Kutaisi to Batumi by car: the road, the time, the stops

This is the drive most of our renters do first, and it is the gentlest introduction to Georgian roads: mostly motorway, mostly flat, no mountain passes. Allow around two hours of actual driving and half a day if you intend to stop, which you should. The road runs west through Samtredia and Senaki before turning south along the coast. It is a good surface throughout, and the only genuinely slow parts are the towns where the motorway ends and traffic filters through. There is no reason to take an SUV — a Yaris or a Jetta does this route perfectly. Worth stopping for: the Kolkheti National Park wetlands near Poti if you like birds and quiet, and the beach towns north of Batumi — Kobuleti and Ureki — which are calmer than Batumi itself. Ureki has black magnetic sand, which sounds like a tourist-board invention and is real. Batumi itself is a parking problem more than a driving one. The old town streets are narrow and the seafront fills in summer; park once, away from the centre, and walk. If you are staying overnight, check that your accommodation actually has parking before you arrive. Coming back the same day is entirely doable — many people drive down for lunch and a swim and return in the evening. If you would rather not, we rent by the day and the road is just as good in the dark, though the coast is more pleasant in daylight.