Borjomi

Borjomi built its name on water: naturally carbonated mineral springs that were bottled from the nineteenth century, adopted by the Russian imperial family who built a summer residence nearby, and which became one of the most recognised brands in the Soviet Union. You can still drink it warm and slightly sulphurous straight from the tap in the central park, which is an acquired experience. Behind the town, Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park covers a large area of pine, beech and spruce forest with marked multi-day trails, huts and horse routes, and it was one of the first protected areas in the region set up on European park lines. A cable car runs from the central park up to a ridge, and open-air sulphur pools sit a couple of kilometres up the valley.

What you actually see

• The mineral springs - drinking the warm water at the source in the central park.
• Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park - marked trails from day walks to multi-day routes with huts.
• The sulphur pools - open-air warm baths up the valley from the park.
• Romanov summer palace - the imperial residence at Likani, outside town.

When to go

May to October for the trails, with October giving the best forest colour. Winter turns the nearby Bakuriani into a ski resort, and the town stays open, though the long trails close.

Honest expectations

The water tastes strongly of minerals and sulphur and many visitors dislike it intensely; sample before filling a bottle. The town itself is modest and a little faded, and the appeal is the forest rather than the resort. Longer national park routes need permits registered at the visitor centre and are genuinely remote, with weather that changes quickly.

Nearby

Vardzia's cave monastery is south; Bakuriani ski resort is up the valley.