Bulgaria Holiday Review
Submitted by: Dee - Leeds
Date: October 2003
We travelled to Bulgaria in mid-September 2003 for a week. There were four of us just wanting a cheap last minute holiday and that's where we ended up. We didn't really know what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised.
We went 2-star allocated on arrival in the Varna area with Balkan Holidays booked with Global Holidays in Leeds. We had no idea where we would be staying. Our hotel, Alen Mak was very basic and quite a way out from the main resort centre, but it was clean and after all we only planned to sleep there. The only downside to this was that unless you have the overwhelming urge to walk for 45 minutes to the resort, taxis were the only option. Luckily they are not that expensive, the 10 minute ride from the hotel to Golden Sands was approx 10 Leva - about £4.
Once in Golden Sands, things picked up. The beaches are lovely and clean and the water is very clear. The main street is lined with stalls and shops selling allsorts, including traditional Bulgarian pottery which is very pretty. Many restaurants and bars are dotted around too. Our favourite, The Old House Restaurant, offers a wide range of dishes. They have a massive barbeque just at the entrance of the restaurant so that, if you choose, you can watch them cook your meal on it. The food was delicious, very well priced and the local wine complimented it finely. I don't think that during the whole week that we paid more than £25 for four of us to eat 2 courses and have a beer and a bottle of wine - bargain! Another place that we frequented for an aperitif was the 101 Cocktail Bar. The waiters were lovely (esp. Stan the Cocktail Man) and with a comprehensive range of cheap drinks to choose from, you could find yourself not making it to dinner... as happened a time or two with us.
When not wandering around Golden Sands, we booked trips out to other resorts and towns. Albena, a smaller resort to the North of Golden Sands, has the best beaches on the Black Sea Coast. There isn't as much to do here, but it is quaint, a bit more relaxed and worth a visit for maybe half a day or more if you enjoy the beaches and watersports. Taxis will take you there and back for around 40 Leva, waiting for you for about 3 hours, but you can arrange this with the driver. To them it is a good enough fare to be able to do this.
On arranged tours we went on a Jeep safari, took the coach to Nessebar and also to Cape Kaliakra.
The jeep safari was certainly an experience. We were collected from the hotel by the old Russian 4x4 and joined a convoy up into the Bulgarian hills, through forests and mud and over fields. After a stop at a Schnaps distillery en route we ended up at a little ranch in a clearing up in the hills. We were fed grilled chicken, potatoes and salad and locally made wine and then were left to explore the surroundings. We could go horse riding, shooting and do archery as well. Very quaint and something I would definitely do again.
Nessebar is in the south Bulgaria on the Black Sea Coast. It took a couple of hours by coach and it's an old traditional fishing village just of the mainland, connected only by a bridge. Small backstreets and the coast of the 'island' are lined again with stall and restaurants, and here we ate the best fish we had all week. There are also lots of churches and monuments here if you are into that sort of thing. A long journey well worth doing.
If you were staying longer than a week there is so much more that you could do. Trips run also to Istanbul and Romania. These are overnight trips but had we had the chance, we would have given them a go.
Although not a lot is known about Bulgaria, I can assure you that it is a lovely place. At the moment it attracts predominantly German tourists, but don't let this put you off. The standards of hotels and amenities are aimed at them and so, in the main resort areas are very high. It is cheap to travel, eat and, most importantly drink - a half litre of beer costing around 1.5 Leva - 80p. The beaches are clean, the water clear and the people very friendly. I would definitely go back.
One tip though would be never to go allocated on arrival in Bulgaria. Even if you choose to go 4star you could still end up out of resort and so I would suggest paying more to know where you will be... and there are plenty to choose from. After all, everything is so cheap when you get there that it's worth it.
Note from Global Holidays - We have great deals to Bulgaria. Call us on 0870 1999 038 for details.
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