The top three destinations in Adjara, Georgia

Are you looking to find your all-year-round hiking destination in Georgia? Lush forests and waterfalls in a subtropical climate? Seaside vibes and a city that looks like an amusement park? Granted, the last one is probably a bit niche in terms of what people commonly desire on their travels, nonetheless: Adjara has you covered in all aspects! Come with us and visit our top three destinations in Adjara!

Winter time in Georgia

While spending a winter in Georgia, we quickly realise that we are not well equipped to tackle snowy hikes in high altitudes. Such are the limitations of living and traveling in an Opel Astra, I reckon. You simply cannot take all your gear, and neither can you buy all the gear, because where to put it? Of course you can rent the gear, but then after some reflection, probably not everyone should be running around in the wild, in metre-high snow. In a foreign country. We certainly don’t feel wholly prepared for it. But since the snow lasts well into June and we still want to spend time in nature, we start researching. A country as geographically diverse as Georgia has plenty of hiking fun to offer, even during the cold months!

So off we go, first to Dashbashi Canyon to see the waterfalls. Then to Borjomi National Park which offers some beautiful snow shoe hikes in the Lesser Caucasus. And then we discover that the trails in Mtirala National Park are accessible in winter. Work commitments and and a ruptured appendix mean that we only get to visit some months later but while in the area, we decide to explore the Adjara region as much as we can. We’ll tell you all about the nature we got to enjoy and the crazy cable car in Khulo below. But first, let me start our top three destinations in Adjara with one of my favourite cities in the world. Don’t hate on me.

1. Love letter to Batumi: Adjara’s loony capital

The first time we cross the border into Georgia is in early December 2018. It’s the last day of our three month long stay in Turkey and admittedly, the further we go east, the more nervous I get. This is all unknown territory, and apart from a month in Taiwan (where I was mostly accompanied by a colleague who spoke fluent Chinese) this is the first country where I don’t even know the alphabet. I know nothing about this country, and yet it was me who decided that we will spend the winter here. The absurdity of this mercurial decision starts to sink in as we wave the Turkish border guards goodbye and are asked by an expressionless Georgian officer to empty our car. All of it.

Surrounded by boxes full of clothes, some washed, some not so, IKEA bags stuffed with camping gear and a mini barbecue grill, we are granted a hint of a grin and entrance into Georgia. 365 days for us, 90 for the car. The pretty fabulous checkpoint building by J. Mayer H. Architects becomes smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror as we head towards Batumi.

Grey-blue sea to the left washing up to grey pebble beaches and grey promenades. A sea of grey-blue skyscrapers to right. Few people on the streets but still excruciatingly slow traffic. That’s Batumi in December for you. I must admit, when I see the city for the first time it feels as if I have landed in a futuristic mega city. In 2021 its year-long round population stood at about 170,000 inhabitants which explains its emptiness in winter; when we return in early summer the following year it feels as if it has doubled.

High-rise culture shock

I love Batumi from the moment I set eyes on it. To me it’s an impossible city. It feels like a theme park, even the historic areas with older buildings don’t seem quite real. After spending three months in remote areas of Turkey, living in the car and tent, washing in the sea and staying warm with camp fires in the cold autumn nights, the culture shock is real. Everything seems strangely shiny.

After a prolonged diet of barbecued vegetables from roadside grills and lukewarm cans of Efes, it feels bizarre to step into a hyper-modern, hip restaurant to order a vegetarian burger followed by cocktails and cheesecake. I am delighted. Italian espresso to go from a stand at the promenade. A beautiful apartment in a high-rise on the sea front for fifteen euros a night. A deluxe shower in a marble bathroom instead of a cold shower at a public beach. Rarely have I felt freer than during our time in Turkey but the first days in Batumi are the ultimate comfort I didn’t know I needed.

We run around town, intoxicated by the lights and the slightly bonkers sights that city planners piled into Batumi. During the next year we return several times and it never looses any of its wacky charm. Several years later, I wonder: How does it feel like nowadays?

2. Mtirala: In the heart of Adjara’s jungle

Next on the list of our top three destinations in Adjara is Mitirala, one of Adjara´s many national parks. All of Adjara is incredibly green all year round but Mtirala is pure bliss. Granted, the excitement has built up for a while as we were not able to visit for some months, and when we do, we immediately feel at peace in the lush, tropical forests.

The forest is so thick that it absorbs all noises. We hear only the tweeting of birds and the rippling of water, and there is an abundance of both here. We follow the forest trail, down Chakvistskali river and up into the woods. Humidity is high and the few spare rays of sun that pierce through the canopies make the drops on the ivy around us glimmer. In no time we reach the highlight of the trail, the nearly 30m high Tsalbnari waterfall (which we like so much, it made it on to our Best waterfalls in Georgia list). The sun is soon gone and light rainfall sets in, as is so common in this area. I mean, Mtirala literally means “crying” in Georgia. Doesn’t stop us from having a quick dip though.

We continue on, passing a small lake that shimmers silver in the rain and approach the end of the short circular trail. The only real challenge of the day is to figure out how to get across the river. The pull-mechanism of the cabin that goes across is not self-explanatory for little pudding-heads like us. Next time we want to walk Tsvivtskaro trail. This one’s a slightly more challenging two-day hike with an overnight stay at a shelter, which takes you to 1250m above sea level. Have you done this one before? Let us know in the comments how you liked it!

3. Khulo: Most nerve-racking commute in Adjara

The final stop on our list of top three destinations in Adjara is Khulo. We hadn’t planned to go there so soon but heavy rains have inundated the area for the past few days. To the point where the Black Sea is brown from all the mud the equally brown rivers wash into it. Our planned visit to Kolkheti National Park has to be postponed. Instead we decide to go up into higher altitudes and check out the infamous cable car in Khulo. Yes, we are nerds like that. Ideally we would like to continue over Goderzi pass and visit the Abastumani observatory and the Roman palace with royal baths next, but we’re doubtful our trusty Opel Astra will make that journey. Let’s see!

The road up to Khulo is windy and steep but fine to drive, and the best thing: It leads past some ace waterfalls and stone bridges like Dandalo, Mirveti and Purtio bridge. We frequently stop along the way and thoroughly enjoy the sights in the sunshine that has been so rare as of late. At the end, we – equally joyfully – roll into Khulo and the weather changes within seconds into a hailstorm. Naive as usual we still drive to the end of town to see how the road continues. Only to realise that it doesn’t. We are aware that a 4×4 is recommended to tackle Goderzi pass but it’s not even that, the road just… ends and is replaced with a construction site.

Not keen on reliving the Shatili distaster we stop and ponder our options. Sleeping in the car is not an option as there is literally no space anywhere to park undisturbed. Driving back down the road in this weather doesn’t sound appealing either. So as always we hop on Booking.com and thankfully find a pretty nice looking hostel that has room for us. We book a spot and make our way there.

Accidental break-in

Completely drenched we reach the house and ring the bell. No one opens, so we gently push the door ajar and peek around – no one is home. There are some unmade beds in the dorm though. We sit down in the common room, message and call several times. No answer. Well, the door was unlocked, we have a booking and there is no way in hell we’re leaving the only accommodation in town in this weather so we settle in and get comfy.

Until a man comes in and almost has a heart attack. We can’t find a common language so he rings what turns out to be the manager of the hostel. She explains that it’s closed because they’re doing renovations but apparently forgot to close the booking system. We agree that it wouldn’t be very hospitable to kick us out in a situation like this. And so, we take the only two beds and go to sleep in the abandoned hostel.

Time to ride

Morning comes and it’s raining nowhere near as bad as yesterday which means only one thing: it’s cable car time! The cable car connects Khulo and Tago and is almost two kilometres long, making it the second-longest free span cable car in Europe, meaning there are NO PILLARS supporting it, throughout the entire length. Now because that’s clearly not scary enough, it also goes back and fourth a dizzying 350 meters above Adjaristskali gorge.

The view is absolutely incredible but even more so is the fact that I’m standing in a cabin that’s about the size of a toilet and looks like it was manufactured before I was born. It turns out it was, since it was constructed in 1985. According to the glamping site in Tago you can “ask the operator to open the doors to take crystal clear shots” and I’m just so glad no one in our cable car seemed to be keen on this option!

The views from the hills behind Tago are wonderful, so are the few old houses that remain on. We head through the village up the slopes for a little walk, have a bite to eat in the restaurant and then hop on to our return journey. Time to figure out where we’ll spend the coming night! Depending on where we end up, we might have to extend our list of top three destinations in Adjara tomorrow…