Why travel to Bulgaria? Having just returned from a week-long trip along the Black Sea and in the capital Sofia, we are full of impressions. We have a lot to tell you and start with a post with six reasons to travel to Bulgaria. This is what we liked most about the country!
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Our trip to Bulgaria
Our trip to Bulgaria was a press trip organised by the Bulgarian Tourist Board. We travelled together with Christian from Food and travel blog and Norwegian Hannah and Jörgen, who run the Instagram account. @hannahlates. We really had a great time together while exploring what Bulgaria has to offer at a fast pace. In the picture below you see the gang (except me, who was behind the camera) on a very nice and interesting wine tasting at Queen's Winery in Balchik.
Why travel to Bulgaria?
We had never been to Bulgaria before and had mostly heard about Sunny Beach, where many people went to party a decade ago. To be honest, we had some prejudices about the country, but we were definitely ready to challenge them. And the prejudices always came true! Of course, some things were better than others, and as we try to sort through our impressions, we think we can highlight a few things that were particularly good during our trip.
1. Beautiful beaches
Bulgaria is perhaps best known for its beautiful beaches. The beaches that many people flocked to in the past... Sunny Beach and Golden Sands - are of course still long stretches of fine sandy beaches that attract visitors. But we guess a lot has happened! For example, we visited the Bedroom Beach beach bar on Sunny Beach, which really felt modern and fresh, with a nice swing in the background music.
If you don't like that kind of beach life, there are plenty of smaller beaches, which are beautiful in a completely different way, and sometimes almost exotically paradisiacal. The beach pictured below is called Hero's beach and can be reached by shuttle bus from the Lighthouse Golf & Spa resort or from Saint George campsite, for example.
2. Beautiful nature
We have only seen a small, small part of Bulgaria's nature, but what we saw surprised us positively. We had expected to see beautiful beaches, but we were not as prepared for the intense greenery and the steep cliffs that here and there plunged abruptly into the sea.
The fields of sunflowers and lavender were bursting with beautiful colours, and if you come at the right time and place, you can also see fields of roses in bloom. We also know that there are plenty of mountainous areas in the country that are popular for hiking or, in winter, skiing.
3. fine golf resorts
We are not golfers, but we visited several beautiful Bulgarian golf resorts during the trip, where you can combine golf with spas and beaches. These hotels were beautifully located along the Black Sea.
One of the hotels (Thracian Cliff) has an extremely spectacular golf course, where you sometimes have to shoot the ball down a cliff or across open water. In addition, the beaches at these golf resorts are fantastic.
4. Exciting history
Bulgaria has a very long history and can, among other things, boast of housing Europe's oldest city, Plovdiv. This city is located in the centre of Bulgaria and was a destination we did not have time to visit this time, but then we have reason to go back to Bulgaria! The country also has a lot of beautiful and interesting buildings from different eras, such as the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Plovdiv. Sofia.
Bulgaria has nine Unesco World Heritage Sites to offer. We were able to see one of them, namely the old town of Nesebar. This is a really interesting and cosy city to stroll around!
5. nice people
Most of the people we met in Bulgaria were extremely nice. Now, of course, we mainly met people who run restaurants and hotels, and who may want to be nice to their guests. Men The gut feeling was good, and many meetings made us happy and warm inside.
During our relatively short trip, we were able to meet very committed people, who fought for their organisations and who really gave of themselves. The man in the picture also served us a fantastic dinner at Darzalas Wine & Dine in Varna.
6. An affordable destination
Bulgaria is an affordable destination. This doesn't mean that everything is super cheap, but it does mean that everything is cheaper than what the equivalent experience would be in Sweden. According to the 2019 Forex Country Index, Bulgaria is ranked at 35 (compared to Sweden at Index 100). That means, according to that list, Bulgaria is more affordable than Malaysia, Turkey, Albania, Poland and Thailand, for example. Some price examples from our trip:
- Admission to the cave monastery/museum: 26 kr.
- Bullet ice cream with two bullets: 20 kr
- Shopskas salad (starter) in a restaurant: 35 kr.
- Blue mussels in a restaurant: €47
- Cocktail at an exclusive restaurant in the capital: €80
- Full-body massage at an exclusive golf resort: €500
Either you can choose to live really cheaply, or you can choose to treat yourself to things you might not normally treat yourself to, like fancy hotels, spa treatments or luxurious drinks at a rooftop bar.
How to travel to Bulgaria?
In "normal" cases, there are direct flights from Stockholm to the Black Sea in Bulgaria. These flights have been cancelled during the pandemic and still are, so we flew with LOT Polish Airlines to the capital Sofia, with a stopover in Warsaw. Then we took a domestic flight to Varna on the coast. A slightly inconvenient journey perhaps, but hopefully the direct flights will start again soon!
Of course, you can also travel to Bulgaria by car or motorhome, and there are also campsites, especially on the Black Sea and lakes. For example, we stopped by Camping Saint George at Hero's Beach, which is large and welcomes caravans without prior reservation.
What are the entry requirements for COVID-19? At the time, full vaccination or a current test was required, but of course these things change all the time.
Have you been to Bulgaria? Do you recognise what we write, or did you have a different experience? If you have not been there, is it a country you are curious about?
You might also like:
Sunny Beach in Bulgaria - sandy beach and beach clubs
Nesebar in Bulgaria - 10 tips for the World Heritage city
What to do in Tylösand - 13 tips for a summer paradise
Tulang Diot in the Philippines - a cosy little island
Digyo Island in the Philippines - in the Cuatro Islas archipelago
Things to do in Boracay, Philippines - 15 tips
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Helena+from+Finland says:
Bulgaria certainly looks like a country worth visiting. We have never been there but will have to put it on our "to do list". Thanks for all your posts from near and far. Fun reading for the morning coffee😍
27 July 2021 - 8:26
Helena says:
Glad to hear that it is appreciated! We really enjoyed our trip in Bulgaria. More posts coming soon! 🙂
27 July 2021 - 14:44
Ama de casa says:
Looks like you have had a great trip with lots to see and do 🙂 .
Welcome home again!
27 July 2021 - 8:48
Helena says:
Thank you very much! And yes indeed! And there is a lot left too, so we are cautiously thinking about being able to travel again, maybe with the motorhome 🙂
27 July 2021 - 14:44
Solan says:
In the 70s I was on a charter to Sunny Beach. My sister really wanted to see the cathedral in Sofia. We managed to book a domestic flight there. Difficult for tourists at that time. Once in Sofia, the cathedral was under renovation and closed!!! 🙃
The return journey with a Bulgarian football team running in the aisles during take-off and landing is something I will never forget!
Despite all your praise for the country, I don't feel like going back...
27 July 2021 - 8:54
Helena says:
No, but how sad that the cathedral was closed!!! It was really beautiful and we went there during a mass, which was a very special experience. I understand your feeling, when you had such an experience! Then, of course, a lot has happened since the 1970s 😉.
27 July 2021 - 14:51
Ditte says:
Understand that your trip was successful with much to see and experience in every way and with pleasant memories with you back.
I have been here a long time ago and then for a couple of weeks and travelled around. I recognise many of the places you visited but a lot has happened in those years. Especially remember a small cruise we did on the Danube. Very beautiful
At the moment, Bulgaria is not a country that attracts so much attention, but who knows.
27 July 2021 - 10:13
Helena says:
A cruise sounds nice!
27 July 2021 - 14:52
Lena+in+Wales+and+Spain says:
Looks very inviting!
It also seems to be a historically interesting country.
Take care!
27 July 2021 - 12:02
Helena says:
Yes, there really is a lot of history! We only managed to see a fraction, and yet we thought we saw a lot 🙂 .
27 July 2021 - 14:52
BP says:
It's really nice to see that Bulgaria has really moved on since we visited in the 1980s. There is no comparison. The only thing that Sunny Beach and the surrounding area had then and now is fantastic sandy beaches.
27 July 2021 - 19:08
Helena says:
Well, we haven't been there before, but we've realised from talking to people who were there before that a lot has happened!
28 July 2021 - 6:38
Margareta Lillvik says:
We visited Bulgaria and Varna 28 years ago (oh how time flies). Had the pandemic not hit us, we would probably have travelled there by motorhome. Now it will probably be by plane again as it is far to drive. What I remember is just that it was poor and cheap and everyone crocheted lace cloths etc. We also had a guide with us on an excursion and she knew fluent Swedish...... so well that we thought she had lived in Sweden, but no she had studied at the university. Very interesting country.
27 July 2021 - 21:49
Helena says:
This is fantastic when you meet guides who learnt Swedish at university! We have also experienced this on occasion, including in Belgium and Poland if I remember correctly.
28 July 2021 - 6:41
Monica says:
What fun to see all the great photos and read. There are many interesting things to immerse yourself in. And get stories from my friend but is completely different to experience everything on site as you did.
We are invited to nice dinners sometimes with food from their home country but she still says that ours is better and that is absolutely not the case but nice to sit down just maybe and eat. Is very polite and people may be more so than here. And they offer a lot of exciting and good things. And very perfectly planned everything. I'll show her your photos. She'll like them.
A colleague of mine accompanied her to her home country once and they did lots of things, flew and travelled and suddenly they were in Greece:-).
It looks as hot as here too:-) but there are usually really hot summers there, she thinks that our heat is now the right one.
Keep up the good work at home too.
27 July 2021 - 22:42
Helena says:
Fun with the stories from your friend, it will of course be a completely different thing when you know someone!!! Glad you appreciate our posts!
23 October 2021 - 12:33
Christian says:
Nicely summarised! Agreed! 👌🏼👍
27 July 2021 - 23:03
Helena says:
Glad you like it, and that you had the same experience! 🙂
23 October 2021 - 12:34
Johnny Friskilä says:
Looks like you had a nice press trip, although I would probably get tired of golf clubs. Hope you got to taste their brandy because it is extremely good! I found some really great restaurants in Sofia, otherwise the food is very varied. I was a tour guide on a tour there in the autumn two years ago. And if you didn't make it to Plodiv now, the city will still be there. It is worth a visit!
28 July 2021 - 16:10
Helena says:
Just golf is not our interest number 1, but right here were the most beautiful beaches according to us 😉 Plovdiv we did not have time, but it is on our "list", we want to go there at some point!
23 October 2021 - 12:35