Borjomi

Borjomi embodies for many what Georgia is: mountainous, flavorful, vivid and proud. A bit run-down, but increasingly being restored after the 1990s. The Central Park has therapeutic walking trails (terrainkür). There is also the Borjomi mineral spring, where you can fill bottles for free. A cable car from the park rises about 300 meters up the hill. The town has a few pre‑revolutionary mansions left — for example, the ethnographic museum occupies the former Romanov chancery. Above all, however, Borjomi grabs you with its Soviet atmosphere: shabby five‑storey blocks, crumbling mosaics and abandoned transport stops.