Adjara
Batumi, the Black Sea coast and the mountains of Upper Adjara — Georgia's wettest and greenest corner.
Click a marker for details. Coloured lines are ready-made road trips.
Adjara is the south-western corner of Georgia: a narrow coastal strip with mountains rising steeply behind it. It is the wettest region in the country, and its dense green is a direct result of that.
Batumi is the centre of the coast, a mixture of modern towers and older European-styled quarters, with a boulevard running some six kilometres along the shore. North of the city the Botanical Garden spreads its subtropical collection over terraces directly above the sea. To the south, close to the Turkish border, stands the Roman fortress of Gonio-Apsaros; to the north lie the long beach at Kobuleti and the ruins of Petra at Tsikhisdziri.
Turning inland gives a completely different Adjara. Makhuntseti Waterfall, with a medieval arched bridge beside it, is an hour from Batumi. Mtirala National Park — the name means "the crying one" — is one of the rainiest places in Europe, receiving up to four thousand millimetres a year. Higher again, in the Adjaristsqali valley, Khulo has a cable car, stone villages and the road towards the Goderdzi Pass.
The season splits in two. The sea works from June to September, while the city and the mountains are pleasant in spring and autumn as well, when the coast is far quieter. Two or three days is a good minimum with a base in Batumi, more if you intend to go up the valley.
Best for
- Three days in Batumi with the sea
- A day trip to Makhuntseti and Mtirala
- Gonio-Apsaros and Petra for history
- Upper Adjara and the Khulo cable car in summer
Driving conditions
The main thing to know about Adjara is that it is the wettest region in Georgia. Rain arrives in any season, often suddenly and very hard. Visibility drops within minutes, water pools across the carriageway, and on mountain sections stones and branches come down onto the road. You need more following distance and less speed here than anywhere in the east of the country.
The coastal highway towards Kobuleti and Gonio is good. The difficulty is inside Batumi: in summer central parking is scarce, there is effectively none near the boulevard, and the one-way system is confusing. Leave the car in a paid lot and walk.
Towards Upper Adjara the road is surfaced as far as Khulo, though narrow and full of bends. Above that, on the way to the Goderdzi Pass, unsurfaced sections remain and ground clearance is needed; in winter the pass is frequently impassable with snow. Fuel is easy in Batumi, Kobuleti and Keda, and rare above Khulo — see pricing if you are weighing a larger car for this leg.
In this region — 24 places
Town★★★★★5Batumi Boulevard and Old Town
A seven-kilometre seafront promenade, a nineteenth-century old quarter and modern towers in one compact city.
- Time needed: 6 h
- From Tbilisi: 370 km · 5:30
- Car needed: Economy class
Town★★★½☆3.5Alphabetic Tower and Miracle Park
A 130-metre double helix carrying the Georgian alphabet, with Batumi's best sculpture standing at its foot.
- Time needed: 1 h
- From Tbilisi: 370 km · 5:30
- Car needed: Economy class
Nature★★★★★5Batumi Botanical Garden
Over a hundred hectares on a cape above the sea, with nine floristic zones of the world laid out side by side.
- Time needed: 3 h
- From Tbilisi: 380 km · 5:45
- Car needed: Economy class
Nature★★★★☆46 May Park and Batumi Dolphinarium
Batumi's oldest park, with a small lake, a zoo corner and a dolphinarium that has run since Soviet times.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 370 km · 5:30
- Car needed: Economy class
Fortress★★★★☆4Gonio-Apsaros Fortress
A Roman military fort south of Batumi — 18 towers, active excavations and a grave traditionally linked to an apostle.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 385 km · 5:50
- Car needed: Economy class
Mountain★★★★☆4Argo Cable Car
Two and a half kilometres of air over Batumi's roofs to a viewing terrace on Anuria hill.
- Time needed: 1.5 h
- From Tbilisi: 370 km · 5:30
- Car needed: Economy class
Waterfall★★★★☆4Makhuntseti Waterfall and Arched Bridge
A thirty-metre waterfall and a medieval stone arch bridge in the Adjaristsqali valley, an hour from Batumi.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 395 km · 6:00
- Car needed: Economy class
Winery★★★★☆4Keda and the Adjaran Wine Cellars
A small town in the Adjaristsqali valley where Chkhaveri and Tsolikouri mature in wooden cellars.
- Time needed: 3 h
- From Tbilisi: 400 km · 6:05
- Car needed: Economy class
Museum★★★☆☆3Batumi Archaeological Museum
Colchian gold, Greek amphorae and Roman coins gathered in one small, well-arranged hall.
- Time needed: 1 h
- From Tbilisi: 370 km · 5:30
- Car needed: Economy class
Mountain★★★★½4.5Goderdzi Pass and the Petrified Forest
A 2,025-metre pass linking Adjara to Samtskhe, with a fossil forest of trees millions of years old beside it.
- Time needed: 3 h
- From Tbilisi: 300 km · 6:30
- Car needed: Off-road 4x4
Nature★★★★☆4Mtirala National Park
Colchic rainforest behind Batumi — one of the wettest places in Europe, with trails, a waterfall and a zipline.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 385 km · 5:50
- Car needed: Crossover / SUV
Archaeology★★★☆☆3Dandalo Arched Bridge
A medieval single-span stone bridge over the Adjaristsqali above Keda, still crossable on foot.
- Time needed: 0.5 h
- From Tbilisi: 402 km · 6:10
- Car needed: Economy class
Museum★★★☆☆3Adjara Art Museum
A quiet, well-chosen collection of Georgian painting in central Batumi, Pirosmani included.
- Time needed: 1 h
- From Tbilisi: 370 km · 5:30
- Car needed: Economy class
Nature★★★★☆4Machakhela National Park
A Colchic forest valley running to the Turkish border, with arched bridges and villages of gunsmiths.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 400 km · 6:15
- Car needed: Crossover / SUV
Mountain★★★★½4.5Khulo Cable Car and Upper Adjara
A Soviet-era cable car strung between Khulo and the village of Tago across a deep gorge, plus the road into Upper Adjara.
- Time needed: 3 h
- From Tbilisi: 455 km · 7:20
- Car needed: Crossover / SUV
Nature★★★★☆4Kintrishi Protected Areas
A valley of relict forest above Kobuleti, with a medieval church and a glacial lake high above it.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 375 km · 5:50
- Car needed: Crossover / SUV
Beach★★★★☆4Kvariati
The clearest water on the coast south of Batumi, on a pebble shore where the mountains reach the sea.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 388 km · 5:55
- Car needed: Economy class
Monastery★★★½☆3.5Skhalta Cathedral
A 13th-century church in a mountain valley — the only medieval cathedral in Adjara to survive intact.
- Time needed: 1 h
- From Tbilisi: 470 km · 7:30
- Car needed: Crossover / SUV
Fortress★★★½☆3.5Petra Fortress, Tsikhisdziri
Byzantine fortress ruins on a rocky headland above the sea, between Kobuleti and Batumi.
- Time needed: 1 h
- From Tbilisi: 355 km · 5:20
- Car needed: Economy class
Mountain★★★★½4.5Beshumi
An alpine settlement of wooden houses at 1,830 metres that lives for three months of the year.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 312 km · 7:00
- Car needed: Off-road 4x4
Beach★★★★☆4Sarpi and the Border
Georgia's last village on the Black Sea — steep cliffs, deep water and the Turkish frontier crossing.
- Time needed: 3 h
- From Tbilisi: 392 km · 6:00
- Car needed: Economy class
Fortress★★★★☆4Khikhani Fortress
One of the highest medieval fortresses in Georgia, above two thousand metres on a ridge beyond Khulo.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 480 km · 8:00
- Car needed: Off-road 4x4
Beach★★★★☆4Kobuleti Beach and Protected Areas
A quieter resort town north of Batumi — a long pebble beach and a rare peat bog reserve.
- Time needed: 4 h
- From Tbilisi: 345 km · 5:10
- Car needed: Economy class
Lake★★★★☆4Green Lake (Goderdzi)
A small alpine lake near Goderdzi Pass, ringed by fir forest and reachable only in summer.
- Time needed: 2 h
- From Tbilisi: 306 km · 7:00
- Car needed: Off-road 4x4