Summer Palace of Queen Marie & Botanical Gardens
Black Sea Coast
At the far western end of the seafront, this palace was completed in 1926 by King Ferdinand of Romania for his English wife, Queen Marie, when Balchik was…
Must-see attractions in Black Sea Coast
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Varna
Exhibits at this vast museum, the best of its kind in Bulgaria, include 6000-year-old bangles, necklaces and earrings said to be the oldest worked gold…
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Sveti Konstantin & Elena Monastery
Black Sea Coast
This tiny church and monastery was built in the early 18th century on the site of a holy healing spring, though it has been rebuilt and remodelled since…
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Burgas
Four lakes surrounding Burgas (Pomoriysko, Atanasovsko, Mandrensko and Burgasko) comprise 9500 hectares and represent the largest wetland system in…
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Black Sea Coast
This 687-hectare reserve covers nearly the whole of Kaliakra Cape, a 2km-long headland that juts into the Black Sea 13km southeast of Kavarna. Visitors…
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Black Sea Coast
This nature reserve is located 10km south of Sozopol, along the main road to Primorsko. Visitors can hike or picnic, but most come for a 30- to 40-minute…
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Black Sea Coast
Little is known about this bizarre rock monastery; the caves were first inhabited by 11th-century hermits, but what remains today was created during the…
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Black Sea Coast
Located about 2km south of Sveti Konstantin, along the main road to Varna, the 90-hectare Euxinograde complex boasts a 19th-century palace featuring…
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Monastery of Sveti Georgi the Victorious
Black Sea Coast
Sveti Georgi Monastery, built in 1856, is a small complex set in pretty gardens with a quaint, icon-filled church and a bell tower covered in saintly…
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Burgas
This small volcanic island makes for a fun day of exploring. The island, which has served as a religious retreat, a prison and pirate bait (according to…
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Varna
The well-preserved ruins of Varna's 2nd-century-AD Roman Thermae are the largest in Bulgaria and the fourth-largest of their kind in Europe. Visitors are…
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Black Sea Coast
This small museum doesn't always hold to the posted hours, but if you catch it open you'll find artefacts going back to the town's Thracian, Greek and…
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Black Sea Coast
The diverse collection here includes valuable remnants from excavations carried out at the nearby Kibela (Cybele) Temple (referred to at the museum as the…
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Black Sea Coast
This interactive visitor centre provides information on bird- and species-conservation efforts on Pomorie Lake undertaken by the NGO Green Balkans. From…
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Black Sea Coast
Below ground level just behind the Sveti Spas Church are the partly excavated remains of a 6th-century Byzantine baths complex. Though not much to look at…
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Black Sea Coast
This relatively plain 19th-century church is the only functioning one in town and modestly dressed visitors are welcome. (Shawls are provided at the…
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Varna
Established in 1878, this large and attractive green space, overlooking the sea, stretches for about 8km and is said to be the largest of its kind in…
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Varna
The museum presents the flora and fauna of the Black Sea region, divided into sections representing the area's geology, botany, vertebrates and…
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Black Sea Coast
The History Museum is spread out over three traditional houses, around 50m south of the centre. The first building shows off numerous Thracian and Roman…
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Basilica of the Holy Mother Eleusa
Black Sea Coast
Overlooking the sea, the Basilica of the Holy Mother Eleusa dates from the 6th century, and later became a monastery. The fortified tower alongside it was…
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Varna
The National Naval Museum hosts several galleries of model ships and uniforms. Anchors, artillery and helicopters can be seen rusting quietly in the…
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Black Sea Coast
This small exhibition on marine life, as well as some ancient coins, is situated in a restored Turkish bathhouse (hamam) going back to the 16th century…
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Black Sea Coast
Typical of the characteristic Nesebâr construction is this well-preserved church, built in the mid-14th century. An unusual feature at the eastern end of…
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Burgas
Stretching lazily along the Black Sea coast and filled with manicured flower beds, fountains, busts of Bulgarian worthies, abstract sculptures and cafes,…
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Black Sea Coast
Explore the rich history of Nesebâr – formerly Mesembria – at this fine museum. Greek and Roman pottery, statues and tombstones, as well as Thracian gold…
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Varna
Housed in a powder-blue art deco building, the city aquarium is worth a look to see the tanks filled with seahorses, piranhas and conger eels, as well as…
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Varna
Varna's retro planetarium is a beautiful building in its own right, though the nightly presentations (shows start at 5pm Monday to Saturday) are in…
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Black Sea Coast
Built in the 11th century and reconstructed 500 years later, this is the best-preserved church in town. If you only visit one, this is the church to…
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Black Sea Coast
With only one nave and one apse, the Sveta Paraskeva Church is a fine example of 13th-century architecture. The church now houses a small exhibition of…
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St Michael the Archangel Church
Varna
St Michael the Archangel Church was founded in 1865 and is historically significant as the first place where religious services were given in Bulgarian…
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Burgas
This small museum houses a diverting collection of local finds including Neolithic flint tools, a wooden canoe from the 5th century BC, Greek statuary and…
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Black Sea Coast
Pomorie Lake has been an important source of salt, via salt panning, through the ages. Visitors learn the techniques of panning as well as the history of…
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Black Sea Coast
The Church of St John the Baptist was built in the 10th century and features some of the best-preserved murals from the 14th and 17th centuries. The…
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Varna
Varna’s ivy-clad city history museum covers the post-independence period from 1878 to 1939, with mock-ups of long-gone 1920s shops and offices,…
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Sv Cyril & Methodius Cathedral
Burgas
Completed in 1907, the city’s main church boasts an especially fine, intricately carved iconostasis and colourful murals. It was closed in 2016 to undergo…
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Burgas
Old-fashioned but informative displays on local flora, fauna and geology are on view here. Exhibits of rocks, seashells, butterflies and beetles occupy…
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Black Sea Coast
The permanent collection of this gallery holds about 1500 works of art from Bulgarian and foreign artists, though the main draws tend to be the highly…
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Sveti Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church
Varna
This elegant church was built in 1842 and features a barrelled wooden ceiling and a wonderful collection of naive icons. It’s normally closed, but the…
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Black Sea Coast
This modest, single-nave church was built in 1609, below ground level, as dictated by the Ottoman authorities of the time. It features some well-preserved…
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Varna
This charming revival-era mansion built in 1860 houses an interesting collection of traditional folk costumes and furnishings, and has displays on local…
