The Akhaltsikhe bus station is unusual among the ones I saw in Georgia because it posts a schedule of departures on the wall where everyone can read it. Here’s how the schedule stood on June 1, 2019. It’s also an unusual station in that you have to pay for your marshrutka ride in advance at a wicket inside the station, instead of the usual deal where you give the driver cash.
The 3 pm bus to Kutaisi may not be your best bet. When I took it, the driver played chicken with oncoming tanker trucks in the passing lane the whole way, and yelled imprecations out the window at pedestrians who had the temerity to cross an intersection with the light. Even by the standards of marshrutka drivers, that guy has some anger issues. Watch out for the driver with the fondness for bandannas and the hairy shoulders bulging out of a wifebeater top.
From the Kutaisi bus station, you can easily get to the centre of town by marching confidently past all the taxi drivers, crossing the street, turning right, and catching a #1 bus down the block across from the McDonald’s. Buses come every few minutes and cost a princely 40 tetri, to be paid to the driver as you exit. You’ll know you’re entering the old town when you cross the Rioni River.
Kartvelian Adventures 