Batumi Fish Market
A local institution near the port — pick your fish at the counter and the restaurant next door fries it for a few lari.
- Time needed
- 1.5 h
- From Tbilisi
- 374 km · 5:30
- Road
- Paved
- Car needed
- Economy class
- Season
- All year
- Entry
- free
At the Batumi fish market, dinner starts at the counter. The system is simple and brilliant: you choose your fish in the market hall — morning-caught, laid out on ice — and carry it to the restaurants next door, where for 5-10 GEL they clean and fry it. Ten minutes later, the fish you picked out by hand is on your table.
The stalls carry the Black Sea's seasonal haul: red mullet (the local star), grey mullet, anchovy, flounder and whiting, with imported dorado, sea bass and shrimp alongside. Prices are reassuring: red mullet runs 20-25 GEL per kilo, grey mullet 15-20. Cleaning costs extra, around 3-5 GEL per kilo.
This is not a tourist attraction but a working market in the port district, complete with wet floors and a punchy smell of fish — and that is precisely the charm: this is where Batumi shops for its own table. It operates daily, roughly 10:00-20:00. The best selection is in the morning, before the day's catch gets picked over. In September-October, anchovy season, the place gets especially lively.
Practical advice
Go in the morning for the best choice. Pick fish like the locals do: bright red gills, clear eyes. Haggling is normal. Frying costs 5-10 GEL, cleaning 3-5 GEL per kilo; the restaurants also serve wine and salads. Carry cash — cards are not accepted everywhere. Do not be put off by wet floors and the strong smell: that is part of the authenticity.
How to get there from Tbilisi
From Tbilisi take the E60/S1 to Batumi: Rikoti tunnels, the Kutaisi bypass, then the coast road through Kobuleti — about 374 km and 5:30 of driving, asphalt throughout, fuel all along the way. The market sits away from the centre on the port side of town, at 27 Baku Street — as you enter the city, put "Batumi Fish Market" into the navigator. Arriving by car is convenient: there are a couple of dozen free spaces by the entrance, though they fill by midday. An economy car is entirely sufficient.
Click a marker for details. Coloured lines are ready-made road trips.
Nearby places
Argo Cable Car
Two and a half kilometres of air over Batumi's roofs to a viewing terrace on Anuria hill.
Batumi Piazza
An Italian-style square in Old Batumi — a giant marble mosaic, stained glass, cafes and free summer-evening concerts.
Batumi Boulevard and Old Town
A seven-kilometre seafront promenade, a nineteenth-century old quarter and modern towers in one compact city.
Best car for this trip
Guides
- Driving in Georgia: What the Distances Actually Cost You Georgia is a small country with slow roads. Here is what 267 measured drives from Tbilisi say about how long y
Pickup locations
Car Rental in Batumi — 2 km (straight line)