Sozopol: The Identical Twin of Nessebar

This essay is about Sozopol, the identical twin of the more famous town of Nessebar on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. The reason I visit Sozopol is, after spending one day each in Burgas, Nessebar and Varna, I did not want to spend the rest of my one-week stay in Bulgaria in the area of Sunny Beach, so I woke up early, took a bus to Burgas, and changed onto another bus from the municipal bus station next to Burgas' train station to Sozopol.

Like Nessebar, Sozopol is another thriving Black Sea town known for its Bulgarian-Balkan style architecture, with a base and ground floor made of stone and an upper-part made with wood. The old town of Sozopol is full of them, but just as in the case of Nessebar, I must say I did not find Sozopol particularly interesting either.  For some reasons the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria always seems to have that gloomy, enclosed and unhappy feeling, characteristic which are in stark contrast to my own personality. I have always preferred sunny bright towns in Turkey, Greece and Spain, and I did not know what to say about Bulgaria's Black Sea towns.

First Visit To Bugaria (Part 3): Sunny Beach (Slanchev Briag / Slanchev Bryag), the Las Vegas of Bulgaria

If you travel to the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria using one of those last-minute tour service, chances are you will end up in a hotel, either on the Golden Beach or the Sunny Beach. As it turned out, my hotel was in the Sunny Beach area, which is full of high-rise hotels, holiday apartments, casinos, pubs, bars, night clubs etc.; in short, this place is packed with all the adult vice entertainment/fun you can think of, as far as any holiday resorts with lots of cheap alcohol and young holidaymakers of all shapes,colours and sizes from all over Europe go. Little wonder some calls the Sunny Beach 'the Las Vegas of Bulgaria'.

The frustrating thing about Sunny Beach is, most buildings you can see in this mega hotel strip are so bland and soulless, if you are not into all-night partying or clubbing or those kinds of things, you are either bored to tears, or you will end up sleepless while you are in Bulgaria because of all the noises from the clubs and bars outside your hotel windows. And I am not sure if it is really a place for ideal family holidays, given the presence of strip tease clubs all over Sunny Beach.  

First Visit to Bulgaria (Part 2): The Old Town of Nessebar

As the trip to Bulgaria was a last-minute decision, I hurried to the bookstore in town as soon as the itinerary has been confirmed to find some information about where to visit, what to see and how to do along the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. As the stretch of coast between Varna and Burgas is a fairly popular holiday destination for the Germans (the former East Germans had been going to Bulgaria's Black Sea coast for holidays since the 1960s, as it was one of the very few foreign destinations that the citizens of the former communist state were allowed to visit), quite a few guidebooks about Bulgaria and its Black Sea coast are available in the German language.

After some cursory readings, I came across a town by the name of Nessebar, just a short journey by bus away from the hotel and casino strip known as the Sunny Beach, which, according to the authors of the guidebook, is worth a visit. The old town of Nessebar, located on an isthmus northeast off the coast of Burgas and connected to the mainland by a causeway, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site well-known for its historical monuments, medieval churches, Byzantine ruins, as well as the presence of large numbers of Black Sea style architectures unique to this part of Bulgaria.

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.