6 May Park and Batumi Dolphinarium

6 May Park is the oldest public garden in Batumi, laid out in 1881 when the town became a free port of the Russian Empire and botanists began testing subtropical species here. It is still the green core of the centre: magnolias, stands of bamboo, camphor trees and eucalyptus that have had a century to reach full height. At its middle lies Lake Nurigeli, small and round, with rowing boats and a railing walk around the shore. On summer evenings half the city seems to be circling it. The park's three institutions sit around that lake: - The dolphinarium, opened in 1975 and one of the first in the Soviet Union; the building was rebuilt in the 2010s, the show is short and the hall is small - The aquarium, built around Black Sea species and more rewarding for children than for adults - A modest zoo corner, clearly better kept than it was a decade ago It is worth being plain about the dolphinarium in a way that most listings are not. This is not a modern European marine centre, the pool is small, and anyone with a settled objection to captive dolphins should simply skip it. If you do go, book ahead — sessions fill in July and August. The park itself is free and open year round. In winter, when the boulevard empties, this is where people still gather: old men playing backgammon, schoolchildren running the loop around the water. In spring the magnolias flower more or less together over about two weeks, and the park has its best fortnight of the year.

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