Bulgaria (/bʌlˈɡɛəriə,
listen); Bulgarian: България, tr. Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria(Bulgarian: Република България, tr. Republika Bǎlgariya, IPA: [rɛˈpublikɐ bɐɫˈɡarijɐ]), is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. The capital and largest city is Sofia; other major cities are Plovdiv in the middle of the south, and Varna and Burgas on the Black Sea coast in the east.
I SOFIA, capital, in the west.
See the eagle and lion bridges.
73 Miles south is Rila monastery, a UNESCO protected site in the Rila national park, one of Bulgaria's most visited buildings.
Rila monastery
Rock-hewn churches near Rousse.
BLACK SEA COAST:
2 SUNNY BEACH, 3 BOURGAS, 4 VARNA
Sunny Beach, as you see on the map, around the bay, the next headland south is Nessebar.
Sunny beach, as you might imagine, is a family resort and if you look at hotels on the web they are flashing deals for children.
Attractions in Sunny Beach include a camel park.
Sunny Beach has a church in a cliff.
Go to Pomorie Lake and see the salt museum, then take a free to dip in black mud, supposed to cure ailments (arthritis?). To wash off, you need to take your own bucket and sponge.
4 Varna
HOTELS
Magic Castle Hotel
Tripadvisor's number 1 hotel, gives you a 15-minute magic show on arrival.
Cost £62 a night in July 2018. 3 star. Only 17 rooms, so fine for a couple, such as when you are flying out to join a group and wanting an extra day in the capital, Sofia, before or after being with the others, but not for me when helping to research and organize a hotel for my hiking group of 30 people, mostly couples, needing about 15 rooms.
Try group booking hotels. Larger hotels.
WALKING
5 RILA and
6 PIRIN mountain ranges.
7 STRANDJA
8 PLOVDIV , the south
You could fly into Plovdiv.
Old Plovdiv
Pedestrianised old Plovdiv has lots of Roman remains.
You can visit the Roman theatre and four other attractions with a shuttle ticket.
......................
In Ploviv, a bright orange museum, the phrase 'you can't miss it' comes to mind, you see the history museum.
Plovdiv's Roman amphitheatre.
Plovdiv's regional Natural History museum contains an aquarium.
Familiar Foods
Moussaka.
Baklava.
Novelty Foods To Try
A walnut cake with chocolate icing called Garash. Makes me want to gnash my teeth. I'll have two, and a fork, please.Getting There
You can fly to the capital, Sofia, to the west, or Burgas on the black sea coast. Looking at the little plane symbols, you could also fly Ryanair from Stansted to Plovdiv in the middle of the south.
Other options are combining your Bulgaria trip with a day in the capital of Macedonia.
To Sofia with Tui from Gatwick.
To Burgas Airport BOJ
Balkan Holidays flights to Burgas airport from Gatwick; Wizzair to Burgas airport from Luton.
Bulgaria Air from Sofia to Burgas
Varna airport has a free shuttle bus from Varna airport to Varna city centre and Burgas airport.
Useful Websites
BULGARIA
See Wikipedia, Wikitravel, Wikivoyage, plus your government's up-to-date advice on safety (from the UK, USA and Canada).
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Bulgaria
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bulgaria
SOFIA
https://www.visitsofia.bg/en/cityinfrastructure/what-to-see/monasteries/menuid486
PLOVDIV
www.archaeologicalmuseumplovdiv.org, archmusplovdiv@abv.bg
www.ethnograph.info,
www.historymuseumplovdiv.org , hm_plovdiv@mail.bg
http://www.plovdiv.bg/en/туристи-2/планирай-своето-пътуване/карти-и-брошури/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rila_Monastery
ORGANIZED TOURS
Balkan Holidays say they organise speciality holidays for groups including walking.
Purple Travel also organize group bookings. Tel:0203 728 0078.
(Fab tour if you've got £2.595 to spare and can afford to pay a single supplement of £250. If you can't afford it, read all about it, recommend it to your boss, rich family and friends - and buy a lottery ticket!)
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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