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5 reasons why you should head to Batumi, Georgia this summer
Updated: Jun 17
With its local vibes yet bright and modern architecture, fine wine and traditional cuisine, beautiful sunset views and public spaces, awesome bars and a lively expat community, Batumi is an affordable and memorable place to visit for travellers and families alike!
We spent 5 months living in this vibrant European-esque city, the capital of the autonomous region of Adjara in the country of Georgia. We know many people have not even heard of Georgia the country, let alone Batumi. So we just had to put together 5 BIG reasons why Batumi is one of those cities that you simply MUST put on your travel list!
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Batumi, the GEM of Georgia
Batumi is a Black Sea resort city and is the capital of the Georgian autonomous republic of Adjara. It has its own airport and is certainly up-and-coming with striking new buildings cropping up all over the city. Mixing modern architecture with its European 19th century cobbled street old town Batumi certainly offers a truly unique experience! It also has a plethora of hotels, bars, casinos and restaurants and an amazing expat community for world travellers. Perhaps one of its most famous features is the wonderful Batumi Boulevard, a 7km long waterfront promenade of beautiful parks, fountains and monuments. But more on that later!
1. Food & Cuisine
If there is one thing for sure about Batumi, it is that you will not run out of food options. There is everything from traditional local restaurants to fast food, and what's more, with the Bolt and Wolt food apps you can order for home delivery from anywhere in the city.
There are many blog posts about traditional Georgian food, of which we certainly indulged! So rather than tell you about Khinkali, Khachapuri, Churchkhela or Mtsvadi (which are all excellent of course), we wanted to share with you our top thirteen places to eat. We were in Batumi for 5 months and tried many options; these are just a few restaurants that we have picked out that you simply MUST try while you are there :
⪢ Free (as long as you play)
⪢ Affordable
⪢ Mid Range
⪢ Higher Range
2. Modern Architecture & European Flair
If you like sightseeing and good photo, Batumi has opportunities in abundance! We absolutely loved the city for this very reason, and were completely enamoured and honestly quite surprised by what it had to offer!
Batumi owes its name to the ancient Greeks and there is evidence of settlement as far back as the 7th century BC. It has been occupied by the Romans, Ottomans and Russians and has a deep sense of history running through it. We were enchanted by the mix of modern buildings and monuments, built amongst the throngs of old Russian residential buildings, palm trees and the quaint narrow cobbled streets of Batumi's old town.
Batumi is a pretty large city yet somehow seems really easy to walk around and many of the key buildings and monuments you may want to visit are all easy to get to. Here are just a few that we highly recommend you check out :
Alphabetic Tower - a 130 meter high monument symbolizing the unique Georgian alphabet. There is also an observation deck and restaurant at the top.
Ali & Nino Monument - a story of love between a couple which had to separate during the Bolshevik Revolution.
Europe Square - a beautiful plaza featuring restaurants and The Medea Monument.
Piazza Square - stunning Italian style public square with restaurants, mosaics and an amazing clock tower.
Astronomical Clock - famous heritage building.
Fountain of Neptune - an epic example of magnificent Georgian architecture located in front of the Batumi Drama Theatre.
Cha Cha Tower / Fountain - now non functioning, this is a stark reminder of the Soviet era.
Batumi Tower Ferris Wheel - a unique tower building with a built in Ferris wheel.
Batumi Sea Port - for stunning black sea views.
Monument of Ilia Chavchavadze - known as the 'Father of Georgia', no trip to Batumi would be complete without a visit to this grand dedication statue overlooking the Georgian coast. It is located near Batumi Theatre and Miracle Park.
Save for later: 10 Awesome places to check out in Batumi, Georgia
Ten best things to see in Batumi including the Alphabetic Tower, Ali & Nino, Europe Square, Astronomical Clock and the Fountain of Neptune.
3. Boardwalk & Sunsets
The Batumi Boardwalk Boulevard is the pride of the city and stretches for 7km along the black sea coast. Its development stretches back to 1881 and it boasts a vast array of highlights including the aforementioned Ali and Nino Statue, the Batumi Lighthouse and the famous 'Octopus' café.
The boulevard is neatly separated for pedestrians and bikers and is very popular with fitness enthusiasts out for their morning runs. It is also home to many beautiful themed gardens and grand monuments. If that doesn't tempt you, then head out after 6pm and watch as it captures an epic sunset - more on that later!
One of the particular highlights are the Dancing Fountains, of which there are 2. These beautiful fountains operate from 9pm to 2am and are water displays that are illuminated at night by colorful bulbs and lasers accompanied by wonderfully sweet and epic music. They are a great place to chill and another must see attraction in the city!
One of perhaps Batumi's most charming features is its ability to capture a magnificent sunset... almost every day. Even if it is cloudy, there is a strong chance that come 6pm the sun will dip below the clouds and drench the East of the city with a warm orange glow.
4. Affordability & Ease of Transport
A key factor for any city is being able to get around easily. We were really impressed with the ease at which we could do this in Batumi. The taxis are efficient and convenient - within a couple of taps of the excellent Bolt app you can have a driver waiting in front of you within minutes. It is super affordable too with most journeys costing less than $3. To put that in context, a 20 minute ride from one side of the city to the other was less than $5 USD.
There are two main taxi apps you can use, Yandex Taxi and Bolt. Both are very good, but we preferred to use Bolt. It offers 4 car options for every ride - standard, eco-friendly, luxury and XL. Plus Bolt also have a food app (Bolt Food), where you can order anything from take out to toothpaste!
If you would prefer to get around in the great outdoors, it is also worth noting that Batumi offers an excellent scooter service. While we did not try them, it looked really fun to take one on a trip along the boardwalk on a sunny day.
They are offered by Georgian start up company Scroll and are available to rent via the Bird App. You will find them scattered all over the city and on average they cost around $4 for a 15 minute ride.
5. Accommodation
Batumi offers many different types of accommodation across the city. Whether you are looking for a high rise with a view of the black sea or a cute apartment in Old Town, there will be no shortage of options.
We found that all of the places we stayed in were great and affordable. We arrived in Georgia in November and stayed for 5 months in total. It is worth noting that we did stay in the 'off' season, but for a rough idea we paid between $400 - $550 USD per month for the places you see in the photos. Prices do spike significantly from May onwards for the summer months.
All of our hosts were excellent and we had no issues during our stay. We were really happy that we could find places with balconies and washing machines too; two essential things for long term stays! While we chose to stay in Airbnb's you will also find a plethora of hotels in the city. There truly is an option for everyone!
We explore this crumbling yet alluring collection of dilapidated spa resorts and bathhouses in our first ever urbex adventure in Georgia
Our Batumi experience rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Honestly Batumi was not even close to being on our radar when we set off on our travels originally. When we thought of Asia we were thinking Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, and cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo. No offense to Georgia but we simply had not even heard of it.
We were in Mexico when Covid was really starting to bite, and countries around the world were closing their borders. With our 6 month stay up, we had to leave, and after stopping in Türkiye for 3 months, Georgia was one of the very few countries that were still allowing people in. Not to mention the incredible 12 month visa-free stay option for foreigners! So off we went, and it genuinely turned out to be one of our best-ever travel choices.
Batumi is such an incredible city that is constantly changing and evolving. It has grown at a phenomenal pace in recent years, with its expansion showing no signs of slowing down. It really does have a bit of everything, is super affordable, and is a place where you can make friends and memories to last a lifetime. We do hope this post has helped convince you to head over to this slice of city paradise! We miss it terribly, and we know we will be back at some point! Maybe we will see you there...
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