Discover Bulgaria – trough the eyes of Helena & Peter Bergström

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About Helena & Peter Bergström

We live in a houseboat in Stockholm, Sweden and travel as often as we can – by plane, train, boat or our camper FREEDOM. In our freedomtravel blog we write about travelling, adventure and camping, but also about houseboat life and lifestyle in general.

We have travelled in more than 45 countries in five continents, by plane, train, boat or camper. We love to discover new places, try out new foods and meet new people. During the last ten years we have, among other trips, travelled the Trans Siberian Railway, been backpacking in Kenya and Tanzania, been roadtripping and adventure hunting in New Zealand, went on beach holiday in Ukraine and been island hopping in the Philippines.

Our trip to Bulgaria

Our trip to Bulgaria was a press trip, arranged by the Bulgarian Tourist BoardWe traveled together with Christian from Matochresebloggen.se and Norwegian Hannah and Jörgen, who run the Instagram account @hannahlates . We really had a great time together as we explored at a high pace what Bulgaria has to offer.

Why travel to Bulgaria

We had never been to Bulgaria before and had mostly heard of Sunny Beach, where many went to party a decade ago. To be honest, we probably had some prejudices about the country, but we were absolutely ready to challenge them. And probably the prejudices always came to shame! Of course, some things were better than others, and when we try to sort through the impressions, we think we can highlight some things that were extra good during our trip.

Lovely beaches

Bulgaria is perhaps best known for its beautiful beaches. The beaches that many people made the pilgrimage to in the past – Sunny Beach and Golden Sands – are of course still long fine sandy beaches that attract visitors. But we guess a lot has happened! Among other things, we visited the beach bar Bedroom Beach on Sunny Beach, which felt really modern and fresh, with a nice swing in the background music.

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If you do not like that type of beach life, there are lots of smaller beaches, which are beautiful in a completely different way, and sometimes almost exotically paradise-like. The beach in the picture below is called Hero’s beach and can be reached, for example, by shuttle bus from Lighthouse Golf & Spa resort or from Saint George camping.

Beautiful nature

We have really only seen a small, small part of Bulgaria’s nature, but what we saw surprised us positively. We had expected to see beautiful beaches, but we were not as prepared for the intense greenery and the steep cliffs that here and there fell sharply into the sea.

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[/lgc_column]The fields with sunflowers and lavender offered sparkling beautiful colors, and if you come at the right time and to the right places, you can also see fields with flowering roses. We also know that there are plenty of mountain areas in the country where it is popular to hike or, in the winter, ski.

Fine golf resorts

We are not golfers, but we visited several beautiful Bulgarian golf resorts during the trip, where you can combine golf with spa and beach baths. These hotels were stunningly beautiful along the Black Sea.

One of the hotels (Thracian Cliff) has an incredibly spectacular golf course, where you sometimes have to shoot the ball down a steep or across open water. In addition, the beaches at these golf courses are fantastic.

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[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”true”]Wonderful beaches in Bulgaria! Could imagine to stay here for a while? And next time we maybe bring the camper.  This is Hero’s Beach, close to Lighthouse Golf & Spa Resort.[/lgc_column]

Exciting history

Bulgaria has a very long history and can, among other things, boast of housing Europe’s oldest city, Plovdiv. This city is located in central Bulgaria and was a destination we did not have time for this time, but then we have reason to go back to Bulgaria! The country also has lots of beautiful and interesting buildings from different eras, such as the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia.

Bulgaria has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites to offer. We had time to see one of them, namely the old town of Nessebar. Nesebar in Bulgaria is a more than 3,200-year-old settlement, which was already a significant trading city in the 5th century BC. The city originally belonged to the historic kingdom of Thrace and was later conquered by Greeks, Romans, Bulgarians and Ottomans (Ottomans) and was for a time an important city for the Byzantine Empire. Today, this is a historically exciting, but also cozy, small town in Bulgaria.

Nice people

Most of the people we met in Bulgaria were extremely nice. Now, of course, we mainly met people who run restaurants and hotels, and who might want to be nice to their guests. But the feeling in my stomach was good, and many meetings made us happy and warm inside.

During our relatively short trip, we managed to meet very committed people, who fought for their activities and who really offered themselves. The man in the pictures also served us a fantastically well-cooked dinner at Darzala’s Wine & Dine in Varna.

Bulgaria is affordable destination

Bulgaria is an affordable destination. Of course, this does not mean that everything is super cheap, but it does mean that everything is cheaper than what the corresponding experience would be in Sweden. According to the Forex country index from 2019, Bulgaria is at 35 (compared to Sweden at Index 100). This means, according to that list, that it is more affordable in Bulgaria than, for example, in Malaysia, Turkey, Albania, Poland and Thailand.

Either you can choose to live really cheaply, or you can choose to treat yourself to things that you might not indulge in in ordinary cases, such as nicer hotels, spa treatments or luxurious drinks at a rooftop bar.

How can you travel to Bulgaria

In “normal” cases, there are usually direct flights from Stockholm to the Black Sea in Bulgaria. These flights have been canceled during the pandemic and still are, and we therefore flew with LOT Polish Airlines to the capital Sofia, with a stopover in Warsaw. Then we took a domestic flight to Varna on the coast. A somewhat cumbersome journey perhaps, but hopefully the direct flights will start again soon!

Those who want can of course also get to Bulgaria by car or motorhome, and there are also campsites, especially by the Black Sea and by lakes. For example, we looked past Camping Saint George at Hero’s Beach, which is large and where you are welcome with camping vehicles without booking a place in advance.

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