Zugdidi is the unofficial capital of western Georgia's lowlands, a flat green town of seventy thousand people in the region of Samegrelo, near the border of the breakaway territory of Abkhazia and a short way from the Black Sea. It is a warm, humid place, with palms, hazelnut orchards, tea bushes and cornfields, and it looks and feels very different from the mountains it is the gateway to. For riders heading up to Svaneti, this is the last real town and the place to prepare.
The main sight is the Dadiani Palace, a grand nineteenth-century house in a large botanical garden, built for the Dadiani family, the princes who ruled Mingrelia for centuries. It is a museum now, with rooms of furniture, paintings and family relics, and the garden with its old trees and big magnolias is a pleasant place for a walk. The town also has a lively market, where you can buy fruit, nuts, cheese and the strong local honey. Mingrelian food is a point of pride, spicy and rich, with cheese, walnuts and corn, and a dish of cheese with mint called gebzhalia is typical.
The ride to Svaneti starts here, and it is a long one. From Zugdidi, the road runs north across the plain and then enters the valley of the Enguri river, which it follows up into the mountains. Not far along is the huge Enguri dam, one of the tallest concrete arch dams in the world, and from there the road climbs into narrow gorges, tunnels and forests, with the high Caucasus appearing ahead. The surface is variable, and road works are common, so allow plenty of time.
For fuel and supplies, Zugdidi is the place to be thorough. The town has many stations, supermarkets and cafés, and the higher valleys have far fewer. Fill the tank, check tyre pressures, buy water and snacks, and make sure you have cash, since cards are less useful in the villages. If you plan to stay overnight, the guesthouses in town are friendly and cheap. Mornings are the best time to leave, since the lowland heat builds quickly and the mountain road is more enjoyable in the cool.