ბათუმი

Batumi sits at the south-eastern corner of the Black Sea, where the Lesser Caucasus mountains plunge down to a subtropical coastline. The historic old town is small and very walkable; the new town that rose around it during the 2010s is a near-vegas of glass towers, gambling halls, and pedestrian-only streets.

The real draw is the contrast: an hour's drive inland and you're in mountain villages eating khachapuri at 1,200 m altitude. The Batumi Boulevard — a 7-km seafront promenade — connects the dot. Walk it at sunset, then dive into the Old Boulevard for dinner at one of the famous Adjarian khachapuri houses.