Batumi Seafront Boulevard

Batumi, on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, is the country’s summer playground. Its seafront boulevard runs for several kilometres beside pebble beaches, with gardens, cycle paths, dancing fountains and a skyline of unusual modern towers.

Look out for the Alphabetic Tower, wrapped in the letters of the Georgian script, and the moving steel statue of Ali and Nino, two figures that slowly glide together and apart. The old town behind the seafront has cafés and squares, and the Batumi Botanical Garden, on the hills just north of the city, makes a lovely half-day outing.

Batumi is a short flight or a long day’s drive from Tbilisi, so give it at least two nights. The sea is warm enough for swimming from June to September.