Nessebar or Sozopol which is better. Personal experience about Nessebar and Sozopol. Sozopol or Nessebar - who is older

What resorts in Bulgaria do tourists go to relax in the summer and why? We figure out where and when it is best to relax in the country for various categories of people.

According to reviews, in Bulgaria you can have a good rest in Balchik- many tourists go there. This is a small calm town, where the roofs of houses are decorated with red tiles, and the smell of roses is felt in the air. Some of the local beaches are sandy, some are rocky. The main decoration of the city is the royal residence and the botanical garden. This place is well suited for a secluded and romantic getaway.

Where to stay while traveling? Look for hotels and hostels on the Roomguru search engine, it will select the most profitable options among a variety of booking systems. We advise you to look for accommodation in the private sector in Bulgaria on Airbnb - there you will find many interesting options from the hosts.

(Photo © Sergey Galyonkin / flickr.com / Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

Where can you relax cheaply in Bulgaria in 2019?

According to the reviews of tourists for 2018, high prices in Albena, Sunny Beach and Golden Sands. The most prestigious one is in the Riviera, located not far from Varna among a huge old park. Once it was a place for the ruling elite of the country, and now it is an elite resort with excellent opportunities for family holidays. It is believed that it is best to relax in Bulgaria there, but the prices bite.

TO budget resorts include small seaside towns, where there are many 2-3 * hotels and there is an opportunity for accommodation in the private sector. Locals living in cottages often rent out the upper floors of houses. You can save money by settling in Nessebar, Balchik, Kranevo, St. Vlas and Ravda, affordable prices for accommodation in Pomorie and Tsarevo.

Did you know that vouchers to Bulgaria can be purchased from only 20 thousand rubles (for example, a tour for two for 7 nights from Moscow)? And during the promotion period - even cheaper! In the price of the tour: flight, accommodation, transfer, insurance and meals to choose from. Hot tours you can search for the best prices on the services and - they compare the offers of 120 tour operators and therefore are able to find the best option. You can buy a ticket online, which is very convenient.

(Photo © aleazzo / flickr.com / Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Cultural and excursion rest

In general, the climate of Bulgaria allows you to travel around the country at any time of the year, but May, June, September and October are the most favorable months. Tourists like to visit the Rila Lakes and the monastery, Driven stones, ancient Roman baths and temples of Varna, Sofia museums, the temple on Cape Kaliakra, ancient buildings and ancient buildings of Nessebar and Sozopol.

Where is it better to relax in Bulgaria with children in 2019?

With children in Bulgaria it is comfortable to relax anywhere. You can spend an expensive, comfortable and fun time in Golden Sands, Albena and Sunny Beach. There is a good bottom and wide beaches. In the resort of Sunny Beach there is a bay with shallow water, where the water warms up well and is suitable for kids. Many children's entertainment: playgrounds, rides, slides, water parks.

Close to Sunny Beach (5 km) are the quieter resorts of St. Vlas and Ravda. Ravda is a developing resort with good opportunities for sports and entertainment for children. St. Vlas is suitable for those who want to improve their lungs - the air is enriched with iodine vapor and phytoncides of coniferous forests. According to reviews, you can have a good rest with children in Bulgaria in the villages of Elenite and Kranevo - they are suitable for those who prefer a calm and comfortable family vacation.

On an excursion with older children, you can go to Nessebar or Sozopol. Sofia has an extreme amusement park and a zoo, and not far from Varna is the largest family theme park in the country, Happy Land.

(Photo © Balcon del Mundo / flickr.com / Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

Resorts for youth

The most party and noisy resort in the country is Sunny Beach. No less vibrant nightlife in Golden Sands. Both resorts have a good area of ​​​​entertainment and rich opportunities for active pastime: there are water parks, centers for surfing, rowing and water skiing.

According to reviews, you can have a great rest in Bulgaria in the village of Ravda. It has a good base for sports and excellent beaches, while the rest itself will cost much less. Economical youth recreation in the southern resort of Kiten - there are campsites and many inexpensive hotels.

Not far from Sozopol there is the Golden Fish beach, popular among surfers, and the Smokini beach, which was chosen by nudists and informals. Both beaches have cafes, umbrellas and sun loungers. You can stay at campsites nearby.

Resorts for the elderly

St. Constantine and Elena is a respectable resort a few kilometers from Varna. Good hotels, green parks, thermal and hydrogen sulfide springs, balneological treatment center.

Balchik, Nessebar and Sozopol also have a measured rest. It is quiet here, compared to the crowded Sunny Beach or Golden Sands, a rich excursion program, and prices in local cafes are affordable. If you are interested in a passive beach holiday, then you should go to Pomorie.

(Photo © Filip Stoyanov / flickr.com / Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Weather in Bulgaria: where and when is it better to relax?

In Bulgaria, the climate is not hot, continental, with warm summers and cold winters, in the south - closer to the Mediterranean. The air temperature even in the southern latitudes rarely rises above +30°C.

Spring short and cool. In March, snow often still lies, during the day +6 ... + 10 ° С, in April the air warms up to + 15 ... + 18 ° С, everything blooms. In mid-May, summer is already coming in the south of the country, but the water in the sea is cold, so you can swim in the pool, and it’s better to walk along the promenade along the sea. In May, the night of museums takes place, at this time you can visit the museums of Nessebar, Sofia and other cities for free.

June often overshadowed by rains, the water near the coast is +20...+22°С, in the daytime +24...+26°С, so it is best to relax in southern Bulgaria - in Nessebar, Sunny Beach, Sozopol.

The best beach holiday in Bulgaria - in July And august. Water +24...+26°С, air +29...+30°С. This is the peak of the summer season, all resorts are filled to the limit with tourists.

IN September the air temperature drops to +23...+25°C, the sea cools down by 1-2 degrees. This is a good month for swimming, as well as trips around Bulgaria - at this time it is best to relax in Sofia, Nessebar, Balchik, Sozopol, Varna, Plovdiv. Resorts are still working, but there are fewer tourists.

IN October And november winds and precipitation begin to rage, during the day +12 ... + 15 ° С, a little warmer (a couple of degrees) in the south of the country. You can forget about the beaches, during this period we recommend visiting thermal springs and balneological resorts: Sapareva Banya, Sandanski, Velingrad and others.

in winter you can go to the mountains - in December, the winter ski resorts of Bansko, Vitosha, Pamporovo and others open their work. In the coastal zone it is damp due to rains, during the day +7°С, in the mountains in winter during the day 0...+3°С, at night down to −7°С. In the north of the country, snow lies until April, in the south - until March.

It was and remains one of the most beloved countries. Endless stretches of beaches, clear sea, delicious cuisine, fragrant wine - its advantages can be listed almost endlessly. Guests from the East (and from the West too) have to choose - either, or.

The last two resorts are not too far apart and have a lot in common. Even the territories they occupy are similar - the historical part of the cities is located on the peninsulas, new quarters are growing on the mainland along the coast.

Sozopol or Nessebar - who is older?

Sozopol appeared in the 6th century BC, it was founded by Greek colonists. The first settlements appeared on the rocky peninsula and were very convenient for safe living. The city in those distant times was called Apollonia in honor of the famous ancient Greek god, whose bronze statue adorned the central square.

At the end of the 1st century BC. Mark Lucullus ravaged the city and took the monument to where it is still safely stored in the Capitol. A new settlement arose only five hundred years later and was named Sozopolis - the city of salvation. Today, one might say, he "saves" the guests, giving them the opportunity to rest their body and soul.

In the matter of seniority, Nessebar definitely wins - it has more than three thousand years and belongs to the most ancient cities. The historical part of the city, as well as in Sozopol, occupies a peninsula, and is also under the protection of UNESCO. There is a legend that most of the settlement went under water, only a piece of land survived, on which all 40 surviving religious buildings were located.

Beaches and hotels

Sozopol currently has only three beaches: Central Beach - in the historical part of the resort; Harmani Beach - in new quarters; "Golden Fish" - in the vicinity of the city. At the same time, all the beaches of Sozopol are quite wide and long, so there is enough space for guests. The beaches are equipped, there is a rental of sunbeds and sports equipment, there are well-known beach activities.

There are only two hotels of the 5 * category, there are several complexes with 4 *, the hotel range is mainly represented by 2-3 * hotels that provide a minimum of amenities at affordable prices. The city has a large number of apartments located both in the old part of Sozopol and in new areas.

The beach in Nessebar is one of the most beautiful in Bulgaria - it is a wide strip of coastline covered with golden fine sand. There are all the necessary attributes (sunbeds, deck chairs) for a comfortable stay, there is also an opportunity for sports games, windsurfing and diving.
Accommodation in Nessebar for tourists depends on the thickness of their wallet and desire. 2-3* hotels offer rooms at very reasonable prices. For those tourists who are used to relaxing in comfort, there are 4 * and 5 * hotel complexes, most of them are located in the modern part, in the direction of the village of Revda. Sometimes tourists rent apartments in old houses equipped with modern furniture and equipment.

Entertainment and attractions

The main historical and cultural attractions and monuments of Sozopol are naturally located on the peninsula. A kind of architectural reserve has been created here, which is under the protection of specialists from UNESCO. You can endlessly walk along the narrow streets, admiring the old houses, the remains of the fortress wall and the only surviving old mill. There are several interesting museums in the city, an art gallery, which is housed in the house of Dimitar Laskaridis, a famous fishmonger in the past.

The main entertainment for the guests of Nessebar is walking around the Old Town, which is located on a peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. Medieval churches, ancient fortress walls, old houses and public buildings create a unique atmosphere. Religious buildings require special attention, firstly, quite a lot of them have been preserved, and secondly, they are beautiful and unique.

A comparison of just a few positions shows that both Bulgarian resorts are good for summer holidays: they are ready to provide the best conditions for living, staying at the sea and entertainment. And yet, holidays in these resorts are different, so Sozopol will be chosen by foreign guests who:

• know they will find good value for money;
• love a beach holiday with all the necessary entertainment;
• adore walks in the old quarters;
• love to taste national cuisine.

Travelers who will come to rest in Nessebar will:

• heard about its ancient monuments of architecture;
• believe that good beaches are the main condition for recreation;
• like to see historical sights;
• dream of walking around the city with a tour.

From the editor. We publish a response to the photo essay. Please note that the texts published in the rubric were written by the readers of Gazeta.Ru. The editors do not always share their point of view.

Last year, before my vacation, I studied the Internet for a long time in order to find out where it is better to go for 12 days - to Nessebar or Sozopol. Sozopol aroused more confidence, and therefore, for the first half of the vacation, they booked the nicest hotel in the old town of Sozopol, in the room the balcony was right above the rocks and the edge of the sea, lying on the bed you could look at the Sozopol bay through the panoramic window.

After living there for several days, we sat on a meteor and rolled to Nessebar. He disappointed us. As promised by many who had previously been there, the old city gave the impression of a noisy crowded bazaar, utterly commercialized, cramped, packed with a huge number of tourist groups of all nationalities. We planned to spend the whole day in Nessebar, but in the end we regretted that we had gone there from the quiet, cozy, “living” city of Sozopol at all, and after drinking beer in a lovely Czech restaurant, we hurried back to the nearest meteor. Arriving at the hotel, we cast aside doubts and rather booked our own hotel and room for the second half of the vacation.

Sozopol - city picture, beautifully restored, it has less of all kinds of archaeological sites than in Nessebar, but there are no tourists, it is quiet and deserted in the evenings, the restaurants are excellent and inexpensive, the sea is right under the hotel balcony, kilometers of half-empty beaches south of the old town, no huge hotels like surrounding Nessebar. The guide book I read after my trip to Sozopol and a couple of my acquaintances say that south of Sozopol, summer life is even more beautiful, and it is worth going, for example, to Primorsko or Tsarevo.

Editorial

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Resting in the old small town of Bulgaria Pomorie, we plunged into the historical past of this Black Sea country with pleasure.

The city of Pomorie (the ancient name of Anchialos) was founded in the 5th century BC. The Greeks from Apollonia laid the foundation of the city (today this town is called Sozopol). And only in 1934 Anchialos began to be called by its modern name - Pomorie.

The Thracian tomb and the male Orthodox monastery of St. George are the main historical sights of Pomorie. In the city itself, little reminds of such an ancient origin, the oldest walls that we managed to see date back to the end of the 19th century. There are only 14 thousand indigenous people in Pomorie, however, during the peak season, the number of tourists increases significantly.

Not far from Pomorie, there is another ancient town - Nessebar (9 thousand people). A real open-air museum of ancient architecture. You can go around the whole town slowly in an hour or two, admiring the rocks and the sea, the ruins of the fortress wall and the ruins of churches, Byzantine baths. We bought an excursion to Nessebar on September 15, although you can get from Pomorie and walk around the museum town very quickly - regular buses scurry back and forth, bringing tourists from Sunny Beach and Burgas.

Both Pomorie and Nessebar are located on peninsulas. Such a geography creates a special impression: the sea is on all sides and only thin isthmuses connect the cities with the main territory of Bulgaria.

In Nessebar, at the gates of the fortress wall (XIV - XV century), an old piper met us with a lyrical melody. The Bulgarian bagpipe is an amazingly romantic instrument. As I write these lines, the same music immediately appears. As if I find myself again at the gates of Nessebar, which was once also the center of the Thracian settlement and was called Mesembria.

I was struck by the abundance of old churches, in one of which - in the church of John the Baptist - an archaeological museum now operates, and in the most impressive church of the city - St. Stephen, frescoes of the 16th - 17th centuries are still preserved.

In total, forty (!) Churches were built in such a tiny town, only seven have survived to this day. We were shocked by the ruins of Roman baths - the 6th century BC, everything is marble.

The special buildings of residential buildings in Nessebar are the hallmark of the city. We saw similar buildings in Sozopol: the first floor is made of stone, these are household premises and a cellar, the second, residential, is made of wood and brick. There are many new buildings in Nessebar and Sozopol, stylized as old traditional buildings - stone + wood with a protruding second floor.

After such an informative historical tour, the guide took us to the tasting room, where we tasted the unique wines of sunny Bulgaria and bought several bottles as a gift.

Then we all had an amazing fun evening in the Bulgarian village. This is a complete stylization of a traditional hospitable home for guests from all over the world. In Bulgaria, many cities and traditions are under the protection of UNESCO. Nessebar, Sozopol, nestinarstvo ... These are pagan dances on coals.

While the whole group took their places at the long tables, preparing for a meal in the Bulgarian village, I went on a tour of it. Traditional crafts zone - woodcarving and pottery; home zoo - fox, peacocks, ducks, turkeys, sheep, donkey and even deer; an impressive circle for walking on coals with a diameter of two meters near a small house church and a stage for a varied concert program, a hall for 1000 seats.

Poles, Ukrainians, Germans, Romanians, and British sat at long tables with Bulgarian dishes next to us. By the end of the evening, when the huge wine barrels were almost empty, they began to dance and sing together. People climbed onto the stage, arranged their vocal circles))).

At an evening in the Bulgarian village, we were treated to Shopska salad, chorba (bean soup), cold cuts (cutlet, chicken fillet, kebab) with potatoes and coleslaw, watermelon, rakia (50 ml per person) and wine, white and red, without limitation . It was unrealistic to eat all this, but our men undertook the obligation to destroy all stocks of food and, most importantly, drink. The most nimble tourist from our group was “appointed” as a butler, his record impressed everyone - earthenware jugs just flashed in his hands, so he managed to take it with him, although there was a ban on take-out and the organizers strictly followed this.

While the men were relaxing at the hospitable table, the women took part in a master class in cooking banitsa, a pie made from thin flatbread with cheese. Dear grandmother Pina deftly rolled out the dough with a thin rolling pin, sprinkled on pre-prepared cheese and quickly wrapped it in a pie. Immediately there were those wishing to repeat it all. For the first time, it worked out pretty well.

The concert program surprised with its hodgepodge of styles and genres. From 19:00 to 20:00 there was a classic variety concert, then a whole hour - children's animation, with dressing up, games and fun. From 21 to 23 hours - a concert of folk ensembles and a fun disco. The people have gone wild!

Dancing on the coals began as soon as the evening came into force, and it began to get dark. The bright lights of the coals gradually went out, and the fire-walker of respectable age began to show miracles of endurance and skill, dancing famously on the coals. I remembered. 1000 degrees under your feet, and your feet do not burn! A special state of mind, spirit and body.

We returned home that day well after midnight. Happy and satisfied. We returned from the holiday of life to our cozy clean room.

We got to Sozopol, another small old town, on the very last day of our Bulgarian vacation - September 20th. At night we flew home. All the planned program was carried out with a vengeance. Therefore, we decided to rent a car and drive off to Sozopol.

A week before, we met a very positive Muscovite, who suggested to us the idea of ​​​​an independent trip, without guides and groups. They rented a car for a day for 40 levs (less than 1000 rubles))) - 25 levs car rental + 6 liters of gasoline at 2.61 levs per liter. In the office where we took the car, they did not ask us for any documents or rights ... They gave us the money - they received the keys to the Peugeot, insurance and brief instructions on the features of local roads. The four of us went on a short trip together with Svetlana and her friend from Israel.

We drove through Burgas, this city is much larger than Pomorie, Nessebar, Sozopol. We got to the place without incident, quite quickly orientated on the road. Fortunately, there are a lot of guide signs.

If Nessebar left in the soul the impression of touching history, then Sozopol - romantic memories. We all felt comfortable and pleasant there. Warm day. Transparent sea. Tiny ethnographic museum. Stunning views of the Black Sea rocks and islets. Delicious lunch at the popular restaurant "Melnitsa", right in front of the island of St. Ivan.

You can get to this unique place in the sea only by boat. Almost deserted narrow streets, every now and then leading to the sea, original buildings, mysterious shady courtyards. This is the old part of Sozopol.

Life is in full swing in the new part of the city - shops, entertainment, transport ... Everything is like everywhere else. And as soon as you get into the old part, time seems to stop and flows according to completely different laws.

Luxurious greenery of Bulgaria in this region of the country is crowded out by rocks. Many seagulls, fat, large, constantly attracted our attention. The largest colony of herring gulls in Bulgaria lives on the island of St. Ivan.

We left Sozopol with great reluctance, knowing for sure that someday we would certainly return here. For inspiration. For romance. For beauty.

Zhanna Pyatirikova, traveler with 36 years of experience.