The Black Sea Coast
The Bulgarian Black Sea Riviera resorts are ideal for the traditional seaside family holiday. Swimming is generally safe, as even at 150m (500ft) away from the shore, the water is only shoulder-high. Areas where currents are a problem are clearly marked. The Black Sea has half the salt content of the Mediterranean. Some of the sand is pulled by currents from as far away as the Mediterranean, flowing through the Bosphorus and Dardenelles. Special children’s pools have been installed on many of the beaches; swings, slides, playdomes and donkey rides are also available and most resorts offer a wide range of watersports.
There are dozens of attractive resorts on the Black Sea Riviera. St Constantine Resort is Bulgaria’s oldest Black Sea spa, centred on the Grand Hotel Varna, the largest and one of the most luxurious hotel on the Riviera. Albena, named after a famous local beauty, is situated on the edge of a lovely forest, and is Bulgaria’s newest resort (a showcase and vivid monument to contemporary Bulgarian design), with good food and lively nightlife. Golden Sands, Bulgaria’s second-largest resort, has good facilities and probably the best nightlife on the Black Sea Riviera. Sunny Day offers a wide range of beauty and health treatments in two of its four hotels. In a forested setting overlooking the sea, it is only 15km (9 miles) from Varna, the Black Sea capital founded in the sixth century BC, which contains many Roman and Byzantine remains. Sunny Beach is a large purpose-built family resort with beautiful and safe beaches. Close to Sunny Beach is the seventh-century fishing village of Old Nessebur with its wooden fishermen’s houses and its famed four dozen Byzantine churches. The Black Sea port town of Burgas has a Maritime Park and an extensive beach.
|
