Personal experience about Nessebar and Sozopol. Where is the best place to relax in Bulgaria? Reviews from tourists: Sozopol or Nessebar is better

Which resorts in Bulgaria do tourists go on holiday in the summer and why? We figure out where and when is the best time to vacation in the country various categories of people.

According to reviews, in Bulgaria you can have a good rest in Balchik- many tourists go there. This is a small, calm town where the roofs of the houses are decorated with red tiles and the smell of roses is in the air. Part local beaches sandy, partly rocky. The main decoration of the city is royal residence And Botanical Garden. This place is well suited for a secluded and romantic getaway.

Where to stay on your trip? Search for hotels and hostels on the Roomguru search engine, it will select the most profitable options among many booking systems. We recommend looking for private housing in Bulgaria on Airbnb - there you will find many interesting options from the owners.

(Photo © Sergey Galyonkin / flickr.com / License CC BY-SA 2.0)

Where can you relax inexpensively in Bulgaria in 2019?

According to tourist reviews for 2018, high prices in Albena, Sunny Beach and Golden Sands. The most prestigious is in the Riviera, located near Varna among a huge ancient park. Once it was a place for the country's leading elite, but now - luxury resort with excellent opportunities for family vacation. It is believed that the best place to vacation in Bulgaria is there, but the prices are steep.

TO budget resorts These include small seaside towns, where there are many 2-3* hotels and there is the possibility of accommodation in the private sector. Locals living in cottages often rent out the upper floors of their houses. You can save money by staying in Nessebar, Balchik, Kranevo, Sveti Vlas and Ravda; reasonable prices for accommodation in Pomorie and Tsarevo.

Did you know that trips to Bulgaria can be purchased from only 20 thousand rubles (for example, a 7-night tour for two from Moscow)? And during promotional periods it’s even cheaper! The tour price includes: flights, accommodation, transfer, insurance and meals of your choice. Last minute tours By best prices you can search on services and - they compare offers from 120 tour operators and are therefore able to find the best option. You can buy a ticket online, which is very convenient.

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Cultural and excursion holidays

In general, the climate of Bulgaria allows you to travel around the country at any time of the year, but May, June, September and October are the most favorable months. Tourists love to visit the Rila Lakes and the monastery, the Hammered Stones, the ancient Roman baths and temples of Varna, the museums of Sofia, the temple at Cape Kaliakra, ancient buildings and ancient buildings of Nessebar and Sozopol.

Where is the best place to vacation in Bulgaria with children in 2019?

It is comfortable to relax anywhere in Bulgaria with children. You can have an expensive, comfortable and fun time in Golden Sands, Albena and Sunny Beach. There is a good bottom and wide beaches. At the resort sunny Beach- a bay with shallow water, where the water warms up well and is suitable for children. Lots of children's entertainment: playgrounds, attractions, slides, water parks.

Near Sunny Beach (5 km) there are more quiet resorts Saint Vlas and Ravda. Ravda is a developing resort, with good opportunities for sports and children's entertainment. Saint Vlas is suitable for those who want to improve their lungs - the air is enriched with iodine vapor and phytoncides of coniferous forests. According to reviews, you can have a good rest with children in Bulgaria in the villages of Elenite and Kranevo - they are suitable for those who prefer a calm and comfortable family holiday.

You can go on an excursion with older children to Nessebar or Sozopol. Sofia has an extreme amusement park and a zoo, and not far from Varna is the country's largest family theme park, Happy Land.

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Resorts for young people

The most party and noisy resort in the country is Sunny Beach. No less stormy night life in Golden Sands. Both resorts have good entertainment and ample opportunities for active pastime: water parks, centers for surfing, rowing and water skiing.

According to reviews, you can have a great holiday in Bulgaria in the village of Ravda. It has good facilities for sports and great beaches, while the vacation itself will cost much less. Economical youth recreation V southern resort Kiten - there are campsites and many inexpensive hotels.

Not far from Sozopol there is Zolotaya Rybka beach, popular among surfers, and Smokini beach, which is popular with nudists and informals. Both beaches have cafes, umbrellas and sun loungers. You can stay at campsites nearby.

Resorts for seniors

St. Constantine and Helena are respectable resort a few kilometers from Varna. Nice hotels, green parks, thermal and hydrogen sulfide springs, balneological treatment center.

Balchik, Nessebar and Sozopol also offer a relaxing holiday. It is quiet here, compared to the crowded Sunny Beach or Golden Sands, there is a rich excursion program, and prices in local cafes are affordable. If you are interested in passive beach holiday, then it’s worth going to Pomorie.

(Photo © Filip Stoyanov / flickr.com / License CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Weather in Bulgaria: where and when is the best time to relax?

In Bulgaria the climate is cool, continental, with warm summer and cold winter, in the south - closer to the Mediterranean. The air temperature, even in southern latitudes, rarely rises above +30°C.

Spring short and cool. In March there is often still snow, during the day +6...+10°C, in April the air warms up to +15...+18°C, everything is in bloom. In mid-May, summer is already coming in the south of the country, but the water in the sea is cold, so you can swim in the pool, and it is better to stroll along the seaside promenade. In May there is a night of museums, at which time you can visit the museums of Nessebar, Sofia and other cities for free.

June often overshadowed by rain, the water off the coast is +20...+22°C, during the day +24...+26°C, so it is best to relax in the south of Bulgaria - in Nessebar, Sunny Beach, Sozopol.

The best beach holiday in Bulgaria - in July And August. Water +24...+26°С, air +29...+30°С. This is the peak summer season, all resorts are filled to capacity with tourists.

IN September The air temperature drops to +23...+25°C, the sea cools down by 1-2 degrees. This good month for swimming, as well as trips around Bulgaria - at this time it is best to relax in Sofia, Nessebar, Balchik, Sozopol, Varna, Plovdiv. Resorts are still open, but there are fewer tourists.

IN October And November Winds and precipitation begin to rage, during the day +12...+15°С, a little warmer (a couple of degrees) in the south of the country. You can forget about the beaches; during this period we recommend visiting thermal springs and balneological resorts: Saparevu Banya, Sandanski, Velingrad and others.

in winter you can go to the mountains - winter work opens in December ski resorts Bansko, Vitosha, Pamporovo and others. In the coastal zone it is damp due to rain, +7°C during the day, in the mountains in winter during the day 0...+3°C, at night up to −7°C. In the north of the country, snow remains until April, in the south - until March.

While relaxing in the ancient small Bulgarian town of Pomorie, we enjoyed plunging into the historical past of this Black Sea country.

The city of Pomorie (ancient name Anchialos) was founded in the 5th century BC. The foundation of the city was laid by the Greeks from Apollonia (today this town is called Sozopol). And only in 1934 Anchialos began to be called by its modern name - Pomorie.

The Thracian tomb and the male Orthodox monastery of St. George are the main historical attractions of Pomorie. In the city itself there is little that reminds us of such an ancient origin; the oldest walls that we were able to see date back to the end of the 19th century. There are only 14 thousand indigenous people in Pomorie, but during the peak season the number of vacationers increases significantly.

Very close to Pomorie there is another ancient town - Nessebar (9 thousand people). A real museum ancient architecture under open air. You can walk around the entire town leisurely in an hour or two, admiring the rocks and the sea, the ruins of the fortress wall and the ruins of churches and Byzantine baths. We bought an excursion to Nessebar on September 15, although you can get there from Pomorie and walk around the museum town very quickly - they regularly scurry back and forth Shuttle Buses, bring tourists from Sunny Beach and Burgas.

Both Pomorie and Nessebar are located on peninsulas. This geography creates a special impression: there is sea on all sides and only thin isthmuses connect the cities with the main territory of Bulgaria.

In Nessebar, at the gates of the fortress wall (XIV - XV centuries), an old bagpiper met us with a lyrical melody. The Bulgarian bagpipe is an instrument of amazing romanticism. As I write these lines, that same music immediately appears. It’s as if I find myself again at the gates of Nessebar, which was once also the center of a Thracian settlement and was called Messembria.

I was struck by the abundance of old churches, one of which - the Church of St. John the Baptist - is now open Archaeological Museum, and in the most impressive church of the city - St. Stephen's, frescoes from the 16th - 17th centuries are still preserved.

In total, forty (!) churches were built in such a tiny town; only seven have survived to this day. The ruins of Roman baths were stunning - 6th century BC, all marble.

Special residential buildings in Nessebar are the calling card of the city. We saw similar buildings in Sozopol: the first floor is made of stone, these are household premises and a cellar, the second, residential floor is made of wood and brick. In Nessebar and Sozopol there are many new buildings, stylized as ancient traditional buildings - stone + wood with a protruding second floor.

After such an educational historical excursion the guide took us to tasting room, where we tasted unique wines sunny Bulgaria and bought several bottles as gifts.

Then we all had an amazing fun evening in the Bulgarian village. This is a complete stylization of a traditional hospitable home for guests from all over the world. In Bulgaria, many cities and traditions are under UNESCO protection. Nessebar, Sozopol, nestinarstvo... These are pagan dances on coals.

While the whole group took their places at long tables, preparing for a meal in the Bulgarian village, I went on a tour of it. Traditional crafts area - wood carving and pottery; home zoo - fox, peacocks, ducks, turkeys, sheep, donkey and even deer; an impressive circle for walking on coals with a diameter of two meters near a small house church and a stage for a varied concert program, a hall with 1000 seats.

Next to us at long tables with Bulgarian dishes sat Poles, Ukrainians, Germans, Romanians, and Englishmen. Towards the end of the evening, when the huge wine barrels were almost empty, joint dancing and singing began. People climbed onto the stage and organized their own vocal circles))).

At an evening in a Bulgarian village, we were treated to Shopska salad, chorba (bean soup), cold cuts (cutlet, chicken fillet, kebab) with potatoes and cabbage salad, watermelon, rakia (50 ml per person) and unlimited wine, white and red . It was impossible to eat all this, but our men took the obligation to destroy all supplies of food and, most importantly, drink. The most nimble tourist from our group was “appointed” as cupbearer; his record impressed everyone - clay jugs simply flashed in his hands, so he also managed to take them with him, although there was a ban on taking them out and the organizers strictly monitored this.

While the men relaxed at the hospitable table, the women took part in a master class on making banitsa, a thin flatbread pie with feta cheese. Dear grandmother Pina deftly rolled out the dough with a thin rolling pin, threw on the pre-prepared cheese and quickly wrapped it in the pie. Immediately there were people who wanted to repeat it all. For the first time it turned out quite well.

The concert program surprised me with its mixture of styles and genres. From 19:00 to 20:00 there was a classic pop concert, then a whole hour of children's animation, with dressing up, games and fun. From 21:00 to 23:00 there is a concert of folk ensembles and a fun disco. The people had a blast!

The dancing on the coals began as soon as the evening settled in and it began to get dark. The bright lights of the coals gradually went out, and the firewalker of considerable age began to show miracles of endurance and skill, dashingly dancing on the coals. I remembered. 1000 degrees under your feet, and your feet don’t get burned! Special condition soul, spirit and body.

We returned home well after midnight that day. Happy and satisfied. We returned from the celebration of life to our cozy, clean room.

To Sozopol, another small one Old city, we arrived on the very last day of our Bulgarian vacation - September 20th. At night we flew home. The entire planned program was completed with interest. Therefore, we decided to rent a car and drive to Sozopol.

A week before, we met a very positive Muscovite, who gave us the idea independent travel, without guides and groups. We rented a car for a day for 40 leva (less than 1000 rubles))) - 25 leva car rental + 6 liters of gasoline at 2.61 leva per liter. In the office where we rented the car, they didn’t ask us for any documents or licenses... We gave the money and received the keys to the Peugeot, insurance and brief instructions about the features local roads. The four of us went on a short trip, together with Svetlana and her friend from Israel.

We drove through Burgas, this city is much larger than Pomorie, Nessebar, Sozopol. We got to the place without incident and quickly found our way around. Fortunately, there are a lot of wayfinding signs.

If Nessebar left in the soul impressions of a touch of history, then Sozopol left romantic memories. We all felt comfortable and pleasant there. Warm day. Transparent sea. Tiny ethnographic museum. Stunning views of the Black Sea cliffs and islands. Delicious lunch at the popular Melnitsa restaurant, right opposite St. Ivan Island.

Get to it unique place You can only go to sea by boat. Almost deserted narrow streets, every now and then leading to the sea, original buildings, mysterious shady courtyards. This is the old part of Sozopol.

The new part of the city is full of life - shops, entertainment, transport... Everything is the same as everywhere else. And as soon as you get to the old part, time seems to stop and flow according to completely different laws.

The luxurious greenery of Bulgaria in this area of ​​the country is crowded out by rocks. Many seagulls, fat and large, constantly attracted our attention. The largest colony of herring gulls in Bulgaria lives on the island of St. Ivan.

We left Sozopol with great reluctance, knowing for sure that someday we would certainly return here. For inspiration. For romance. For beauty.

Zhanna Pyatirikova, traveler with 36 years of experience.

Walking with my husband along the Sozopol embankment, we saw a boat like this.

I asked passers-by where this ship was sailing. It turned out that this is a pleasure boat that sails between Sozopol and Nessebar. Oh sorry! Ships don't float, they walk :). She suggested that her husband go to cruise and he agreed. Now I’ll tell you a little about this cruise. At the same time, I will describe other possible travel options from Sozopol to Nessebar.

On the boat

Boats depart from Sozopol to Nessebar three times a day (10:30, 15:00 and 19:00). Here is the schedule back to Nessebar.

Please note that these daily flights only operate from 16 June to 10 September. During the periods from May 15 to June 15 and from September 11 to October 11, flights are only available on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. My husband and I bought tickets at this kiosk on the pier.

They are personal.

Boarding on the Comet ends one minute before departure. There were few people in the cabin.

Do you see the air conditioners in the background of the photo? They practically do not work, just as promised free Internet. I suspect that such problems occurred not only on our flight. There are also problems with security. About location life jackets the passengers were not told anything :(. The only thing was that before sailing, the captain forbade everyone to go on deck without his permission. Finally, the command was sounded that the way to the deck was open.

"Comet" sails to Nessebar for forty minutes. Along the way we passed Pomorie, Chernomorets and some other resort towns.

Pomorie

And here is the pier of Nessebar.

Ticket prices

The ticket costs 25 levs (12.7 euros).

Where to buy tickets

Boat tickets can be purchased at the ticket office at the pier or on the Fast Ferry website.

By bus

There is only one direct flight daily from Sozopol to Nessebar. Well, at least I only found one) Here is the bus schedule on the route Sozopol-Sunny Beach-Sozopol, passing through Nessebar.

You can view it on the Minibus Express website or on bus station.

Flight schedule Sozopol-Nessebar

And this is the bus route.

Flight departure time is not convenient. At 16:00 the bus leaves from Sozopol and back on a direct flight; on the same day it is impossible to return by bus. Flights to Nessebar depart from a small bus station, which is located in the Old Town.

You can also travel by bus to Nessebar with a transfer in Burgas. Here is the Sozopol-Burgas flight schedule.

Buses arrive at the bus station (autogara) “South” (you can read more about this station). And this is the summer schedule of Minibus Express flights from Burgas to Sunny Beach, traveling through.

Upon completion holiday season There are fewer flights departing from Burgas.

Ticket prices

A ticket for a Minibus Express flight from Sozopol to BG costs 12 levs (6.14 euros). A trip with transfers will cost the same amount.

Where to buy tickets

Tickets can be purchased from flight drivers before boarding.

By taxi

A taxi transfer from Sozopol to Nessebar will cost from 40 to 60 euros.

Taxi in Sozopol

For getting detailed information about taxis in Bulgaria click :).

By car

In Sozopol I saw only one car rental office. Here it is on the map. And this is the cost of renting a car for one day (during the holiday season, the rental price may be higher).

other methods

It is impossible to get from Sozopol to Nessebar by plane or train. Both resorts have no airports and railway stations.

Finally

Nessebar is a small town and in two hours you can walk around it length and breadth, so public transport You won’t need one for walking around the resort.

Nessebar

And here's a story about Nessebar. Everything is here interesting information about the attractions, restaurants and beaches of the resort.

From the editor. We are publishing a response to the photo report. Please note that the texts published in the section were written by Gazeta.Ru readers. The editors do not always share their point of view.

Last year, before my vacation, I spent a long time studying the Internet in order to find out where it is better to go for 12 days - to Nessebar or Sozopol. Sozopol aroused more trust, and therefore for the first half of the vacation we booked a nice hotel in the old town of Sozopol, the room had a balcony right above the rocks and the edge of the sea, lying on the bed you could look out at the Sozopol bay through the panoramic window.

After living there for several days, we boarded the meteor and rode to Nessebar. He disappointed us. As many who had previously visited there promised, the old city gave the impression of a noisy, crowded bazaar, extremely commercialized, cramped, crammed with a huge amount of tourist groups of all nationalities. We planned to spend the whole day in Nessebar, but in the end we regretted that we had gone there at all from the quiet, cozy, “living” city of Sozopol, and, after drinking beer in a lovely Czech restaurant, we hurried back to the nearest meteor. Arriving at the hotel, we cast aside our doubts and quickly booked our own hotel and room for the second half of our vacation.

Sozopol - city picture, beautifully restored, there are fewer archaeological attractions than in Nessebar, but there are no tourists, the evenings are quiet and deserted, the restaurants are excellent and inexpensive, the sea is right under the hotel balcony, kilometers of half-empty beaches south of the old town, no huge hotels like surrounding Nessebar. The guidebook I read after traveling to Sozopol and a couple of my friends claim that south of Sozopol summer life is even more beautiful, and it’s worth going to, for example, Primorsko or Tsarevo.

From the editor

If you have any questions about organizing your trip, you can always look for answers in our section, write to us at appl@site or consult with other readers in the comments to any of the texts.