Batumi

Five-minute walk south through Old Batumi's lanes to an unmarked ground-floor spot on King Parnavaz Street — Sakhli #11 is the address Georgians themselves give you when you ask where to eat real Adjarian khachapuri. Order the No. 1 size (about 18 GEL, €6): a boat-shaped bread filled with molten sulguni cheese, topped with butter and a raw egg yolk you stir in yourself at the table. Pair with a glass of tarragon-green Tarkhuna lemonade.

Tip: Pinch a corner of the crust, tear, dip into the molten center — never use a fork. Order the small No. 1 if you're solo and have a long walk ahead; the No. 4 is for couples to share and will weigh you down for hours.

Walk two blocks west from the restaurant and hit the sea — the famous 7-km palm-lined Boulevard begins right at your feet. Stroll south past dancing fountains, the open-air Chess Pavilion where summer masters play under the magnolias, Soviet-era teahouses, and the long arc of pebble beach with the Lesser Caucasus visible inland. Stay on the inner shaded path during the afternoon sun — it runs through magnolia, bamboo, and old-growth pines and is several degrees cooler than the exposed seafront.

Tip: Skip the rentable boulevard bikes — the path is too crowded with strollers and you'll miss the small sculptures and pavilions tucked along the way. The Singing Fountain near the central section runs a choreographed show every hour on the hour after 14:00; catch one and keep walking.

Continue south along the boulevard for 10 minutes — the two 8-meter steel-mesh figures rise above the seawall, slowly drifting toward each other on a continuous 10-minute rotation cycle, passing through one another's bodies before separating again. Inspired by Kurban Said's tragic Azerbaijani-Georgian love story, the sculpture peaks visually between 16:00 and 18:00 when the western sun lights up the lattice and casts long shadows across the seawall.

Tip: Stand on the seaward (west) side and shoot the figures mid-passage with the Black Sea behind them — the inland side stays crowded with tour groups. Watch one full cycle: the 30-second moment when they overlap and seem to embrace is the shot everyone comes for.

Walk south along the boulevard another 10 minutes into Miracle Park — the 130-meter twin-helix tower wrapped in 33 silver Georgian letters rises beside its sister Chacha Tower and a seafront Ferris wheel. Skip the upper viewing pod (overpriced, slow elevator, and the queue eats 45 minutes); the tower is best read from below, especially after 19:00 when the LEDs pulse the alphabet to life letter-by-letter against the deepening blue dusk.

Tip: Shoot from the boardwalk 80 meters south of the tower base — the wet sand reflects the lit letters and visually doubles the tower's height. Stay until the Ferris wheel lights up too; it adds a second light source for full-dark shots after 21:00.

Five-minute walk inland from Alphabet Tower to a stone-fronted Adjarian villa one block off the boulevard. Order lobiani (red-bean bread, ~18 GEL), badrijani nigvzit (eggplant rolls with walnut-pomegranate paste, ~22 GEL), and a 0.5L carafe of dry Saperavi (~25 GEL); finish with churchkhela (walnut-grape-juice candy strings) for the walk back. Reserve the courtyard tables by 18:00 in high season — the indoor cellar room fills last but loses the breeze.

Tip: Pitfall warning: avoid the touts along the central boulevard waving Russian/English 'tourist menus' at 2-3x markup, and the 'free chacha' pourers near Miracle Park who quietly add €5/shot to your bill. Authentic Georgian places list prices in GEL on a printed menu and serve chacha by the small table carafe — never by squirt-bottle shots.

From Piazza Square head west two blocks down Memed Abashidze Avenue — a five-minute walk past wooden-balconied old houses and cobbled side streets — to arrive at Batumi's grandest plaza. The 30-meter Medea statue rises from a central column holding the Golden Fleece, a tribute to the Jason and the Argonauts myth set on these very shores. Eclectic early-1900s facades ring the square: Belle Epoque, neo-classical, and Georgian art nouveau jostling shoulder to shoulder.

Tip: Circle to the back (eastern) side of Medea's column — the morning sun catches the Golden Fleece in reflection from that angle, while the tourist crowds gather only at the western front. Avoid the horse carriages parked along the south edge; they charge 50 GEL for a 10-minute loop that you can walk in five.

Walk three blocks east from Europe Square along Memed Abashidze — past wooden balconied houses and shaded cobbled side streets — and duck into this beloved family-run khachapuri institution. Order the Adjaruli khachapuri (18 GEL): a boat-shaped bread filled with molten sulguni cheese and a raw egg yolk dropped in just before serving. Mix the egg, butter, and cheese together at the table with a fork, then tear off the crust ends to dip — this dish was born in Adjara region, and Café Retro serves one of the city's most beloved versions.

Tip: Locals never use a knife. Tear the crust ends first, stir them into the egg-butter-cheese center, then eat the boat from outside in. Skip the touristy 'mixed cheese-and-meat' variant — purists know the original Adjaruli is the only way. Order an estragon (tarragon) lemonade for 6 GEL as the bright herbal foil this rich dish demands.

From lunch walk five minutes west through palm-shaded paths to where the Old Town meets the seafront at Miracle Park. The 130-meter Alphabet Tower spirals upward with all 33 letters of the Georgian alphabet embedded along its double helix — paying tribute to one of only fourteen original scripts still in use today. Take the elevator to the top observation deck for a 360° view across the Black Sea and Caucasus foothills, then settle into the boulevard for an afternoon stroll south along the long pebble beach.

Tip: Buy the elevator ticket (10 GEL) at the small kiosk to the left of the entrance, not the central one — the central queue runs 30 minutes long while the side kiosk is usually empty. From the top, look northeast for the Caucasus mountains; the boulevard's full 7 km arc is visible looking south. Rent a boulevard bike (5 GEL/hour) at the south Miracle Park gate if your legs are tiring.

From the Alphabet Tower stroll 30 minutes south along the seafront promenade — past sculpture gardens, palm-shaded cafes, and the dancing fountain plaza — to reach Batumi's most poetic landmark. Tamara Kvesitadze's 8-meter steel figures of the Azerbaijani boy and Georgian princess from Kurban Said's novel slowly slide through each other in a 10-minute hydraulic cycle, embracing and then passing on. At 18:00 in summer the figures glow against the orange Black Sea sky — exactly the angle every iconic photo of Batumi wants to capture.

Tip: Stand on the seaward side facing east — the sculptures backlight beautifully against the sea at sunset, while the land-side angle puts the sun directly behind the figures and blows out your photo. Watch one full 10-minute cycle to see them meet, merge, and pass through; most visitors leave after the embrace and miss the more poignant moment of separation on the other side.

Walk inland three blocks east from Ali and Nino to this elegant restaurant in a stone-vaulted basement that feels like an old Kakheti wine cellar. Order the kharcho (walnut-thickened beef stew, 22 GEL), the chakapuli (spring lamb stewed in tarragon and white wine, 32 GEL), and a glass of qvevri-fermented saperavi — Georgia is the 8,000-year-old cradle of wine. The khinkali soup dumplings are best eaten by hand: bite a small hole in the top, slurp the broth, then eat the rest.

Tip: Reserve a courtyard table by phone before 17:00 — the indoor room is fine but the courtyard with live duduk player after 21:00 is the experience worth seeking. Beware the bulk 'Georgian wine' served in carafes at the touristy seafront cafes near Ali and Nino — that's industrial wine at triple price. Heraclie stocks small estate qvevri producers like Pheasant's Tears, the real heritage of the region.