The best things to do in Batumi are walking the 7 km seafront boulevard, watching Ali and Nino at sunset in Miracle Park, spending a morning at the Botanical Garden on the Green Cape, and eating Adjarian khachapuri at Retro or Laguna. Give the city three or four days, visit in late May, June or September for warm sea and thin crowds, and set aside a day for Gonio Fortress and Makhuntseti waterfall.
Batumi is Georgia's Black Sea half: a 7 km boulevard between palm trees and modernist towers, an old quarter of Belle Époque façades, and a two-hour drive into subtropical mountains. The ten below are ranked, mapped and grouped so you can see the city in three days without missing what it is actually for.
Seven kilometres of promenade run from the port to Miracle Park, laid out in 1884 and still the city's spine. Start at the Old Boulevard fountains, ride a hire bike past the Alphabetic Tower, and finish at Ali and Nino for sunset. Free at every step, benches every twenty metres.
Tamara Kvesitadze's seven-metre steel figures pass through each other on a ten-minute loop, in silhouette against the Alphabetic Tower behind them. The crowd gathers about twenty minutes before sunset. Free to watch, and the show runs every night the mechanism is working.
The 111-hectare garden 9 km north of Batumi holds nine floristic zones on a cliff over the Black Sea, from Himalayan pine to Mexican cactus. Take a bus or the electromobile to the upper gate and walk downhill through the sections to the Green Cape rail halt.
Batumi is where the boat-shaped bread with butter, cheese and a runny egg was invented, and the local version is denser and less oily than the Tbilisi one. Retro (Chavchavadze Ave) and Laguna (Ninoshvili) are the two everyone argues about. Order the small and share.
A 15-minute cable car climbs from the port to a viewing terrace 256 metres above the city, with a restaurant and a small wine museum at the top. Come near sunset for the full boulevard laid out below, and buy at the lower station or biletebi.ge to avoid the taxi-drivers' quoted prices.
Fifteen kilometres south of Batumi, Apsaros is the Roman fortress that guarded the empire's north-eastern frontier: 900 metres of wall, a bathhouse, and an on-site museum tracing the site from the first century to the Ottomans. Local tradition marks it as the burial place of the apostle Matthias.
The Venetian-styled square in the old quarter, opened in 2010, is framed on four sides by mosaic-clad façades and a musical clock tower. Cafés spill onto the flagstones from about 8 pm, live music runs most summer evenings, and the whole place reads as a stage set the moment the lights are on.
The half of the city west of the boulevard is Belle Époque, not Soviet: painted balconies on Parnavaz Mepe, the Astronomical Clock, the golden Medea statue on Europe Square, and the old State Bank. A slow hour on foot, or an evening loop with dinner on Baratashvili.
Thirty kilometres inland up the Adjaristsqali gorge, Makhuntseti is a 36-metre fall in a shaded amphitheatre, with a stone arch bridge attributed to the reign of Queen Tamar (12th–13th century) five minutes upstream. Combine it with a wine tasting at one of the family cellars in Keda.
The 130-metre double-helix tower carries every letter of the Georgian alphabet in metal on its outer strands, and the upper capsule holds a revolving restaurant and viewing deck. Come at sunset for the boulevard and the mountains, or after dark for the illuminated skyline.
Two kilometres of grey pebbles along the boulevard, with loungers, snack bars and shallow entry. Busiest between the port and the Alphabetic Tower.
Twelve kilometres south, clearer water and a smaller crowd. The pebbles are darker and the reef offshore keeps the swell down, so it is the local pick for a calm day.
Fifteen kilometres south at the Turkish border and the cleanest water on the strip. A footpath climbs to a waterfall and the Apostle Andrew monument above the beach.
The 2010s stretch north of Miracle Park runs another 4 km past a skate park, dancing fountains and the ferris wheel. Cycle path all the way, quieter than the Old.
The Adjarian khachapuri Batumi is judged by, on a corner of Chavchavadze Avenue. Order the small, not the large, and add lobio in a clay pot to share.
Open on Ninoshvili since 1997, still one of the busiest tables in town for khachapuri. Denser cheese, thinner dough than most, no reservation needed on a weeknight.
Central spot for the wider Georgian menu, from khinkali and mtsvadi skewers to kharcho soup, in a courtyard off the boulevard. Live folk music from about 8 pm.
Next to the fish market on Gogebashvili: pick your fish from the ice, pay by the kilo, choose grilled, baked or fried. Order the sea bass and a bottle of Kisi white.
Old Boulevard courtyard, Adjarian classics done for the sit-down crowd rather than takeaway. The khachapuri is the reason to come, the ambience the reason to stay.
Wine bar and kitchen a block off Europe Square, small plates and a shortlist of natural qvevri wines from Kakheti and Adjara. A dinner that is not more khachapuri.
Twenty-five kilometres east, one of Europe's wettest places and a Colchian rainforest. A cable car across the river, a footpath to a waterfall pool, free.
Thirty kilometres north, a longer beach favoured by families, with the Kobuleti wetlands (Ramsar) at the north end. Bring binoculars for the spring pelican migration.
Fifty kilometres north, the coast's only black-sand beach, favoured by Georgians for the iron in the sand, credited locally with easing joint pain. Come out of season.
Forty kilometres inland in the Adjaristsqali valley, a string of family cellars pouring Chkhaveri, a light red native to the region. Pair with Makhuntseti on the way up.
Two hours north, the medieval capital of Georgia with Bagrati Cathedral (UNESCO), and twenty minutes on, a floodlit karst cave with an underground river tour.
Belle Époque grid around Piazza and Europe Square, walkable to the boulevard. Boutique guesthouses in restored townhouses, most restaurants ten minutes on foot.
The high-rise strip north of Miracle Park, sea-view apartments and international brands. Quieter after 10 pm, cycle path to the centre, cheaper than the old town.
Fifteen kilometres south, low-rise guesthouses under the mountains and the clearest water within a bus ride. Good if the trip is about the sea, not the nightlife.
Twenty-five-metre replica of Izmir's clocktower at the port entrance, built to pour free chacha weekly, though the schedule has been off for years.
Neo-Gothic church at the old town's north end, built in 1898 by the Zubalashvili family and given to the Georgian Orthodox in the 1990s. Free to enter outside services.
Iron lighthouse at the south end of the port, in service since 1863 and one of the oldest working lights on the Black Sea. Photogenic at blue hour, closed inside.
Gold-plated bronze replica of Bologna's Neptune, added to Theatre Square in 2010, floodlit after dark. The sculpture is central to the square the drama theatre sits on.
1,100-seat hall on the boulevard, rebuilt in 2011 and home to the Batumi State Symphony Orchestra. Opera to Georgian folk polyphony, tickets from about 20 GEL.
Jazz bar off Piazza with a live piano trio most nights of the week and a shortlist of Georgian brandies. Small room, arrive before 9 pm for a table.
Basement club near Europe Square for house and techno on weekends. The Batumi scene is small and the crowd is mixed local and Turkish, cover from 30 GEL.
Cocktail bar on Rustaveli with an outdoor terrace facing the boulevard, decent snack menu and a house Old Fashioned worth ordering. Open past midnight in summer.
The seafront chain from the port to Miracle Park turns into deck-chair bars from June to September, each with a DJ and a short menu of beer, spritz and grilled corn.
Central lakeside park south of the boulevard, with pedal boats on Nurigeli, a small aquarium and a dolphinarium at the far end. Loops in about an hour on foot.
The reclaimed strip at the north end of the Old Boulevard, holding the Alphabetic Tower, Chacha Tower, Ali and Nino, Batumi Lighthouse and the ferris wheel in one loop.
The 19th-century half of the seafront, laid out under the Russian governor. About two kilometres of plane trees, fountains, and the two stages the summer programme uses.
The city's biggest music dates: three nights in mid-July on the boulevard, headliners across jazz, soul and hip-hop. Book by June.
The city's founding festival: folk dance, a gastronomic market on Europe Square, weekend concerts. Free, busiest Saturday night.
National day with a military parade on the boulevard, wine and food stalls on Chavchavadze, evening fireworks over the port.
Screenings across the Musical Center, the drama theatre and pop-up old-town venues, with a Caucasus focus. Programme in August.
Europe Square fills for midnight. A stage from Christmas week, fireworks from the Chacha Tower, cafés open through the night.
The Adjaristsqali valley's harvest run: tastings at family cellars in Keda and Khulo. Day tours from Batumi across two weekends.
Midnight liturgy at the Cathedral of the Nativity, then a procession. Cafés stay open late for paskha and dyed eggs the next day.
Free classical and folk concerts on the boulevard stages through the summer, from the State Musical Center. Programme up in June.
Alexander Kartveli Batumi International Airport is 6 km south of the centre. City bus 10 runs to Chavchavadze every 30 minutes for 1 GEL and takes about 15 minutes. Bolt from the terminal is 8–12 GEL.
Batumi Central is 6 km north of the centre. Georgian Railways runs a day service to Tbilisi in about 5h 15m, plus night sleepers in season. Book on tre.ge; sleepers sell out on summer weekends.
City buses cost 1 GEL, tapped on any bank card. Long-distance marshrutkas leave from Batumi Bus Station: 5–6 hours to Tbilisi, hourly to Kutaisi, direct to Kobuleti, Sarpi and Gonio.
Bolt is the app of choice and fares inside the city rarely pass 10 GEL. The old town, boulevard and port are walkable in a single loop, so most first-time visitors never book a ride until the airport.
Sour spring stew of lamb or veal with tarragon, white wine and green plums, at its peak from April to June.
Spicy beef and rice soup with tomato, walnut and cherry plum. The Adjarian version leans on walnut.
Red kidney beans slow-cooked with blue fenugreek in a clay pot, served with mchadi corn bread. Vegetarian.
Adjarian side of green beans or spinach in a walnut-yoghurt sauce. Usually on the meze rather than the mains.
The city's boat-shaped bread: sulguni, a runny egg and a knob of butter, stirred at the table.
Twisted meat dumplings. Hold by the knot, bite the side, drink the broth first, leave the knot on the plate.
Wafer-thin lavash rolls layered with nadughi curd cheese, baked and cut. Adjarian snack, not a dessert.
Georgia's grape brandy, distilled from pomace and closer to grappa than cognac. Served neat and cold.
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