Things To Do In Burgas

Burgas is one of the first places I visited on my second trip to Bulgaria and it was a pleasant surprise from all the other places I visited on my first trip. There is something about the city, it is warm and there is a certain atmosphere about it which I didn’t see in any of the other cities I visited. There was some nice places to eat we had a daily haunt in bogaridi street where we ate. You need to be careful where you eat when you find somewhere good sticking to it may not be a bad idea.. In Bulgaria good and bad eating places can take your eating too extremes farther than you may want to go.. See where the local middle class are going and you probably will not go far wrong..

Burgas is a city on the Bulgarian Southern Black Sea coast. It developed more actively in the beginning of 20th century and today it is a large industrial center with many tourist attractions in the region. Built by the sea and surrounded by lakes, Burgas offers relatively mild weather characterized by cooler summers and warmer winters.

Water and Sand Sports and Activities

In summer you can go surfing and kite-surfing in the bay. There are a few surf and sea sports schools, which you can find on the North Beach. You can also book diving.

The North Beach

St. Anastasia island (formerly known as Bоlshevik island) is visible from any point from the Burgas beach. Boats to St. Anastasia island leave from the Bridge. Offered in July and August, leaving at 10:00, 12:00 and 14:00.

Bourgas Sand Fest [15] is festival of the sand sculptures held from the beginning of July until the end of August. The sand covers more than 4 ha. in the northern part of the Sea Garden (near the Park Hotel) artists from all over the world (Indonesia, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Ukraine, Russia and of course Bulgaria) create stunning sand sculptures. Entrance is free. Everyone is welcome to take pictures.

Burgas Yachting Week takes place at the end of April near the Port and the Most (The Bridge) on the beach. Participants are usually 20-30 yachts from Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria.

Other sports and activities

Carting Speedway, 126 Stefan Stambolov Bul (Kolodruma), Working time: 11:00-20:30, Speedway – length: 320 m., width: 4m

You can do also do some extreme sports like paragliding or moto-paragliding. Courses and tandem-flights are offered as well. Sky Dog Fly Center, 4 Troykata Sq., fl.2, office 8

More recently small companies have started their own private businesses which offer a range of activities for tourists as well as for local people. One of them is PH QUADS which offer an amazing Quad Bike / ATV safari around the hills of Marinka – small village between Burgas and Sozopol with splendid nature.

Shopping in Burgas The Shopping area is in the center of the town. It consists of two main streets and a few more small ones. The prices are reasonable. Some of the shops offer local brands while others are international (Benetton, etc.)

Gold shops are pretty popular. Most of the gold jewelry is imported from Turkey.

Silver jewelry is offered on stands on the high street.

A few shopping malls are constructed in the city but the global crunch postponed some of them. The Burgas Plaza Mall is located at the end of Izgrev living districts. To get there from the city center take bus 211 and get off at the last stop.

International chains like Billa, Carrefour and Metro can also be found in the city.

Burgas has many cafés and small bars. On the main streets you will bump into their chairs especially in summer.

Broadway and Silver Club are good places for a cocktail and modern dance and pop music.

In summer the Sea Garden is full of cafeterias and beer-places or small pubs. The sandy line is covered with night-bars and discos playing all kind of music.

The international phone code for Burgas is 056. When dialed from abroad, first dial +359 (for Bulgaria), ex. +359 56 123456.

There are two post offices in the city center and there you can make international calls in urgent cases.

The Old Post Office – located at the crossroad in front of the central entrance of the train station.
The New Post Office – located in front of the central entrance of the Burgas Free University

Free Wi-Fi spots:

Cafe-bar Nataly’s – in the west entrance of Bulgaria Hotel
Tria Shopping Center, the cafe on the ground floor
London Pub and Restaurant, 4a Tsar Simeon I

Other Places Close By

Istanbul is just some 4 or 5 hours drive from Burgas (including the time on the Custom Formalities). There are many bus-companies offering excursions by bus or just transport to Istanbul and other cities in Turkey. The trip to Istanbul can be made in a day but an overnight is recommended as the city is very rich in culture and sights. Before heading to Istanbul check the visa formalities and take your passport. Depending on your nationality small entrance fee is paid upon entrance to Turkey.

Orchestra preparing for performance at Nesseber’s open air music scene

Nesebar (also Nessebur) is small town under the UNESCO World Heritage conservation program. It is extremely picturesque and attractive. There you can see the Old Metropolitan Church (4 A.D.) and amazing architectural details from the Byzantine epoch. It is located 40 kilometers North of Burgas. Regular public bus lines run every 20 minutes from Burgas to Nesebar and Sunny Beach. The first bus leaves at 5 am and the last at 11 pm. One way adult ticket is 6 leva (3,05 euro) (January 2012).

Sunny Beach – is large holiday complex just a kilometer from Nessebur. In summer the two villages almost merge in one big party and holiday center. Sunny Beach is sometimes called the summer party capital. There are more than 200 hotels and thousands of clubs, bars and pubs. One of the most famous party places is Cacao Beach with guest DJs like Victor Calderone, or bands like UK’s Ladytron.

Pomorie is located 20 km to the North of Burgas. Buses to there run regularly from the central bus station. The Pomorie Thracian Tomb is located near the village of Pomorie. It is open for visitors only in summer. Book a visit from a local travel agency.

Sozopol

Sozopol – is famous for its ancient and renaissance buildings. The city is located 30 kilometers to the South of Burgas. To get there is public transport leaving from Burgas bus station South which is in the city center. The first buses in the morning leave at 5 am and the last bus for Sozopol is at 9 pm. One way adult ticket is 4 leva (2 euro) (August 2009).

Campings – near Sozopol there are two camping sites very famous among windsurfers and other water and wind sport fans. These are Gradina (Garden) and Zlatna Ribka (Gold Fish). A few surf schools are open there from May to October. Equipment is available for rent.

Ropotamo Reserve is located 50 kilometers to the South of Burgas. There visitors can see wild sand dunes, rocky formations and authentic flora and wildlife. Around visitors can also enjoy water lilies. There you can take a boat trip up or down the river. To get there the best will be to take a car. Alternatively you can try to reach the town of Primorsko and take some public transport or travel agency from there.

St. Ivan island (the Snakes’ island) located to the south, near the village of Primorsko. You can search for a boat or small ship for an excursion to there. It is called snake due to the number of water snakes that inhabit the island. Naturally grown cacti can also be observed there.

Strandzha mountains – A world-famous attraction in the region around the mountains Strandzha and Sakar to the south of Burgas are the authentic fire dancers, called nestinari (нестинари). The mountains are good for biking and hiking.

Bourgas Mineral Baths – The mineral baths are located 15 km to the northwest of the Burgas city center, near the village of Banevo. There is regular bus line that runs on 30 minutes intervals, buses are leaving from the bus stop at the New Post. The mineral springs are hot (41C) and lightly mineralised (0,604 gr/liter). The spa center is surrounded by huge forest-like garden. The place is ideal for a picnic.

Cape Emine and Irakli – Cape Emine is located 54 kilometers from Burgas and it divides geographically the Bulgarian Black Sea coast to South and North. The cape is the most eastern part of the Balkans (Stara planina) mountain chain and end of the European hiking route E-H, the Bulgarian part of which is the route Kom – Emine. The cape itself is vertical 60-meter cliff, surrounded by hundreds and underwater rocks. North of the cape is Irakli Protected Area.

Camping

The Southern Black Sea coastal line has suffered heavily from the construction boom of holiday resorts and complexes from the 2000 – 2008 period. As alternative to the traditional summer vacation there are a few campsites situated on picturesque beaches in the Burgas region. For travelers without cars – most of them are accessible by public transport to the main village and then by walk or hitchhike.

To the North of Burgas:

Zora (near the town of Obzor)
Nesebar bungalows (near Nesebar)
Bolyarski stan (near Ravda)
Aheloy campsite (near the village Aheloy)
Villas Mariana (near Pomorie)

To the South of Burgas:

VTEPS Chernomorets (Chernomorets)
Gradina (Chernomorets)
Zlatna ribka (Sozopol)
Kavatsi (Sozopol)
Kiten campsite (Kiten)
Camping Yug (Kiten)
Camping Koral (Lozentez)
Pipilota (Lozenetz)
Oasis (Lozenetz)
Arapya campsite (Tzarevo)
Morski briz (Tzarevo)
Nestinarka (Tzarevo)
Zelenika (Ahtopol)
Slunchev den/Sunny Day (Ahtopol)
Siniya laguna/Blue lagoon (Ahtopol)
Zafo bungalows (Sinemoretz)
Silistar (less than 1 kilometer from the Bulgarian-Turkish boarder)

My personal view on Burgas is it is an awesome place for a Holiday and would recommend it for anyone, only one thing is sometimes it is cheaper to get a friend who is local to price things as some people in Bulgaria are inclined to take advantage of foreigners. And charge a higher price this would also be true throughout Bulgaria. You will find that Burgas is also a lot cheaper than Sunny Beach which has been commercialised mainly for tourists so prices there tend to be more like UK prices than Bulgarian..