A Quiet Summer Season on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast
Now back in Bulgaria for the summer, we decided to head to the Black Sea Coast for a few days.
We had a house to visit and a garden to clear around Yambol, so once that job was completed we carried on to the coast and headed for Sozopol. According to the guide books and my personal experience from two or three years back, finding accommodation in the months of July and August in the resorts a long the coast can be difficult, and finding a room to rent or a hotel bed in the old towns, near impossible.
Yet we drove into the old part of Sozopol, parked without problem and walked into the narrow streets of the old town to find a place to stay for the night. There were many signs with ‘rooms to rent’ or ‘cubordinaya stya’. The first we tried had only a telephone number and it would be 50 levs a night for a small apartment, right in the heart of the old town. We then asked in two hotels towards the south tip of the old town and both had plenty of rooms free at 50 levs a night. However, in the end we opted for a private room with large terrace, fridge, TV and ensuite shower room for 30 levs a night. Overnight parking in a field just over the road was 6 levs for 24 hours.
That evening we wandered around the old town. Most restaurants were nearly empty, or had only one or two couples seated at them. We decided to try a restaurant right on the sea edge, at the end of the walkway along the fortress wall, overlooking the small beach below. The waiter was pleasant, although a little pushy to try and get us to order the most expensive fish on the menu. We declined and went for spicy squid, a fish stew and some small ‘blue fish’, all of which was delicious.
I love old Sozopol. While touristy, it still retains its charm and character, which has been some-what lost in nearby Nessebar. It is lovely to wander the narrow streets, have a drink overlooking the sea and there is a lovely little beach. Of course ‘new Sozopol’ stretches for miles along the coast and is just a collection of apartments and hotels and restaurants.
The next day we jumped in the car and headed north to Nessebar, where we stopped for lunch. There were a fair few people around but parking was not a problem (if slightly expensive at 3 levs an hour) and it was certainly not busy as I had experienced in previous visits. We took a walk around and stopped for lunch (a hot tile of mackerel with egg and vegetables) at the far tip of the island. However, with hindsight, we would have been better stopping for ‘tsatza’ or whitebait and a draught beer at one of the restaurants right by the car park, where prices were around two thirds cheaper than prices in the main part of old Nessebar.
After lunch it was back in the car and up the road through Sunny Beach. Not much had changed since my last visit, except the signs promising a 50% capital appreciation on an apartment purchases had disappeared and were replaced by many ‘For Sale’ signs hanging from balconies all around, in the hundreds of apartment blocks. Everywhere you look along the Sunny Beach/Sveti Vlas road there are partly completed apartment complexes and signs stating land for sale.
We didn’t stop, having seen enough on the brief drive through and headed to Obzor for the night. Again there were many rooms available to rent and we had little trouble finding a great little apartment in the garden of a family house for 30 levs a night. It was a 2 minute walk from the beach and centre and we spent a pleasant evening having a meal and then a wander around and sitting in the park.
Our next stop was Varna, where we stayed with a friend in her apartment in St Konstantin & Helena area. But we noted the large number of signs for rooms to rent and hotel rooms were easily available from 20 to 30 levs a night. And of course the huge number of apartments for sale everywhere!
We visited Balchik and were amazed at how quiet it was. There was no-one there. Every restaurant along the front was empty, we passed only a handful of people walking along the promenade and all in all, the place looked down-trodden and neglected. Not at all like the lovely, small fishing port I remember from a few years ago. Now there were half completed concrete structures all along the front, each apartment complex had numerous ‘for sale’ signs and the town just looked a mess.
After a few days by the beach and sightseeing in the Varna area, we headed back home via the northern Balkan route to Veliko Turnovo. It was a miserable day and very wet but I would have still expected a major tourist destination like Arbanassi, just a couple of kilometres outside of Veliko Turnovo. Normally bustling with tourists and impossible to find a bed in the main tourist season of July and August, we found the place deserted and easily found a fantastic hotel room for 40 levs for the night. We ate in a great little restaurant, right in the centre (The Wine Club) and while fairly expensive by Bulgarian standards, we ate rabbit and lamb and truly enjoyed the food.
All in all, the tourist season along the coast seemed incredibly quiet. We had no trouble finding places to stay for good prices.
Usually bustling tourist spots like Sozopol, Nessebar, Balchik and Arbanassi were much quieter than normal, if not dead.
This is a bad sign for Bulgaria’s tourist industry and for those trying to rent out apartments, but great for independent travellers looking to explore Bulgaria.
