Batumi Boulevard

Batumi Boulevard is the city's living room: a shaded seaside park and promenade that runs from the port past the old town and on to the new hotel district in the south. The oldest section has palms, magnolias, a bamboo grove, a small lake and cafes under the trees, with pebble beaches just below. Extended in stages since the 2000s, the promenade now runs for about 7 km, with a separate lane for cyclists. It is free and busiest on summer evenings, when families come out after the heat of the day.

At the northern end stand the Alphabetic Tower, 130 m tall and wrapped in the 33 letters of the Georgian alphabet, and Ali and Nino, Tamara Kvesitadze's steel sculpture of two lovers who slowly move toward each other and pass through one another. The 1882 lighthouse and a Ferris wheel are close by. Further south you pass beach bars, playgrounds, sculptures and bike rental points. A good plan is to walk one way and take a taxi back.

The idea of a seaside park for Batumi came in 1881, and landscaping began in 1884 under the Prussian gardener Alexander Ressler. The French gardener Michel d'Alphonse continued the work and brought rare plants from his own garden at Chakvi, and Jason Gordeziani later expanded the plantings. The lighthouse dates from 1882. In the Soviet period the boulevard gained colonnades, a summer theatre and musical fountains, installed in 1977. Since the 2000s it has been extended far to the south as the city grew.