spa house once again, with six ‘sulfur showers’ plus a small museum on the bottom level.

News articles say work will be complete in 2021, but when I visited in June there was still a lot of work to be done. This is a truly special building and I do hope the restorations do it justice.

7. Enjoy a sulfur bath

Close to the Tsar’s Bath you’ll find another sulfur pool that is still open for business. While this one is far less grand, it’s also a piece of history – albeit a throwback to Abastumani’s Soviet days rather than its royal period.

This bathhouse is essentially two deep pools housed under partially open tin shed roof. It’s about as far away from the glamorous Tbilisi sulfur baths as you can get! But the lucrative waters are much the same.

The Soviet-era Abastumani sulfur bath is still very much in use.

As soon as I walked through the door, I was taken back to my primary school swimming carnival days. It looks exactly like a public pool, only it’s the smell of sulfur not chlorine that hits you.

The pools are filled by long pipes that channel water from springs outside. It’s very warm to the touch and the smell is quite pungent.

Sulfur spray.

Despite being a bit rough around the edges, the baths are still very much in use. I visited on a weekday morning and saw a few families splashing about and two ladies swimming laps.

I wasn’t there to swim, but the owner of the baths, Genardi, was more than happy to show me around.

Inside the Abastumani sulfur bath. Accidentally Wes Anderson? Kinda.

As I was leaving, I found him sitting at one of the cafes opposite. He kindly invited me to sit and bought me an instant coffee. With the help of some paper and pen, I learned that he’s been working at the baths for 30 years.

My new friend Genardi, owner-manager of the sulfur bath.

The pools are open daily from 8am. Entrance costs 10 GEL for adults and 7 GEL for kids. Bring your own towel and flip flops. Changing cubicles are available.

8. Pop into St. Alexander Nevsky Church

St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Abastumani.

Located just off the main street, St. Alexander Nevsky (AKA Akhali Zarzma) is the main Orthodox church in Abastumani. It was built during the Tsarist period on the orders of Grand Duke George himself, who apparently adored the medieval Georgian ecclesiastical style.

Sadly he never got to see it complete – he died before the church was finished in 1902.

The church is a replica of the 14th-century Zarzma Monastery, 30km south-west of Abastumani, and is frescoed by Russian-Soviet painter Mikhail Nesterov.

9. Hunt down the Soviet-era mosaics

Mosaic by Lama Kurdiani.

There are a couple of noteworthy Soviet mosaics in Abastumani. The first is a long mosaic that decorates a concrete retaining wall on the main road. Created by Saurmag Ghambashidze in the 1970s, it shows galloping deer against a golden background. It’s currently covered with white plastic in lieu of restorations (at least I hope that’s what they have planned).

The second is a smaller mosaic by Lama Kurdiani (date unknown) that depicts a miniature Abastumani surrounded by mountains and a beaming sun with a smiling face. It’s certainly not the most impressive I’ve seen but it’s worth a quick stop – no doubt you’ll walk past it several times anyway because it’s right on the main street.

See my Abastumani map below for the exact location.

10. Go hiking

Abastumani is enveloped by thick forest like this.

Abastumani’s mountainous location and thick forest makes it an ideal spot for hiking. The terrain and climate here is quite similar to Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, just to the east.

There are several short loop trails and longer full-day hikes that lead ramblers into the hills above town, with either the observatory or medieval ruins as an endpoint. Trails open up from various points along the main road and from near the bottom cable car station. Each one is clearly marked with yellow waysigns, maps and painted flags.

Remember to carry plenty of drinking water with you and download an offline map for navigating.

11. Climb to Tamari Fortress or Okro castle

Hiking trails in Abastumani.

Two of Abastumani’s most important medieval monuments, Tamari Fortress and Okro Castle, can both be reached by foot. The former sits on a ridge very close to the main road at the southern end of the resort. I recommend starting the 5.4km uphill hike to Tamari Fortress from the trailhead near the sulfur baths.

Okro Castle is further back into the forest so it’s recommended to first take a car to Shoka village and continue on foot from there (roughly 3km). Set on a rocky outcrop that encases the stone towers and walls like a great claw, it looks to be quite a sight to behold. The fortress was built by the Meskhetians as part of an extensive system to defend their lands against Ottoman invaders.

12. Eat Meskhetian food at Sakalmakhe

Meskhetian Khinkali.

No matter where you are in Georgia – in Guria, Racha or near the Black Sea – every popular summer destination has a restaurant where you can sit in a little wooden cabin and eat fresh trout.

Sakalmakhe (literally ‘trout’) is Abastumani’s equivalent. Without many eateries in the town itself, this is by far your best option for a delicious meal. It’s a 10-minute drive north of the centre via a slightly rougher, unpaved but still manageable road.

Set on the Baratkhevi river, the restaurant specialises in fresh-caught fish. But what I loved most here was the regional food. The Meskhetian family that runs the restaurant have included many traditional dishes on the menu, including Meskhetian Khinkali, little dumplings filled with dried beef and served with garlic sauce.

There are only a few restaurants in Tbilisi that serve Meskhetian cuisine and it can be difficult to find specialty dishes outside the region – so I recommend ordering them whenever you get the chance. Meskhetian Khachapuri with layers of thin, crisp pastry is divine as well. Cafe Vardzia right next to the cave complex does a great version.

Where to eat & drink in Abastumani

There are only a handful of cafes and restaurants in this area so if you’re visiting Abastumani for longer than a couple of days, it might be a good idea to bring some provisions and cook for yourself. You’ll find a Spar supermarket and a small produce market on the main street. The best bakery in town for fresh Shotis Puri bread is at the end of the main street, up the hill on the left-hand side.

• Sakalmakhe: My top choice for eating in Abastumani. It’s a 10-minute drive from the centre of town.
• Cafe on the main street: I didn’t catch the name of this little cafe but you can’t miss it – it’s nestled on the bottom-story verandah of one of the heritage houses.
• Rosha: This cafe-restaurant has good reviews but unfortunately it was closed when we tried to visit late one evening. The outdoor area looks pleasant and the food looks to be a mix of Georgian and European (i.e. Khinkali and pizza).

Abastumani map

Click here to open the map on Google Drive. Use the star icon to save a copy to your device for later.

Leaving Abastumani: Onward travel

Marshrutka vans depart from the main street in Abastumani just outside the green house. To check times and buy tickets, see staff inside the little blue-and-white building on the side of the road.

At the time of writing, the Abastumani bus schedule is as follows:

• To Akhaltsikhe: 9.30am, 10.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 4.30pm (~ 2.50 GEL)
• To Tbilisi: 3pm (~ 15 GEL)
• To Kutaisi: 10.30am (~ 15 GEL)
• To Batumi: 8.30am (~ 20 GEL)

Always double-check times and fares locally.

Have you been to Abastumani? Do you have any additional tips to share?

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