Chiatura's cable cars cost 50 tetri a ride — and you cannot pay with cash
A detailed guide to the town, last updated in May 2026, reports that four cable cars built in 2021 — Sanatorium, Mukhadze, Lezhubani and Naguti — run daily from 8am to 10pm at 50 tetri a one-way ride, and that paper tickets are no longer sold: you tap a transport card or a bank card. A fifth line, Sashevardno, dating from 1966, was restored and relaunched in late 2024 and runs on demand between 10am and 6pm for nothing at all. A sixth, to Perevisa, was still under rehabilitation.
Sort out the card before you arrive
This is the detail that strands people. With paper tickets gone, the fare is paid by tapping — either a bank card or a white transport card, which the guide says is sold at the ticket desk under the central station. Arriving with a pocket of coins and no card is how a visitor stands at a cable car station unable to board a 50-tetri ride. It is a small thing, but it is the kind of small thing that eats an hour of a day trip, so it is worth doing first, at the station, before walking anywhere.
The free one is the one with the history
The four new lines are the practical transport and the comfortable ride. Sashevardno, which runs up to Upper Rgani and dates from 1966, is the one that actually explains the town: it was restored and put back into service in late 2024, it runs on demand rather than to a timetable, and it costs nothing. The on-demand part matters for planning — you may wait, and the window is 10am to 6pm rather than the 8am to 10pm of the newer lines, so it belongs in the middle of the day rather than at the end of it.
Getting there from Kutaisi for ten lari
Minibuses leave Kutaisi's central bus station roughly every hour between 8am and 4pm, cost about 10 lari and take around two hours with a stop in Zestafoni. There is also one daily train from Kutaisi I at 5:50am, about three and a half hours, 50 tetri, returning from Chiatura at 11:30am — and the guide notes it does not run in winter, which makes it a curiosity rather than a plan for most of the year. A private car through a transfer service runs from roughly 130 lari for the round trip, which for two or three people is competitive with the time the minibus costs you.
What is shut, and what you combine it with
Not everything in the town is open. The former Pioneer Palace is fenced off and cannot be entered, and the old tower station is boarded up; the guide is clear that both are to be looked at rather than explored. The small Local Lore Museum charges 5 lari and takes cash only. Most visitors pair Chiatura with Katskhi Pillar, which is nearby and where climbing is prohibited, so the visit is a view from below rather than an ascent. Food options in town are thin enough that the guide suggests booking a meal a few days ahead.
Written by us from the source linked above, not investment, legal or tax advice. Figures and rules change — confirm anything that matters before acting on it.
