Lauren and Lisa were thrilled to be invited by Balkan Holidays to celebrate their 50th anniversary in Bulgaria; it was time to sample Sunny Beach’s nightlife, the local restaurants and do some shopping!
Bulgaria is in South East Europe and which is bordered by Romania to the north, Greece to the South, Serbia and Macedonia to the west and the Black Sea coast to the East. Sofia is the capital city and the currency is Lev – making it even better value for money! The weather normally rises to 30 degrees and offers tourists 300 hours of sunshine during the high season.
Whilst being away, we learnt… ‘Zdravei’ means hello and ‘Dovizhdane’ means goodbye!
Bulgaria has a number of different beach resorts but we were lucky enough to see Sunny Beach, the largest resort, and the old town of Nessebar.
Sunny Beach has an 8 kilometre shoreline which offers tourists beachfront hotels, a promenade of shops, stalls, restaurants and bars that offer cocktails for £1.25 and buy one get one free! Sunny Beach has unbeatable prices- a chicken burger in a steakhouse- £2.00 and a pint of beer for 80p! With Mini-golf, two aqua-parks, playgrounds, water-sports and volleyball- the kids are for sure not going to get bored! Bulgaria is famous for its sandy beaches and now we know why; some beaches offer facilities such as parasols, sun-beds and barbeque restaurants and not forgetting the wide range of water-sports! As the sun goes down, Sunny Beach really does come alive with the nightclubs, bars and live music- and buy one get one free on drinks becomes very popular with tourists.
Bulgaria has some mesmerising views to offer especially when you go to Khan’s tent. You can’t miss this, it’s Bulgaria’s most popular evening, offering a four course meal with a bottle of wine per person, brilliant live music, and outstanding entertainment and acts. Khan’s tent is located up in the mountains which presents panoramic views of Sunny beach and the surrounding area – this excursion is a sell out every night!
One of my favourite hotels in Sunny Beach is the Barceló Royal Beach which is 
brilliantly located near the beach and in the resort centre – with stunning décor and a range of food choices, brilliant for B&B, half board and all-inclusive. Barceló Royal Beach would be great for couples looking for a 5* hotel to relax and enjoy the sun.
For families, we would definitely recommend the Laguna Park as it has some brilliant children’s facilities, not to forget the waterpark that has just opened. If you wanted a quieter resort, we would most definitely recommend the Sol Nessebar Palace which also has a brilliant range of food choices for an all-inclusive option and has the waterpark and lazy river that has just opened!
Nessebar stunned us! With 3,000 years of history and it being a living museum town and offering remains of over 40 churches, it gives superb photographic and painting opportunities. With the cobbled streets, traditional tavernas and local shops it gives guests the opportunity to escape the noise and really relax in a traditional Bulgarian setting.
Nessebar new town is full of life! With live music in bars and a number of restaurants to choose from the entertainment of Nessebar can run late into the night.
Bulgaria really does offer a lot of different opportunities to guests in regards to board basis… if families are wanting to go all-inclusive, there are a wide range of selection in the buffet restaurants; but because Bulgaria is such good value for money we would probably go Half Board or even just Self-Catering!
It’s been brilliant to finally see what Bulgaria is all about and was over the moon to share it with Balkan Holidays and celebrate their 50th Anniversary and their 2017 brochure Launch. Bulgaria’s tourism has risen over the past few years and we believe it will be the new and upcoming summer destination for everyone!
Lauren Kirby is a Travel Consultant at the Holiday With Us Group.
