'''Rioni Region''' is a lush, green, mountainous region in western Georgia along the Rioni River.
Regions
Imereti
Racha
Cities
Kutaisi — historically the capital of western Georgia, Kutaisi is a must visit for its two UNESCO World Heritage sites
Ambrolauri — the capital of Racha is gritty, but attractive, very leafy, and up a very steep road leading to the Greater Caucasus
Chiatura
Lentekhi — a rather town of Lower Svaneti, which boasts several 10th century churches, a castle, and Svan towers in a nearby village
Oni — a very pretty, rustic town on the Rioni River up in the mountains that was for millennia a center of Georgian Jewish culture
Samtredia
Tkibuli
Other destinations
Shovi — a high alpine Soviet-style resort near the source of the Rioni River in Upper Racha; ''simply unbelievable'' hiking opportunities
Understand
Talk
Georgian is unquestionably the main language in the region, but much of the older generation (and even a fair number of younger folks) speak Russian.
Get in
Get around
See
Itineraries
Do
Eat
Drink
Stay safe
Get out
Georgia's principal east-west highway passes through Kutaisi, and you can get to pretty much anywhere from there. To the east, past the highway junction at Khashuri are the Kartli cities of Gori and Tbilisi to the east and Borjomi to the south.
There is a road leading north from Lentekhi that is the principal route into the high mountain villages/fortresses of Svaneti. And lastly, there is a road leading east from Oni towards Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, but this route is susceptible to highway banditry, carjacking, and kidnapping and is ''not'' recommended.