Coastal Resorts

  I have travelled a fair amount in Bulgaria on various trips and so thought it would be interesting to show some photographs and video footage of some of the areas I have visited. 

Many people are unable to get out for long periods and cannot travel around visiting different area so I have put together a couple of pages to show the places I have visited on various travels along the coast and on the 'Other Places' page you will find details of other areas I have travelled to and a few of the places I think are well worth a visit. 

October 2005 Trip (with updates from September 2006 Trip, 2007 and 2008)

In October 2005 I spent 2 weeks traveling around Bulgaria and having spent a couple of days looking at properties around Stara Zagora, myself, Toni our driver/translator and a friend headed east towards Sliven and then down to the Yambol region and across to the coast. 

We stopped for a coffee in Yambol which is a pleasant town with a nice long pedestrian area in the centre and a large park. 

The journey across to Burgas from Yambol was through mainly flat agricultural areas dotted with small sleepy villages and the odd factory. It was a very quiet rural area and we hardly passed another car on the road. 

However heading into the outskirts of Burgas was a different matter. We were confronted by numerous tatty high rise concrete blocks and cars and people everywhere. We didn't stop but headed South to Sozopol for the night. Being out of season it was lovely and quiet and we had a very pleasant evening stroll around the narrow streets and harbour. The old part of Sozopol is made up of timber framed houses and museums but then new part then sprawls up the hill and a further 2 kilometres down the coast. Here is a video clip of the old part of the town and below some photographs. The photo furthest to the right shows some roman ruins on the beach. 

'New' Sozopol extends from the hill above the old part and mainly south along the coast for a couple of kilometres. In September 2006 I revisited Sozopol and noticed much more construction right along the road as shown in this video clip. 

Our journey then continued north back to Burgas where we had a quick look around and actually the city centre is very pleasant and the park and promenade/beach area quiet nice. We headed on up to Pomorie and then Nessebar which sits on a rocky outcrop attached to the main land by a short strip of road. Or at least the old part of Nessebar does, the new development of 'New Nessebar' sprawls along the coast from the old part and merges with Sunny Beach. The old part is definitely worth a visit and is full of old Byzantine ruins, cobbled streets and lovely old houses. Here is some video footage of the old part and then looking back at the mainland and video footage of Sunny Beach in October. 

(View from Nessebar back to Sunny Beach and old harbour)

We stayed the night in an apartment in Sveti Vlas. Out of season in October we could find no hotels open and only a small cafe which was being used by al the builders. Sveti Vlas, although perched above the coast line and once a small coastal resort, is now just a mass of apartment blocks right up the hillside. 

In September 2006 I returned to Sunny Beach and whilst deserted in the autumn and winter, the summer season was still very much in full swing (see photos above) and there were masses of people enjoying the beach and bars. The resort very much try to cater for the Brit abroad with happy hours at all bars, Sunday roasts, Big TV screens showing football and night clubs and peep shows. Contrast this video footage in the summer with the one above. 

I have just returned from a short break to the coast (July 2008). We were initially going to camp at Irakli nature reserve but having got there to find it covered in rubbish and having had the car broken into and bag stolen within 30 minutes of arriving, we opted (after a couple of hours in the police station in Obzor) to go and stay at a friend's family hotel in Ravda. Ravda is now fairly developed with hundreds of hotels and apartment blocks but the centre still retains a nice feel and there are 2 or 3 lovely stretches of beach and rocky outcrops for fishing off. It has a much quieter, relaxed feel to it than Sunny Beach and tends to attract more Bulgarians than foreign tourists. We did go to Sunny Beach for a day and it is a very nice beach but as completely covered with sun loungers and umbrellas that you have to pay for, it ends up fairly expensive (around 10 levs a lounger plus 4 levs for umbrella I think). For those looking for a lively, party atmosphere, then a week's holiday to Sunny Beach may suit you.

Then it was on to Obzor, where a fair amount of development is also taking place, but this resort has the advantage of being a proper town and there is a nice beach. The area is also backed by wooded hills. 

I have good friends in Varna and visit often. It is a lovely and lively city with a long pedestrian stretch reaching down to the sea gardens and beach and promenade. Here is a clip of the city taken from the balcony of my hotel one stay and then views of the beach. 

I also visited Golden Sands in October 2005. Out of season and a couple of years ago, it appeared more pleasant than Sunny Beach and there was also more open at that time of year. However, my parents recently stayed there (June 2007) and having had to negotiate the crowded one way streets lined with 'tack' shops and coaches, and seen that it is now much more developed, I am not so sure if there is much between Sunnny Beach and Golden Sands. My parents found that most of the beach was cordoned off as private and so you could only freely walk down narrow passageways to the sea edge. Every spare inch of sand was covered in sun loungers and they struggled to find anywhere to eat that was not a Steak house, burger bar or pizza place. I have also visited Albena briefly, which had a great stretch of beach. 

On the trip in October 2005 we drove as far north as Kavarna and stayed the night in Balchik on the edge of the harbour in a lovely hotel. Balchik has real charm and in the morning you could still see all the fisherman preparing to go out for their day's catch. 

In September 2006 I visited friends who have a B&B in Malko Turnavo (great place to stay for a day trip to Istanbul) and then traveled up the coast from Primorsko back to Varna. The resort of Primorsko had a fair few new apartment blocks but the smaller resort or two we passed through on the way up to Sozopol were not particularly developed at all, although how long this will last who knows. 

Since moving over here in October 2006, I have caught the coach a number of times to Varna and the route takes you across to Burgas and up through all the resorts to Varna. From leaving Burgas you are hardly ever out of the new apartment blocks and hotel complexes that now stretch for many miles along the coast line. One resort more or less merges into another until you get past Sunny Beach into the hills heading over to Varna.

You'll find more information about coastal areas and resorts under various discussions on the forum. I update the forum regularly so well worth stopping by every now and then.