30/08/2025
This is Europe’s most unusual (and low-cost) coastal break
The Georgian resort of Batumi, on the Black Sea, offers rich history, a burgeoning restaurant scene and stylish hotels. A new direct flight makes it more accessible than ever
vershadowed by the towering peaks of the Caucasus Mountains, Georgia is best known for its 8,000-year-old winemaking traditions, soaring alpine landscapes and its cool capital, Tbilisi. Less well known is its 200-mile Black Sea coastline, the jewel of which is Georgia’s second city, Batumi, a beach resort once beloved by Soviet holidaymakers.
The capital of Georgia’s autonomous southwestern province of Adjara, Batumi sits 12 miles north of the Turkish border and a five-hour train ride west of Tbilisi. Georgia’s premier seaside resort is home to glitzy casinos and high-rise international hotels, which loom large over faded communist-era apartment blocks lining a glorious five-mile seafront boulevard.
Styling itself as the Vegas of the Black Sea, Batumi is single-handedly reviving Georgia’s status as a beach destination.
I arrive on a Swiss-made double-decker Stadler train from Tbilisi — which is now connected to London by direct easyJet and British Airways flights — to find a mountainous coastline swathed in low-hanging mist.
Batumi’s beachside boulevard
My first stop is Batumi Boulevard, the promenade lined with cafés, bars, restaurants and art installations. These include a revolving statue of Ali and Nino, a fictional Azerbaijani sheikh and Georgian princess known as the Romeo and Juliet of the Caucasus.
https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/georgia/georgia-beach-batumi-hotel-review-wine-kvdsl2sf8
