The Ultimate Batumi Shopping Guide: Malls, Markets & Must-Buy Souvenirs

Batumi’s Shopping Zones: Where Everything Actually Is

Batumi is compact enough to walk across in 40 minutes, but its shopping is spread across distinct pockets that serve very different purposes. Knowing which zone holds what saves you wandering the tourist boulevard paying triple price for the same mass-produced backgammon set you could find elsewhere for a third of the cost.

The Old Town and Boulevard strip runs along the seafront and the pedestrian lanes around Piazza Square. This is ground zero for souvenir stalls, branded cafés, and tourist-facing boutiques. Prices here are set high and rarely move. The Chavchavadze–Gorgasali corridor, a few blocks inland, is where Batumi’s everyday commerce happens — pharmacies, electronics shops, clothing stores aimed at locals, and a handful of genuinely good artisan outlets. Further east, across the railway tracks, the Bazroba market district is where the city feeds and clothes itself. Then there’s the coastal edge of the New Boulevard near the airport road, home to the city’s two main malls.

If you are staying in the central hotel zone and only walk the boulevard, you will spend more and see less. A 10-minute taxi ride — or a brisk 20-minute walk — separates the tourist tier from the real one.

Malls Worth Your Time

Batumi has two malls that are actually worth visiting, and they serve different needs.

Batumi Mall

Batumi Mall sits on Khimshiashvili Street near the sea, roughly 2 kilometres south of Piazza Square. It is the older of the two and more workaday — supermarkets, Georgian clothing chains, a food court, and a cinema. The Carrefour hypermarket on the ground floor is the best place in the city to buy packaged Georgian food products to take home: churchkhela in vacuum packs, Adjarian tea, tkemali sauce, and local wine at honest prices. A bottle of drinkable Adjarian wine here runs 15–35 GEL. The food court is cheap and reliable — a full meal lands between 12 and 20 GEL.

Porto Franco

Porto Franco, which expanded its retail wing in 2025, is Batumi’s most modern shopping complex. It anchors the New Boulevard development zone and mixes retail with a hotel, restaurants, and event space. The retail floors hold international mid-range brands alongside Georgian designers who have opened Batumi outposts here. If you want a reliable, air-conditioned space to pick up clothing, shoes, cosmetics, or electronics, this is the address. Prices match Tbilisi equivalents roughly — you are not paying a resort premium inside the mall itself.

Markets for Fresh Finds

Bazroba — The Central Market

Batumi’s central market, known locally as Bazroba, occupies a sprawling covered and open-air site off Chavchavadze Street about 1.5 kilometres from the Old Town. This is a working market, not a curated experience, and it is better for it. The covered hall smells of dried herbs, spiced meats, and the sharp vinegar tang of pickled vegetables stacked in open barrels. That sensory hit — pungent, warm, dense — is the real Adjara.

What to buy here specifically: Adjarian spice blends (the local khmeli-suneli mix is heavier on fenugreek than the Tbilisi version), fresh churchkhela still soft and oily from recent dipping, local honey from the Adjarian highlands (light amber, floral, genuinely different from mass-produced Georgian honey), and bundles of dried matsoni-culture herbs sold by the same women who have been running stalls since before the tourist boom. Bring cash in small denominations — 5 and 10 GEL notes. Card readers exist but are not guaranteed.

The Sunday Flea Market

Every Sunday morning, a flea market assembles near the old railway station on Gogebashvili Street. It runs from roughly 8:00 until 13:00 and draws a genuine mix of sellers: pensioners clearing Soviet-era household goods, traders with vintage jewellery, secondhand clothing stalls, and the occasional dealer in old Georgian ceramics and copper items. The quality is wildly uneven, which is the point. Arrive before 10:00 for the best selection. A chipped but authentic Soviet enamel mug goes for 3–5 GEL. A piece of old Adjarian silver, if you find one, might cost 80–200 GEL and is worth every tetri.

What to Buy in Batumi

Some souvenirs are sold everywhere in Georgia. These are the ones specific to Batumi and the Adjara region.

• Adjarian tea — Georgia’s tea industry is centred in Adjara, and the tea grown in the hills above Batumi (particularly around Chakvi and Kobuleti) is harvested and sold locally at prices far below what you pay in Tbilisi shops. Buy loose-leaf, not tea bags.
• Black Sea fish products — smoked Black Sea sprat (kilika) and dried anchovy are sold at the Bazroba fish section and along the harbour. They travel reasonably well vacuum-packed and are almost impossible to find outside the region.



• Adjarian churchkhela — the local version uses walnut and hazelnut coated in grape must mixed with a touch of cornflour. The texture is denser and less sweet than the Kakheti variety. Buy freshly made, not the glossy pre-packaged tourist versions on the boulevard.
• Colchic-style woven textiles — the weaving tradition of coastal Adjara produces table runners, cushion covers, and bags in earthy reds and golds. Authentic pieces come from artisan cooperatives, not souvenir factories.
• Local wine and chacha — Adjarian winemaking is small-scale and largely natural. Look for bottles labelled from the Keda or Shuakhevi microregions. Chacha (Georgian grappa) from the market typically runs 20–40 GEL for a litre bottle of home-distilled spirit.

Adjarian Crafts and Artisan Shops

The boulevard souvenir economy sells Georgian crafts generically — the same painted wooden boxes and machine-made enamel jewellery you find in Tbilisi or Mtskheta. For work that is specifically Adjarian and made by hand, you need to look slightly off the main circuit.

Artisan House Batumi on Zubalashvili Street (a short walk from Piazza Square, inland) is a cooperative-run space that stocks pottery, hand-woven fabrics, and silverwork from Adjarian craftspeople. Prices are fixed and fair. The cooperative expanded its space in early 2026 and now hosts a small workshop area where potters and weavers sometimes work while the shop is open — the kind of place where you watch a piece being made and buy it still slightly warm.

Mze Gallery, tucked into an arcade off Ninoshvili Street, focuses on contemporary Georgian art and limited-edition prints by Batumi-based artists. If you want something flat and packable rather than fragile, a signed print starts at around 60 GEL and goes up to 400 GEL for larger framed works.

Several smaller independent ceramic studios have opened in the Old Town’s quieter laneways since 2024, particularly on and around Konstantine Gamsakhurdia Street. Walk slowly, look for open doors, and expect prices between 25 and 150 GEL depending on the piece.

2026 Budget Reality

Here is what shopping in Batumi actually costs in 2026, across three spending levels.

Budget Shopper

• Adjarian spice blend (100g) at Bazroba: 3–6 GEL
• Local honey (500g jar): 15–20 GEL
• Churchkhela (fresh, per stick): 4–7 GEL
• Bottle of local table wine at Carrefour: 15–25 GEL
• Smoked fish portion, harbour market: 8–15 GEL
• Soviet-era flea market finds: 3–20 GEL

Mid-Range Shopper

• Adjarian tea, quality loose-leaf (200g): 20–40 GEL
• Hand-woven textile piece (table runner or bag): 60–120 GEL
• Artisan ceramic piece from a cooperative: 40–100 GEL
• Bottle of natural Adjarian wine from a small producer: 45–80 GEL
• Signed art print from Mze Gallery: 60–150 GEL

Comfortable Shopper

• Adjarian silver jewellery (earrings or pendant): 120–350 GEL
• Large framed artwork from a Batumi gallery: 250–600 GEL
• Curated wine selection (6 bottles from a local producer): 300–500 GEL
• Custom-ordered woven textile: 200–400 GEL depending on size

Practical Shopping Tips for 2026

Card payments are now widely accepted in Batumi’s malls, most artisan shops, and an increasing number of market stalls. However, the Bazroba market and the Sunday flea market remain largely cash-based. Keep 50–100 GEL in small notes on you whenever you go to either.

Bargaining is appropriate at the flea market and expected at outdoor market stalls for non-food items. It is not the culture in artisan cooperatives or established shops, where prices are usually fixed and fair. Do not try to negotiate a handmade ceramic down by 50% — it is bad form and rarely works.

Opening hours in 2026 follow a consistent pattern: Bazroba operates daily from roughly 07:00 to 17:00, peaking in the morning. Malls open at 10:00 and stay open until 22:00. Artisan shops in the Old Town typically open around 11:00 and close anywhere between 19:00 and 22:00 depending on the season — in July and August, many stay open later to catch the evening tourist flow.

Summer crowds between mid-July and late August compress the boulevard shopping zone significantly. The malls become crowded by afternoon. If you are shopping seriously, go before 11:00 or after 20:00 during peak season. The market, conversely, is quietest midweek between 09:00 and 11:00.

VAT refunds are available for non-Georgian residents on purchases over 500 GEL from participating retailers. Look for the “Tax Free” sticker in shop windows. Porto Franco mall has a dedicated Tax Free desk near the main entrance — the process takes about 15 minutes and is worth doing for larger purchases before you leave through Batumi International Airport.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the best place to buy souvenirs in Batumi without overpaying?

The Bazroba central market and the Artisan House cooperative on Zubalashvili Street offer genuine local products at fair prices. For packaged food souvenirs, the Carrefour in Batumi Mall is consistently well-priced. The boulevard souvenir stalls are convenient but charge a significant premium for identical or lower-quality goods.

Does Batumi have a flea market?

Yes — every Sunday on Gogebashvili Street near the old railway station, 08:00 to 13:00. It sells Soviet-era items, vintage jewellery, secondhand clothing, and occasional antique Georgian pieces. Arrive early and bring small-denomination cash.

What food products from Adjara are worth buying to take home?

Loose-leaf Adjarian tea, highland honey, fresh churchkhela, vacuum-packed smoked Black Sea sprat, and local chacha are all region-specific and hard to find elsewhere. The Bazroba market has the best quality-to-price ratio for most of these; vacuum-packed fish travels well and clears most customs without issues.

Are there good malls in Batumi for international brands?

Porto Franco is the stronger option following its 2025 expansion, with international and Georgian-brand retail across multiple floors. Batumi Mall’s main draw is the Carrefour hypermarket. Neither reaches Tbilisi scale, but both are air-conditioned, card-friendly, and well-organised.

Is bargaining normal in Batumi markets?

At the Sunday flea market and outdoor stalls for non-food goods, a polite counter-offer of 10–20% below asking is normal and usually met. At artisan cooperatives, established shops, and malls, prices are fixed and negotiation is not expected.

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📷 Featured image by Agent J on Unsplash.