Ekaterina Park and the Mineral Spring
Best for the essential experience — do not skip this
This is the reason Borjomi exists as a destination. The park was laid out by Imperial Russian administrators from 1850 around a naturally carbonated spring that erupts warm from volcanic strata roughly 1,500 metres down. Grand Duke Mikhail Romanov later built the first bottling plant here, and the water became one of the empire's most recognisable exports. Walk the linden-shaded promenade to the Ekaterina Spring pavilion, take a glass cup, and drink it straight from the bronze spigots the way visitors have since the 1850s — the taste is distinctly saline and sharply fizzy, an acquired one for some. A restored Soviet-era cable car climbs from the park to a plateau above the gorge for a wider view down over the town and the Mtkvari valley. Give this at least two hours; it's unhurried by design.
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
Best for hiking and old-growth forest
Georgia's largest national park spans 85,000 hectares of mixed temperate forest rising from the Borjomi gorge into the Lesser Caucasus — one of the last stretches of untouched Colchic-influenced woodland in Europe, with Caucasian fir, yew, and boxwood that in places has never been logged. Twelve marked trails range from an easy afternoon loop out of Likani to the six-hour Trail #1 circuit to the ruined Lomismta Church, with real chances of spotting Caucasian red deer or chamois at dawn in the quieter Kvabiskhevi Gorge. Pick up a free permit at the Borjomi visitor centre before setting out; some longer routes call for a ranger escort. Trails run May to October — this isn't a winter park.
The Kukushka Railway to Bakuriani
Best half-day excursion
The narrow-gauge line from Borjomi to Bakuriani has run since 1902, a 37-kilometre logging railway converted long ago to scenic passenger service and still nicknamed the 'Kukushka' (cuckoo) for its distinctive whistle. Two trains a day climb through the gorge and forested switchbacks to Bakuriani, Georgia's oldest ski town, in about two and a half hours — slower than the marshrutka, which is exactly the point. In winter the same run doubles as an approach to Bakuriani's Didveli slopes; in summer it's simply one of the more atmospheric short train rides in the Caucasus, past Soviet-era halts and pine forest with almost no other traffic on the line.
Likani Palace and Grounds
Best for Romanov-era history
Three kilometres south of the centre, this 1892–95 neo-Gothic summer residence was built for Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, a cousin of Tsar Nicholas II, by German architect Jacob Otto using local stone. The Romanovs came here every August to take the waters; after 1921 it became a sanatorium for Soviet officials, and today parts of it operate as a museum open Tuesday to Sunday. Inside are the original 1890s reception rooms, the Grand Duke's library and hunting trophies, and a neo-Gothic chapel built for private family services. The surrounding park, laid out by German landscape architect Arnold Regel, includes an 1895 sequoia plantation and a small ornamental boating lake. The 10th-century Church of St. George within the grounds sits on restricted presidential-residence land, so arrange access in advance through Borjomi's tourist information office rather than turning up expecting to walk straight in.
Borjomi Museum of Local History
Best for context before you explore
Housed in a building tied to the town's imperial-era heritage, this local museum sets the springs and the palace in context with imperial-period water bottles, photographs of Romanov-era visitors, and material on Stalin's private mineral water reserve — the Soviet leadership kept Borjomi flowing long after the tsars were gone. It's a modest, unhurried stop rather than a headline attraction, but worth thirty to forty-five minutes if you want the historical throughline before or after Ekaterina Park, especially if the spa-town framing of Borjomi otherwise feels thin on specifics.
Akhaldaba Waterfall
Best short hike with a swimming reward
A multi-tiered cascade dropping around 20 metres through the dense forest where Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park meets the village of Akhaldaba, just outside town. The trail follows an old logging road past abandoned Soviet forestry structures, with the Lesser Caucasus ridgeline visible through gaps in the beech and fir. Cold, clear pools collect below each tier — swimmable in summer, and far less crowded than the mineral-water parks in town. It's a six-kilometre round trip from the village, one and a half to two hours each way, with no facilities en route, so bring water and expect sturdy footwear to matter more than scenery-chasing pace.
Abastumani Springs and Observatory
Best day trip for something genuinely different
An hour or so from Borjomi, Abastumani is a faded 19th-century thermal spa village built for the same Romanov clientele who summered at Likani — the naturally carbonated waters here emerge at 40–50°C and were historically used to treat tuberculosis, giving the town a long Soviet-era run as a sanatorium centre. What sets it apart is the Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory, founded in 1932 on the hillside above, still an active research station with a museum and telescope domes open to visitors by arrangement. Combine a soak in the 19th-century marble bathhouse with a walk through the sanatorium park's terraced gardens and wooden villas, then the observatory, for a day trip that feels distinctly unlike anywhere else in the region.