Batumi Botanical Garden costs 20 lari and eats half a day. The number 31 microbus is how you get there

Twenty lari for visitors, ten for Georgian citizens, nothing for children under six. Entry is free on some public holidays and during certain garden events, so it is worth checking the date before you buy. Cards are accepted at the ticket desk. The garden runs every day of the week, public holidays included, from 9:00 to 17:30. There is also camping on site for 20 lari, which is a cheaper night than almost anything in Batumi itself.

Microbus 31 is the cheap option: it leaves central Batumi about every fifteen minutes, costs between 30 and 50 tetri, and takes around half an hour. City bus 10 or 10a costs 70 tetri and takes contactless international bank cards as well as the local transport card, which matters if you have not stocked up on coins. A Bolt from the centre runs about 15 lari one way. Coming back, buses leave from the same drop-off point roughly every fifteen minutes for 50 tetri, so you do not need to plan the return in advance.

Visitors expecting beds of flowers tend to be disappointed; the garden's strength is its mature trees and the way the paths open onto the Black Sea. The Wander-Lush guide singles out the Japanese Garden and its maples, the Liriodendron whose fallen trunk has become a living bridge, trails J and K for anyone who wants a proper walk, and the honeycomb sold by local beekeepers. The paved Route A is the easy option if you have limited time or anyone in the group who cannot manage steps.

Allow three to four hours for the full walk and about an hour for the bus back, which means arriving late morning at the latest if you want the whole garden. Parts of the route are steep and the famous bridge trunk gets slippery in the wet. Take water and something to eat, and rain gear regardless of the forecast — Adjara's weather turns quickly. One practical warning from the guide: the route maps on site were out of date at the time of the visit, so the paper map is a rough guide rather than a reliable one.