A trip to Ajara starts with Batumi, a seaside city where the rhythm of modern life and old port city coziness exist side by side. Modern Batumi offers large-scale architecture, while Old Batumi boasts narrow, paved streets with cozy, one and two-story houses. If you are lucky to visit Ajara while the citrus is flowering, this scent will connect you to Ajara forever, no matter where you set foot- in the mountains or on the Batumi streets.

Fancy a trip into civilized nature? The 100-year-old Batumi Boulevard and Botanical Garden are the places for you. Sea and mountain, summer and winter in Adjara are right next to each other, so you can visit all simultaneously, even if you only have a long weekend to do so. Tourism is developing fast in Batumi, a fact which grabbed the interest of the International Tourism Organization. Batumi became winner of the World Travel Awards this year as Europe’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination. The awards ceremony took place in Madeira, Portugal, where Batumi was proudly given the so-called “Oscar” of the tourism industry.

There are modern, fashionable hotels that won’t break your budget to be found in Batumi and along the coast of Ajara, while in the mountains there are guest houses – making discovering genuine village life, cuisine and folklore easy. 

In this corner of Georgia, you can find everything you want for your individual holiday needs: family holidays of a peaceful time at the seaside, or an adventurous trip with friends, iking in the mountains with backpacks, or resting in a comfortable hotel – each traveler will find something to his taste.
If you are heading here on a family holiday, you can take your pick from various sea resorts- Sarpi, Kvariati, Gonio, Batumi, Green Cape, Chakvi, Tsikhisdziri and Kobuleti.
Batumi attracts leisure lovers who enjoy walking in the streets and spending time in cafes and restaurants. The loveliest thing about Kobuleti is its coastline, pine forest and great choice of bungalows. Sarpi, Kvariati, Gonio, the Green Cape, Chakvi, Tsikhisdziri are best for those wanting to escape the city bustle but stay close at the same time.

If you are longing for cool mountain air, head to Beshumi at 2000 meters above the sea level, a village with small wooden cottages surrounded by spruce trees. Herdsmen live nearby and provide tourists with natural products: butter, matsoni (yogurt), milk and cheese. Beshumi is the right place to go for family holidays, ideal for both adults and children, as its fresh air and eco-products guarantee a healthy stay. In summers, Beshumi celebrates the public holiday “Shuamtoba” with lots of entertaining activities, including a horse race. Families
rent wooden cottages in Beshumi. There are small and medium cottages and large cottages intended for several families.

If you are fond of extreme adventures, while in Ajara, you can take a powerboat cruise or jet ski, fly a paraglider or parachute, or try something else extreme.
We suggest starting with the zipline at Mtirala National Park and glide through trees in the forest. Extreme lovers can also take a bicycle tour to Merisi, 27 km from Batumi. Merisi is a
small village in a Colchis boxwood forest, with a waterfall, 13th century arch bridge and Chorokhi banks where rafting tours are offered for true extremists.

For those travelers who like dangerous and extreme hiking trails, the Skhalta – Khikhani route is ideal. The road leading to Khikhani Fortress is hard: you have to walk two hours on steep slopes to get to there - need both physical strength and a lot of energy.

Adventure tourism lovers who like long walks, landscape views and are interested in the everyday lives of the locals, can visit protected areas: the Mtirala, Kintrishi and Machakhela gorges.“Machakhela Gun Road” is one of the most interesting routes, where you can see the Tskhemlara Arch Bridge, waterfall, the Gvara Fortress ruins, the Chkhutuneti History and Ethnography Museum, situated in a beautiful 200-year-old mosque, and the breathtaking nature of Machakhela National Park: The Twins Waterfall and the Paths of the Archangel.
In Mtirala Park, you can spend a night in a wooden tourist shelter, in the visitors’ center or in a tent, though there are some guest houses on the territory as well. At the Mtirala National Park there are two centuries-old water mills, a lake, a waterfall, the Colchis forest and beautiful rhododendron flowers.

56 kilometers from Batumi, in Merisi village, you can enjoy the waterfall, where pure water forms a pool and gives the gorge a wonderful atmosphere. Merisi stands out from other villages because, apart from the Ajaran cuisine, guests are offered masterclasses in folk dances and songs.

The Green Lake is a must-see for adventurers. This route includes Beshumi and Goderdzi Alpine Botanical Garden. It takes an hour to walk from Goderdzi Pass to the lake. On your way, you will find a village with wooden shepherds’ cabins, meet herdswomen and old people with head-scarfs and enjoy the most wonderful views. The name of the lake is not
accidental as it is pure green. Tourists usually camp by the lake or head back to Beshumi or Goderdzi and stay there. 

And one more interesting place is Tago, 1000 meters above sea level and connected to Khulo by a 1719-meter cableway. The cableway is the main attraction of the place. The first thing that draws your attention in Tago is the old wooden houses. The twisting narrow paths are also made of wood. Here, you feel like you have traveled through time a hundred years. 

For festival and tour lovers there are lots of festivals and interesting tours in Ajara, visited by a lot of foreign tourists from different countries. One of the most famous events is the Black Sea Jazz Festival, which brings together the world’s jazz performers in Batumi every summer.
The two-day Rural Tourism Festival “Gandagana” also takes place in Batumi. Various agricultural products and local dishes from different corners of Ajara are presented in Europe Square. “Gandagana” will give you a tour around the villages of Ajara without you having to leave Batumi. It is possible to taste Ajaran food and wine right there, with folk dances and music in the background. There is also a Migratory Birds Observation Festival: an eye-catching scene when more than a million birds of prey fly over the skies of Ajara. It is one of the few places in the world where you can enjoy something like this. Batumi is a favorite destination for music lovers, not just for the jazz- here they can also enjoy the annual International Festival of Classic Music. Every year, in September, Batumi hosts the International Art-house Film Festival “BIAFF,” a real celebration for cinema lovers that offers viewers the year’s best collections of independent films. You can also visit museums in Batumi and Adjara and take interesting tours in and outside the city.

You can devote a day to discovering Old Batumi and, in the framework of a tour, discover a different Batumi with a multicultural history, architecture and urban legends.
If you want to get to know modern Batumi, you can take a “domestic tour” into the inner yards of the city: see cats lying in the sun, rows of laundry hanging outside, shoemakers, watch-repairers and stray dogs. In a word, the tour’s goal is to make you feel like a native of Batumi.

We don’t have a single answer to the question “Why should you travel to Ajara?” though we know for sure that those who have not seen it are missing the chance to breathe the sea and mountain air, to enjoy communication with interesting people, to feel the active rhythm, sounds and colors. You can enjoy all these things here every year and it is never late
to jump into seaside adventures, regardless of whether you’re traveling alone, with friends or with family: Batumi is your destination.

Photos: VisitBatumi