First Visit to Bulgaria (Part One): The Botanical Garden of Balchik

Bulgaria has long been on my list of 'must-see' destinations, but I did not manage to visit this country until 2011 (!), when I saw this irresistable last-minute offer for flight+hotel from a certain Swiss airport to Burgas for less than the price of a Furla handbag (!), so I decided the time is right and off I go ...

Once you are in Burgas or nearby Nesebar, it is fairly easy to find a tour agency that can book you on a day-trip from your hotel to Varna and Balchik. The Botanical Garden of Balchik, with its extensive cactus collection and beautiful landscaped garden, is the top attraction of this pretty little seaside town.

It was already 2pm when the tour bus arrived at the carpark of the Botanical Garden. The whole place was full of cars and tour buses, apparently this is a very popular destination amongst visitors to this part of Bulgaria, as hordes of tourists lined the entrance to the Garden taking photos while waiting to be admitted.

Although I have never been a fan of botanical gardens, I was very impressed by the beauty of this place. Black Sea style black-and-white wooden-framed houses, fountains, pavilion, fish ponds, and man-made waterfalls dotted the multi-level landscaped gardens on one side, while on the other side there is a wonderful view of the beautiful Black Sea. Nice cafes and seaside bars lined the promenade. It is a pity I came to Balchik with a day-tour, as the itinerary only called for a two-hour stop at this place. If I had come here on my own, I would certainly have spent more quality time in one of the scenic seaside cafes sipping drinks and admiring the beautiful seaviews right in front of me.

The Botanical Garden was constructed in the early 20th century on the order of Queen Marie of Romania as her summer residence when this part of present-day Bulgaria was still under the control of Romania. The palace and other buildings inside the garden were designed by Italian architects based on extensive use of Balkan motives, while a Swiss florist was responsible for the landscape design of the park.

In addition to the Cactus Garden, the other main attraction of the Botanical Garden is the wine cellar, housed in one of the several former palace buildings located inside the garden's premises. It is said that this wine cellar was used stock the favourite wines of Queen Marie. Nowadays it functions as a souvenir wine shop for the visitors; both sweet whites and rose wines produced in Bulgaria are available for sale. Visitors can taste the wines, walk around the house and take a look inside the two wine store rooms full of wine racks and aged bottles of wine, some of which date from the beginning of the 20th century.

Many of the watermills and the adjoining houses have been converted into cafes and restaurants.

In the photo above is the aforementioned wine cellar built by Queen Marie to stock her favourite wines.

I found the views of the Black Sea from the Balchik Botanical Garden far more beautiful than in Burgas or Varna. Maybe it is because this place has less of those soulless, grey matchbox-like socialist-style houses and ugly buildings made of concrete. The ambience inside the garden actually feels very relaxing, in spite of the endless throngs of tourists all over the compound.

This Balkan style building, with its beautiful white minaret-like tower, was the place where Marie stayed during her sojourn in Balchik. It is now the most recognisable and classic landmark of the  Balchik Botanical Garden. Inside the building are the well-preserved bed chambers, study and lounge of the former Queen of Romania. The building has a beautiful veranda on the other side, which offers a splendid view of the sea and the flower gardens below.

The bath, surrounded by colonnade and Moorish-style arches, reminds me of the garden and the water pond of the Alhambra Complex in Granada, Spain.

Of all the places I had visited on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast so far, this place is my favourite; it is even better than Nesebar or Varna. Well-maintained gardens, beautiful seaviews, nice buildings, this Botanical Garden is very appealing and makes an ideal destination for a leisurely weekend picnic excursion.

Copyrights@2012. All text and photos by YC Cheng. All Rights Reserved.