It will not be about all-inclusive vacations in Bulgaria, and a little bit about vacations in Bulgaria at sea, but a lot about cultural vacations in the country and excursions in Bulgaria in particular.
We started, as it is supposed to be, with the capital, Sofia. There is a lot to see there, and to break away from the bed for the sake of the Bulgarian capital is simply necessary. I’ll tell you more – there is nothing to do on this bed at all. Not because the beaches in Bulgaria are bad – no, they are not. But because there is so much interesting here that there is no time to lie a seal. Of course, if you are an inquisitive tourist, and here we have kind of all of them. The sights of Sofia are amazing not only in number, but also in age, but let’s talk about everything in order.
- Sofia
- Plovdiv
- Nessebar and Sozopol
- Golf resorts in Bulgaria
- Tombs and Balchik park
- Cape Kaliakra and a monastery
- Rose Festival in Bulgaria
- Beach vacation in Bulgaria
Sofia
So, Sofia is a fusion of different empires and cultures, a crossroads of ways and times. Not without reason, if you look at the map, the Bulgarian capital is located right in the center of the Balkans. So the city at different times became a significant part of the history of different countries. Including ours – it is in Sofia that the legacy of the Russian Empire is fully felt. It is impossible not to notice the monument to Alexander II, the Tsar who liberated not only the peasants from serfdom, but also the Bulgarians from the Turks. This historical event is very much appreciated by the Bulgarian people, so it is not surprising that not far from the monument is the majestic Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
The temple was built in 1882 – 1912 by Russian architects Pomerantsev and Bogomolov in honor of more than 100 thousand Russian soldiers who gave their lives in the war of 1878 for the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish rule. Among other things, the church is notable for the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky, as well as a huge museum of icons in the basement – there are the best examples of icon painting from all over Bulgaria, and the originals, instead of which in other churches are exhibited copies.
Next to the cathedral is the church named after the patroness of the city – St. Sophia – with a rich history. No wonder, as it has been holding church services for 1700 years! This early Byzantine church was built in the 6th century on the foundations of two earlier churches dating back to the 4th century. During the Ottoman yoke it was used as a mosque for some time, but in 1911 the minarets were destroyed by an earthquake and the church began to function as an Orthodox church again.
A little further on we again come to the domestic trace – the Russian Embassy Church in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It was built for the needs of the Russian Embassy, which was located on the same street. The famous churchman Archbishop Seraphim was buried in the church. People come there to leave a note with a wish and pray for its fulfillment, and according to Bulgarians, an adequate non-material wish is necessarily fulfilled.
The capital city of Sofia is not felt at all, and it is rather good. Nothing presses, and the main thing is that it is surprisingly easy to breathe for a rather big city – around there are Vitosha mountains, which are green lungs and make the air surprisingly clean. And also, apparently, it is made clean by electric cars, charging stations for which were spotted in several parking lots. So for all its provinciality, Sofia is already Europe.
By the way, in these mountains, thanks to which Sofia breathes so easily, there is another amazing temple – Boyana Church. XI century construction, being in the UNESCO World Heritage List, entrance in groups of 5 people – all this should at least warm up the interest. Mine was heated up, and I saw the original XI century painting inside, which is the reason why it is so revered. Photography is not allowed inside, unfortunately.
In Sofia I spent a full day and only one night before it, it’s a pity I didn’t manage to wander around the city in the evening, to feel its atmosphere a little more, to ride on a rather large for such an area metro network, where the fare costs only 1 lev. I didn’t ride the subway, but I appreciated the entrance and exit. What can be said here? The subway should be first of all functional, and then beautiful, look at New York…
Plovdiv
However, Bulgaria is not only interesting with Sofia. For ancient authenticity we’ll head to Plovdiv, a city that by some estimates is older than Rome, Athens, Carthage and Constantinople. Not surprisingly, the city has Roman heritage left in it, such as a functioning (!) amphitheater with 3000 seats. Through the city passed an important strategic road connecting the Balkans with the outside world, and the city was also plundered four times by Crusader armies. So, as you can see, since ancient times there is a lot to do there, and there is a lot of interesting things for travelers. It is worth at least the fact that more than 200 (two hundred!) buildings are declared historical monuments and are under protection.
In the city center it is good to simply walk along the cobblestones among the old classic Bulgarian houses (don’t forget comfortable shoes, a thousand years ago no one expected you to wear those strange heels! ), go to Balabanov’s house (an interesting ethnographic monument), look in numerous antique shops (oh, I took my soul there – filled a whole backpack!), accidentally pass through an art gallery and have dinner with a view of the sunset city, girdled by the remains of the Thracian fortress.
Plovdiv was also interesting to me because my grandmother told me about it, and only in excellent tones. And my grandmother, as it often happens, was 1000 times right – the city gets five out of five, an unambiguous must visit. And besides, here I managed to walk around and catch my mood.
Nessebar and Sozopol
If you like old towns, you can’t ignore Nessebar and Sozopol. They are similar in many ways – the historical parts of both towns are located on peninsulas, separated from the mainland by narrow isthmuses. It is thanks to this that the original appearance of the cities has been preserved – because there is simply nowhere to build large hotels and shopping centers. Both cities were founded by Greeks, Nessebar – Dorians, Sozopol – Ionians. Because of this similarity, and maybe also because of the difference in tribes, these two cities have a long-standing rivalry. And even nowadays, marriages between residents from different sides are not welcomed. Nessebar is famous for the abundance of churches from V to XIII centuries of construction, so it is not surprising that the entire central part is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sozopol is also not lagging behind in religious terms: on an island near the town in 2010 archaeologists discovered a sensational find – a reliquary with the relics of St. John the Baptist, inside the marble sarcophagus were parts of a hand, skull bones and a tooth. They are kept in the recently restored main church of the city. There are also many art galleries and antique shops in the town. Unfortunately I photographed Sozopol in the rain and it turned out a bit gloomy.
Golf resorts in Bulgaria
When it seems that there are beaches and rich historical and cultural heritage, you realize with surprise that this is not all. Bulgaria continues to surprise. For example, luxury segment, the bright attribute of which is golf. However, it is quite logical – in such a climate there is an opportunity to play golf up to 9 months a year. And if 10-12 years ago there was not a single golf course in the country, now there are 8 golf courses equipped with everything necessary. We would especially like to note the courses designed by famous stars of this sport: rather expensive and luxurious Thracian Cliffs Golf, and less luxurious, but wonderful in price/quality ratio Black Sea Rama Golf, and in this complex you can even buy real estate.
Tombs and Balchik park
In general, very interesting things can meet almost anywhere – Bulgaria lies on the way from East to West, and it is not surprising that here at every step left a trace of different civilizations. So, for example, periodically on the way we “stumbled” on unique tombs of Thracian kings of different years.
And here is the Queen Maria Park near Balchik. At one time Romanian Queen Maria (between the world wars this part belonged to the northern neighbor of Bulgaria) settled here and built up a park with a lot of green plantings (now Balchik Botanical Garden has more than three thousand specimens of exotic flora). By the way, this is not just any queen – she is the granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria, who married the heir to the Romanian throne.
Cape Kaliakra and a monastery in the mountains
Cape Kaliakra is interesting for tourists because it is a natural and archaeological reserve, one of the hundred largest tourist attractions in Bulgaria. It is translated from Greek as “dobory cape”.
Back in the IV century B.C. some Tirizi founded a settlement here (why, the place is strategically not bad height of sheer cliffs reaches up to 70 meters), then it was the possession of the Odrisian kingdom, then the Macedonians (Alexander’s successor hid his riches here, but I did not find them), then here was the capital of the Dobrujan principality. Well, and then there were the Ottomans and then you all know everything.
For Russian tourists, the place is doubly remarkable – here was the last naval battle of the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791 years between the fleets of Russia and the Ottoman Empire, which is so called – the battle of Kaliakria. As a result of which Fyodor Ushakov’s flotilla pummeled the Ottoman-Algerian fleet.
Aladzha Monastery in the rocks – interesting if only because it was not found in any written source. A joke, well, that is true, but it is interesting because it is an Orthodox rock monastery of XII century, and Christian hermits hid here from the outside world since IV century.
Rose Festival in Bulgaria
And if you are a fan of flowers – do not miss the festival of rose harvest in late May-early June. We missed it and caught only the very end, when the fields were harvested. But even if you visit Bulgaria at other times – there will be plenty of roses in the form of cosmetics, oils and other things. The fact is that these oily roses boagodar due to the special climate grow only here, or rather only grown in this place they have unique cosmetic and even therapeutic properties.
Beach vacation in Bulgaria
We traveled around Bulgaria for only one week and, of course, saw only a small part of all the riches of the country. And we found a significant disadvantage – with such an arrangement there is no time for beach vacation… We will have to come again! Although for me personally now Bulgaria is no longer associated with the sea. Yes, for families with children hollow, sandy, ideal. But for me from now on Bulgaria is an interesting European country with a rich history and huge stocks of cultural monuments, and beaches – so, for assortment.
Actually from the beach managed to see only Albena and Varna. Albena – a fully tourist town, closed territory, inside – only vacationers and staff. So if you are interested in safety, inexpensive hotels on the first coastline without the need to cross the road, gentle sandy beaches and animation, as well as not too noisy and not too talented live music in the coastal cafes – this place you will 100% like, I guarantee. We stayed one night at the Elitsa Hotel – first line, its own huge beach, neat rows of sun beds, everything is great! Judging by the beach, Bulgaria’s seaside vacation deserves all the praise it gets, I just didn’t have time to do it, will have to remedy that sometime!
Varna is about something different, it’s a city with history, one of the biggest in Bulgaria, with architecture, parks, lots of interesting places off the beach. But the beach in Varna is more than gorgeous – wide, with swings, slides, rides and a convenient entrance to the water. But it seemed to me that it is more convenient for adults, because it is quite steep, and the presence of topless sunbathing Bulgarians hints at the fact that the beach is not quite a family beach, but rather urban. But, I repeat, a quality city beach, Varna was pleasantly surprised by it. Well in the city itself I took a lot of photos, I will tell about Varna in the format of a photo album a little later.
Summary – a pleasant country, where everything is very nice and homely, and the echo of the USSR is present exactly to the extent that it is necessary, if I may say so, and there are no hard feelings because of the fact that the damned Union threw us back 50 years in development. The only “but” – I sincerely do not understand why you should come here only for the sake of beaches, even if they are not bad, when there are actually a lot of interesting beauties around. However, the same applies to Turkey, the richness of which is even more difficult to see behind the walls of an “all inclusive”.