Holidays in Sozopol
We rested in Sozopol at the end of June-beginning of July 2013 for 12 days through the travel agency "Let's go with us" (tour operator Iltur. ) We paid 6170 UAH for vouchers for two and a visa (in total, we spent about 13 thousand hryvnias with vouchers for two). Currency: 1 Bulgarian lev - 5 Ukrainian hryvnia or 1 lev - 0.70 cents. 10 leva - 7 dollars.
We drove from Donetsk: transfer to Dnepropetrovsk at 6 am, and from Dnepropetrovsk at 10-00 we were picked up by a Bulgarian double-decker bus. I want to say right away that it is very difficult to drive such a bus on our roads. The roads in Krivoy Rog, Nikolaev, Odessa regions are terrible - it was even a shame in front of the Bulgarian drivers. This is probably why we were on the road for about 35 hours - it's very hard, it's good that we took inflatable head restraints with us. They are very handy. The bus has air conditioning and everything. There are no other services. Stops are mainly at the request of passengers, but for some reason, in most cases, drivers did not stop at well-maintained stops, and more and more we had to run through the bushes, they probably believed that Ukrainians with their roads deserve this. And the first gas station after Dnepropetrovsk went even further: when our bus stopped, they simply quickly closed the door and announced over the loudspeaker that they were not working. As the drivers themselves (who speak Russian tolerably) said, they do it so as not to let people go to the toilet, and this is practiced in Ukraine. And if only 23 people went there and we could choose our places at our discretion, then back (07.07. 13) we were “lucky”: we were accompanied by schoolchildren from Odessa, who were resting in a camp in Bulgaria. The drivers “turned on the incomprehensibility of the Russian language”, they sat everyone on the second floor, that is, both passengers and schoolchildren, they didn’t let anyone on the first floor and it was empty, and on the 2nd floor it was stuffy, despite the air conditioner, the children were noisy, indulged, ran around the bus, the counselors did not pay much attention to it. And when they finally came out, they left behind these young Odessa pigs - exactly the pigsty in which we had to go to Dnepropetrovsk.
We drove through Moldova (they did not stay long at the border - 15 minutes), in Romania and Bulgaria we stood at the borders for about an hour. When we arrived in Bulgaria to Sunny Beach, there we were immediately picked up by a bus to Sozopol (1 hour drive) and brought to the hotel, which we had chosen in advance, "Aquamarine". It’s better to fly by plane (300 USD more expensive), but in an hour you are already in Burgas, and from there it’s 30 minutes to Sozopol. ride on a comfortable air-conditioned bus that runs every 30 minutes.
Aquamarine Hotel (Three Stars)
It is located in the center of the new city, in which there are only about 5 thousand local people, on Ropotamo street - a very convenient place. To the sea 3-4 minutes walk. The owner of the hotel, Dimo, is very hospitable and friendly, speaks good Russian (his wife, by the way, is Ukrainian). The room has a standard set: a double bed, pillows are old and uncomfortable, the bed was changed after four days, towels (6 of them) - after three days. The room also has 2 bedside tables, a wardrobe, air conditioning, a refrigerator bar, a shower, a toilet, soap and shampoo were put every day. There is a table and two chairs on the balcony. If there are no complaints against the owner, then it would not hurt him to change the maid. When they moved in, there was a cobweb with a spider over the door and they were evicted - it was still hanging there, she also cleaned it in bad faith, although several times they left her 2 levs. Then they stopped. There are plenty of free places in all hotels. Somewhere 30-35 leva per room per day. There is no language barrier. Bulgarians understand Russian (not Ukrainian) well, especially older people, because they taught it in schools until 1975.
Beach and sea.
The beach is quite clean, the sand is fine, the sea is excellent, clean, transparent at any time, even if it is a little stormy. This is not only in Sozopol, but also in Nessebar, Pomorie, where we went for a walk and see for ourselves. Closer to the sea, sunbeds and umbrellas are paid (6 leva is 30 UAH per day). We took our own umbrella, but you can use it after the beach umbrellas. Mostly tourists from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine rest there, there are Czechs, Poles, Romanians, fewer Germans and, of course, many Bulgarians themselves.
For breakfast and dinner, we mainly bought groceries at the Bolero supermarket. There are very good cheeses, all dairy products, a lot of fruits and vegetables. But not enough candy. They have a hard time with these. There is a lot of Swiss “Tablerone” chocolate (buy it with you only in hard packaging), there it is 1.50 leva, but we don’t have it everywhere, and it’s very expensive. There are many places on the streets where you can buy a variety of pastries. At lunch we always went to cafes, there are a lot of them. For example, bistro "Breeze": soup with meatballs, moussaka, stuffed peppers, beer - for all 28 leva. Where waiters serve, it is customary to leave a tip of 10%. We tried the cold soup "Tarator" (with sour milk, cucumbers, nuts, garlic and herbs) for 1.20, delicious and nothing happened to the stomach. But our okroshka is much tastier. In general, you can’t get poisoned there - everything is fresh, you are waiting for many dishes, as they are prepared just for you. The portions are huge, so it’s unrealistic to eat it alone, we got used to it and took some dishes for two, especially salads. Do not take pizza, it looks beautiful, but if you start eating - there is only dough. Better go to the Mak-Dag cafe on the shore, there is self-service, you take what you want, there is no one to tip.
Old Sozopol. We went for a walk in the old town. It is very beautiful, there is something to see, where to take pictures, a lot of souvenir shops, you want to touch and buy everything. We bought a lot of cosmetics for gifts "Bulgarian Rose", all based on rose oil or rose water, this is a well-known brand. If you know policemen - buy mint tincture "Cave Menta" or "Menta Cave". Take Mastic aniseed vodka, we have a rarity. Customs does not check anything, take as much as you want. Bulgarian brandy is better to take plum or apricot, as Dimo said. They also have high quality and affordable linens. Go for 2 leva to the local history museum. There is something to see.
Excursions.
I have already said about the old Sozopol. Through the excursion bureau, we took an excursion only to the village of Bata, and it’s much cheaper and more interesting to travel by ourselves.
So, it takes about an hour to go to Bath. Everyone is greeted with bread and salt and brandy. They took me to a huge hall. There were already tables, wine was immediately served, which you can pour from the barrels as much as you like, soup with beans, Shopska salad, later potatoes and kebabs, and watermelon for dessert. In addition to this hall, there is a huge courtyard where there are small museums, there is something to see, dressed in old Bulgarian clothes, took pictures. There was a concert where folk dances were danced for about an hour. Excellent entertainment program, disco. And when it got dark, they watched dancing on the coals.
Nessebar We traveled on our own. Half an hour to Burgas - 4.50 leva, from Burgas immediately transfer to the bus "Burgas - Sunny Beach, goes through Nessebar. There is nothing special to see in the new Nessebar, you need to cross the isthmus or drive two stops by bus number 1 (1 lev). It is better to walk, there are many interesting things along the way. Old Nessebar is beautiful: architecture of the 18-19th centuries, museums, castles, ancient temples. We bought souvenirs. We returned to Sozopol at about 16-00.
Pomorie. We drove the same way as before Nessebar (via Burgas). The beach there is wonderful. Sand like salt "Extra". From the point of view of architecture, there is nothing to see in Pomorie, just a beautiful modern city. We were in the salt museum, but it is very far to go there, there is also the famous Pomeranian mud nearby. But they look so vile that there was no desire to get smeared, and then look for where to wash it all off. There are functioning temples and a historical museum, which we didn’t go to, since you can’t take photos there.
In a word, I liked the trip to Bulgaria (except for a long bus ride). Rest in the Crimea is beyond comparison: dubious service, everything is very expensive. Therefore, issue a passport and, without hesitation, go to Bulgaria!