Car rental in Batumi from $30/day

Fuel stations along Rustaveli Avenue and the main roads out of the city mostly accept cards. Batumi also gets a wave of cruise-ship visitors in summer, adding extra pedestrians and tour buses to the seafront on mornings when a ship is in port. Inside the old town, several streets are one-way and narrower than they look on a map, and evening pedestrian traffic near the piazza and the boulevard entrance can make a car the wrong tool for a short trip within the centre itself — save it for the day you head out to the coast or the mountains. If you are staying on the boulevard for your whole visit, ask the supplier about starting the rental later or delivering the car on the morning you leave, rather than paying for days you will not drive.

• Green Cape (Mtsvane Kontskhi) and the Batumi Botanical Garden — about 9 km north of the centre, a short drive along the coastal road; the garden's paths run along the cliffs above the sea.
• Kobuleti — about 25 km north, a long pebble-and-sand beach that is quieter and family-friendly than central Batumi, with its own promenade.
• Ureki — about 55 km north, known for dark magnetic sand; a popular stop for families with young children.
• Shekvetili — on the coast north of Batumi, with magnetic-sand beaches, a dendrological park and resort hotels.

In peak summer weekends, allow extra time near Kobuleti and Ureki where beach traffic can back up. The swimming season on this stretch of coast generally runs from June to September; outside those months many seafront cafes and water-sports operators close for winter, so a car matters less then.

Driving times from Batumi are short: about 30–40 minutes to Kobuleti, with Ureki and Shekvetili further along the coast, depending on how busy the coastal road is that day. Many visitors combine two or three of these stops into a single day trip rather than choosing just one.

• Makhuntseti waterfall and Queen Tamar's bridge — about 30 km from Batumi on a paved road through the Adjara valley; an easy half-day trip in any car.
• Mtirala National Park — about 30 km, with forest trails, a lake and one of the wettest microclimates in Georgia; the park access road is paved but can be slippery after rain.
• Goderdzi ski resort — about 100 km and roughly 2.5 hours of mountain driving. The road climbs steadily and narrows in places; in winter it is snow-covered and can require chains. The Akhaltsikhe–Batumi route over the Goderdzi Pass is prohibited for rental cars; arrange other transport to visit the resort.

Beyond Makhuntseti and Mtirala, roads into the smaller Adjara villages are narrower and less consistently maintained. Rental cars may use only paved public roads. Do not include unpaved side roads in your route, even if the car has high ground clearance. Mtirala's main trail is a return walk of a few hours through rain-fed forest to a waterfall and swimming pools; Makhuntseti makes an easy stop nearby, with a spot to swim in the river below the old bridge in summer.

Goderdzi's ski season typically runs from December through March, when snow depth and road conditions can change quickly; outside those months the resort is quiet, though the upper section of the road stays unpaved. If you plan to visit the resort from Batumi, arrange other transport: the ban on the route over the pass applies in winter and in summer.

The Sarpi border crossing is about 20 km south of Batumi, a common day-trip stop or a gateway if you are continuing overland into Turkey. Leave the rental car on the Georgian side, cross Sarpi on foot or by local bus or taxi, and pick up onward transport in Turkey.

Sarpi is open to both pedestrians and vehicles and is one of the busiest land crossings in the region — queues build up on summer weekends and around Georgian and Turkish holidays, sometimes lasting an hour or more. Bring your passport regardless of how you cross, even for a short day trip. The drive from central Batumi to Sarpi follows the coastal road south past Gonio, home to an old fortress site — a reasonable stop if you are combining a Sarpi day trip with some sightseeing rather than driving straight through.