The Black Sea coast (Cherno More) is a 380km stretch of sandy beaches, rocky coves and calm, safe sea running from the Romanian border in the north to the Turkish border in the south. This region includes the cities of Varna and Bourgas and the well-known resorts in and around Sunny Beach and Golden Sands.
The village of Trigrad, with its awesome gorge and caves, is the star attraction in the southwestern Rhodope, 30km south of Devin. The Trigrad Gorge provides one of the most spectacular vistas in Bulgaria, its sheer walls overhanging the foaming river Trigradska, which disappears into the fantastic Devil’s Throat Cave, accessible via a 150m-long tunnel. The thunder of water can be heard long before you see a huge waterfall, which vanishes into the canyon through the enormous Roaring Hall.
Pamporovo ski resort is located in the southern part of Bulgaria near the border with Greece (and the White Sea), in the heart of the Rhodope mountain. Its main attractions are the good ski facilities and natural beauty together with the proximity of very picturesque villages with old stone houses. Somewhat more tarnished than modern Bansko, it is still a delightful place to ski, with stunning scenery.
Save the Pirin Campaign
The massive scale of development at Bankso has not been without controversy. In 2001 the Simeon II National Movement was alleged by other political parties and some environmental groups to have granted building concessions for part of the national park to firms owned by party members. In 2007 a coalition of environmental groups formed a campaign
The ski resort Bansko is 153km from Sofia and its proximity to the Aegean Sea (it is 80km from the Greek coastal town of Kavala) makes it possible to combine fresh mountain air with a warm sub-tropical Greek climate. Winters are cold, and there is heavy snowfall in the mountains and average January temperatures of -5°C (23°F) in the valleys and ski resorts, and as low as -20°C (-4°F) on the high peaks. Snow cover usually lasts for five or six months
Bansko is probably the most talked about of all the ski resorts in Bulgaria and the best known in the western press. It was once a small and attractive village of stone houses in the Pirin National Park, and the site of an early ski lift in the lgsos. Skiing at Bansko was then a small-time affair, but it has been subject to some of the most intensive development seen in Bulgaria. New high-capacity ski lifts were built in 2004 using the latest Austrian technology
The town of Sozopol is situated about 30 km south of Bourgas. It was founded in the 6th century and enjoys a stunning location but large crowds. Many people choose to stay in the nearby settlement and walk to the old peninsula city. Its distinctive stone and wooden buildings form the architectural template
Bulgaria’s fourth-largest city (population 426,000) is in many ways the less glamorous relation of its northern cousin Varna, with much more of an industrial feel. It is outshone by historic coastal towns to the north and south at Nessebar and Sozopol. and lacks the resort feel of nearby Sunny Beach.
A few kilometres south of Sunny Beach, a rocky peninsula connects the small and historic town of Nessebar to the main coast. One of two medieval towns remaining along the coast, it has a fine selection of stone and wooden buildings and an aspect of urban design that is unique. However
Just north along the coast from the main southern coast city of Bourgas is located one of the best summer beach resorts in Bulgaria – Sunny Beach. The resort has probably had more development and renovation than any other sea resort on the Bulgarian black sea coast. Visitors will be struck by the amount of construction and renovation work going on – although the