Gori is a small city in central Georgia (Shida Kartli region), 80 km west of Tbilisi via the highway. It's known as the birthplace of Joseph Stalin – the main reason tourists visit. The town is provincial with mostly Soviet-era architecture; the centre can be walked in an hour. Nearby is Uplistsikhe cave city, carved into rock as far back as the 1st millennium BC. Important context: the administrative boundary with occupied South Ossetia runs just 10 km to the north. The Tbilisi–Gori highway comes within 500 metres of it at one point. Crossing into South Ossetia is strictly prohibited and dangerous.
One day is enough for Gori + Uplistsikhe. Marshrutkas from Tbilisi (Didube station) leave every 20–30 minutes, cost 5 GEL, and take 1.5 hours. The train is 9 GEL, runs 4 times daily, but the station is 2 km from the centre. The city works well as a stopover between Tbilisi and Kutaisi. A taxi to Uplistsikhe and back with waiting time runs about 50 GEL.
