Batumi Botanical Garden

Batumi Botanical Garden tickets and opening hours

Foreign visitors pay 25 GEL, Georgian citizens 10 GEL, and children under 6 go free — these are the prices on Visit Ajara, Adjara's official tourism portal. The same list shows 5 GEL for students and pensioners and 2 GEL for school pupils; ask at the gate whether that applies to foreign IDs. Older blogs quoting 20 GEL are out of date.

The garden is open every day. Visit Ajara gives 9:00–20:00, but hours are seasonal and the gates can close earlier in autumn and winter, so arrive in the morning. Tickets are sold at all three entrances at the same price.

Extras: the electric car inside the grounds is paid separately on site. Picnics in the marked areas (Caucasian and American sections, with grills and a water tap) cost foreign visitors 30 GEL per person; camping in the Seaside Park from 18:00 to 10:00 is 50 GEL.

Paying: cards are reportedly accepted at the ticket office, but bring some Georgian lari in cash — marshrutkas take cash only, while municipal buses take contactless bank cards or a Batumi Card and no cash.

Is Batumi Botanical Garden worth it?

Yes, if you like plants, sea views and a proper walk. It is the greenest half-day you can have near Batumi: bamboo groves, Himalayan cedars, eucalyptus and agaves on terraces that drop to the Black Sea, for the price of a cheap lunch.

Skip it if you only have one day in Batumi and don't enjoy hills, or if the forecast is hot and you can't start early. In that case the Batumi Boulevard and a ride on the Argo cable car give you the sea and the views with far less effort.

Which entrance should you use?

There are three gates with ticket offices: the lower (main) entrance at the Green Cape, a middle one, and the upper (northern) entrance on the Chakvi side. You get a paper map with your ticket, and Google Maps shows the paths and bus stops well.

For the best views straight away, start at the lower entrance — the clifftop viewpoints are a few minutes from the gate. To avoid most of the climbing, ride to the upper or middle gate, walk downhill to the sea and catch marshrutka 31 back from the main entrance.

Leaving for lunch outside and coming back in isn't really how tickets work here, so pack food. There are cafés by the main entrance.

What to see

• Clifftop viewpoints at the Green Cape, looking over the sea and the beaches north of Batumi, with the coastal railway right below.
• East Asian section — Japanese and Chinese corners, bamboo and camellias.
• Himalayan and Australian sections — Himalayan cedars and eucalyptus.
• New Zealand and Mexico — agaves, yuccas and tree ferns you rarely see growing outdoors in Europe.
• Banana plants, which grow here but very rarely fruit.
• Old wooden houses with verandas among the palms — the garden's signature photo.
• Andrey Krasnov's grave — the founder rests in his own garden.
• Lotus pond near the northern gate, best in summer.

How long do you need?

Allow 2–3 hours for the main sections and viewpoints, or half a day to walk most of the paths without rushing. The electric car cuts that down and saves your legs on the climbs. Add 30–40 minutes each way from the centre by marshrutka.

A short history

The botanist and geographer Andrey Krasnov realised that Adjara's warm, wet climate could grow the subtropical plants of the whole world, and the garden on the Green Cape officially opened on 3 November 1912. He died soon afterwards and, as he wished, was buried here.

From 1925 it was the Soviet Union's main research centre for subtropical crops on the Black Sea coast. It used to belong to the Georgian Academy of Sciences and has been an independent institution since 2006 — still a research garden, and Batumi's favourite escape into green.

Botanical Garden, Boulevard or Argo cable car?

With one day in Batumi, the garden takes half of it — worth it if you love nature and walking. If not, the Boulevard and the Argo cable car are enough.

Batumi's best views compared

Batumi places with the best views, rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

How to do it right

• Arrive at opening time: it's cooler and the viewpoints are empty.
• Enter at the upper gate and walk down to the sea — much easier on the legs.
• Bring a refillable bottle and a snack; cafés aren't on every path.
• Head back to town for sunset on the Boulevard and the dancing fountains after dark.
• Want to see Petra Fortress too? It's further north on the same coast road — easy to combine in one trip.
• Not up for the hills? Take the electric car at least one way.

Questions