The timber bridge
A long walk over the river.
Sarah Murray from South Bend, IN, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sarah Murray from South Bend, IN, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sarah Murray from South Bend, IN, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sarah Murray from South Bend, IN, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0
Anaklia is a town and seaside resort on the Black Sea at the mouth of the Enguri River in western Georgia. It combines a long pebble beach with a promenade and modern buildings, some unfinished, so it feels much quieter than Batumi. People come for the sea with more space, and for the unusual long timber bridge across the river. The earliest settlement dates to the mid-Bronze Age and the Colchian culture, and it was known in antiquity as Heraclea of Colchis. It was a fortified port and fishing station in the Principality of Mingrelia, was captured by the Ottomans in 1723 and regained by Imereti in 1770. In the 1850s it was still a small, strongly fortified port with considerable trade. A timber footbridge crosses the Enguri towards Ganmukhuri, which sources give as 552 m long and describe as one of Europe's longest pedestrian bridges. From it you see horses grazing on the bank and an oddly shaped white tower. The town has a long promenade, a water park and broad spaces between buildings, and it is quiet outside the summer months. It is about 27 km in a straight line from Zugdidi, reached by car or minibus. The season runs from June to September, and many services may be closed the rest of the year. The beach is pebbly, so bring water shoes. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to nearby Abkhazia, so stay away from the administrative line and check official guidance.
A long walk over the river.
Grazing on the Enguri bank.
Sea and modern buildings.
Mouth of the Enguri River, Black Sea, Samegrelo region, Georgia
It is mostly pebbly, so bring water shoes.
Yes. It is much quieter than Batumi, with fewer services outside summer.