New York Times Names Batumi among 52 Places to visit in 2019
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, January 15
The New York Times published a list of ‘52 Places to Go in 2019,’ which includes Georgia’s Black Sea coastal city Batumi as the best destination for the year.
The article reads that Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, has been “flooded with tourists” over the past decade, adding Batumi, a “hushed seaside city where verdant mountains slope down to the Black Sea’s smooth stone beaches,” offers a different experience.
“Already a popular escape for Russians, Iranians, Turks and Israelis, the city is preparing itself for its inevitable discovery by the rest of the world: new hotels — including the Le Meridien Batumi and a Batumi installment of the design-centric boutique Rooms Hotel line — are rising, and a cable car will swing straight to the coast from the hilltop Batumi Botanical Garden,” the article reads.
Top 10 destinations are as follows:
1. Puerto Rico
2. Hampi
3. Santa Barbara
4. Panama
5. Munich
6. Eilat
7. Setouchi Islands
8. Aalborg
9. The Azores
10. Ontario Ice Caves
Batumi is the second-largest city of Georgia located on the Black Sea Coast in the country's southwest.
Since 2010, Batumi has been transformed by the construction of modern high-rise buildings, as well as the restoration of old and historic parts of the city.
