Black Sea coast of Bulgaria

Coast of the Black Sea

After visiting the monastery, we continued our way to Burgas (see more about our whole trip to Bulgaria and Bulgarian wine). Burgas is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast after Varna.

Between Plovdiv and Burgas, we saw lots of newly established vineyards – the view was really impressive! We did not stay in Burgas for long – just filling up petrol and a quick look around while driving. We aimed to go to the south along the coastline to see old and newly established seaside villages and resorts.

It was surprising how many new buildings are being constructed along the coast! Any small village located on the coast was like a big busy building site. In 2007, even in our host country, we saw many offers to buy a new property in Bulgaria.

In reality, a major part of all new buildings are located far away from advertised sandy beaches because houses are built on cliffs. It may be true – very near to water, however often it seemed impossible to access water because there was no beach in the surrounding area at all.

There are exceptions of course but not that many. A similar picture appeared when we went from Burgas to the north; the only difference – there were even more new buildings and often even in previously uninhabited areas. I have to mention that it was not possible to find any petrol station in this area and we almost ran out of petrol at one point.

From the positive side of things, I shall say that there were some villages where old buildings still exist. Also, villages where you can see a mix of old buildings and new ones, for example, Sozopol. In some areas, you still can feel the heritage of the second part of the 20th century.

Some coastal villages have a very long history. For example, settlement in Sveti Vlas was formed in the second century AD by Thracians and Greeks. Sveti Vlas is the only place on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast where the beaches are facing South directly. However, Sveti Vlas has developed as a resort town for tourists only in recent times.

Resort Varna

Following the coastline and passing many building sites, we were driving to our last stop in Bulgaria – the famous Black Sea resort Varna. We spent one day there. The town was nice, hotel comfortable, however all the time we had a feeling that we were back somewhere in the eighties of the last century.

The town itself has developed hospitality with many restaurants and shops offering local production. In my opinion, one of the most famous Bulgarian products is perfumery made from roses. We visited quite a few shops offering excellent products we bought there: Zornitza, Rose Valley. Another offering for excellent prices in Varna is jewellery.

Overall Impressions about Bulgaria

We decided to leave the country using an alternative route going to Ruse where the bridge across the Danube connects Bulgaria and Romania. I may be wrong, however, my impression is that this was the only bridge across the Danube connecting Bulgaria and Romania.

So, to finalise my story about our trip to Bulgaria I should say – it is a country with beautiful and interesting nature, tasty and high-quality wine, excellent food specialities, interesting traditions and open-minded people. It is not a rich country in terms of prosperity though.

Apart from good emotions and an overall positive experience on this trip, there was also clearly a practical benefit – we bought a lot of wine, sweets and perfumeries for take home because prices in Bulgarian shops were very graceful.