The Prometheus Cave, the largest cave in Georgia, was discovered in the 1980s. It’s located just outside Kumistavi, a village near Kutaisi. In theory, you can get there from Kutaisi with two marshrutkas, but I just hired one of the taxis from the stand beside the Meskhishvili Theatre on the main square to take me there, wait, and take me back.
The site is well organized, with a large parking lot and an interpretive centre where you can buy tickets to tours of the cave proper. Nevertheless, you can see that the cave is hitting its maximum carrying capacity of tourists. That’s no doubt why the entrance fee is much higher than other Georgian attractions. At the beginning of June, 2019, I paid 40.50 GEL for a tour, of which 5.50 GEL was for the boat ride at the end.
Don’t be afraid to keep your elbows high in the ticket lineup. When I was there, two women and a man muscled in front of me with complicated purchases involving multiple tickets and ID cards before I figured that out. (Georgians with ID pay a different price than foreign tourists.)
On the first Sunday in June, my English language tour at noon had more than a hundred people on it. The cave has paved paths with handrails and a lot of stairs up and down between its many levels, but in most places you have to walk in single file and you have to keep moving because they’re just marching one tour after another through in a continuous line. Consequently, I only really heard or saw my tour guide in the two largest halls. There were just too many people ahead of me. Nevertheless, I feel it was worth the money. The weird rock formations spoke for themselves.
There’s a boat ride on an underground river at the end. You can save a few lari by skipping it, but I think it was the best part.
If you have the option, I recommend seeing this attraction in the off season, as you’ll be more likely to have a small group and you may be able to hear what the tour guide has to say.
Kartvelian Adventures 