Bulgaria?

[Jambob]

In the near future I have an inclination to go to Bulgaria. Now I know nothing about the place but I am drawn there for some reason.

I am a 23 year old male, who likes doing the things that most 23 year old males like doing.. Has anyone visited Bulgaria before and if so do you have any information on where would be the best area to go? I would be looking at more of a beach type holiday.

Thanks in advance.

[Blue Meanie]

Varna/Burgas regions the best bet. It's a bit Costa Del Sol in many places, but from what I've been told the old Village of Burgas is very nice indeed.

[Jambob]

Thankyou very much for the help chaps.

To be honest I will probably be going by myself, none of my mates are interested in going to Bulgaria! I on the other hand really, really want to go.

I will look at all of the places mentioned, thankyou.

Blue Meanie,

How do you find Bulgaria? As I say I know nothing of the place but it does appeal massively. Could I expect any trouble?

[Blue Meanie]

In the touristy areas, you're more likely to have trouble from other pissed up Brits. The country itself is poor. Very agricultural, and a lot of the villages are self sufficient but very primitive. The older folks aren't too hot with English, but the younger folks are. You could do with learning a few basic words to get by with. The best beer, local, is Zagorka, or Boliarka. Their local heavy drink is Rakia, which is a bit whiskyish, but to me tastes like st. The drivers are nuts, and be careful how much you pay for taxis, as you may well get ripped off. Don't change money in the resort on the street, as they change you for the old Leva, rather than the new. Just get your cash from the cash machine.

Food on the whole is good, but quite basic. Parlenka, salads, and kebabchi, or kufta are staple. It gets fking hot in the summer. I got severe burns the first year I was here after a dip in the pool. As a result I've been paralyzed from the neck up.

Varna is a major city, and sits on the Black sea. Lots of shops, bars, and whatnot down by the beach, where there is a plentiful supply of topless fillies, which is nice.

[Jambob]

Thankyou very much for the reply and in great detail as well. Pissed up brits I can deal with (just about) I will avoid them. I understand the country is poor I have met 1 or 2 Bulgarian people in my time, I think the fact with how nice they are has taken a massive part in my wanting to go there.

I am very sorry to hear about the incident with the intense sun that you have experienced, not nice.

Thanks again for your help it is very much appreciated, this is a completely alien country to me.

[Blue Meanie]

Well, the paralysed from the neck up was supposed to be a joke, Saying that, I did get badly burned on my shouldies.

[karona]

Jambob said:

In the near future I have an inclination to go to Bulgaria. Now I know nothing about the place but I am drawn there for some reason.

I am a 23 year old male, who likes doing the things that most 23 year old males like doing.. Has anyone visited Bulgaria before and if so do you have any information on where would be the best area to go? I would be looking at more of a beach type holiday.

Thanks in advance.

I've lived in Bulgaria for three years and love the place. Beer's about 45 pence a litre, vodka (Flirt) is 65p for 100mil (4 UK measures!). The most popular beach destination is Sunny Beach/Nesseber, which is like a less sleasy Blackpool, food and drink is cheaper than the UK, but still very expensive by Bulgarian standards. A few miles down the road is Pomorie and Aytos, still very commercial and touristy, still wall to wall crumpet, but much cheaper. Further south is my favourite, Kiten, beautifully un-touristy, but still very nice, and then Sozopol, more developed and touristy. Aim to fly into Burgas for the seaside resorts, Sofia's a 5 hour drive away. July and August are the hottest months, 35 to 40 degC is common, with wall-to-wall sunshine, and the occasional apocalyptic afternoon thunderstorm. Topless sunbathing is the norm, and Sunny Beach has a nude bathing section as well. Money changing is the most common rip-off, get your cash from the hole in the wall, not the change booths. At Sunny Beach you'll be pestered to eat in every restaurant on the strip, play them at their own game and demand a free drink in return for eating there. Do NOT be tempted to take a piss up an alley, vigilante squads patrol the place and will demand payment or frogmarch pissed up brits to the police if they catch you.
Enjoy your holiday

[Blue Meanie]

Nice weather the next few days! Woohoo! Hopefully that will be the last of the snow.

[Blue Meanie]

I Love Lamp said:

P.S. don't ps off the mafia.

The rich/poor divide is rather extreme

Their traffic lights are amazing (they count down)

Second the thunderstorms, pretty cool out there

The Mafia thing is a bit overblown.

[karona]

Blue Meanie said:

Nice weather the next few days! Woohoo! Hopefully that will be the last of the snow.

Yep, temperatures up in the teens for next week, and the first Stork is here already, nearly two weeks early.

[Jambob]

Blue Meanie,

I wasn't sure whether you were joking or not, nasty burns all the same.

karona said:

I've lived in Bulgaria for three years and love the place. Beer's about 45 pence a litre, vodka (Flirt) is 65p for 100mil (4 UK measures!). The most popular beach destination is Sunny Beach/Nesseber, which is like a less sleasy Blackpool, food and drink is cheaper than the UK, but still very expensive by Bulgarian standards. A few miles down the road is Pomorie and Aytos, still very commercial and touristy, still wall to wall crumpet, but much cheaper. Further south is my favourite, Kiten, beautifully un-touristy, but still very nice, and then Sozopol, more developed and touristy. Aim to fly into Burgas for the seaside resorts, Sofia's a 5 hour drive away. July and August are the hottest months, 35 to 40 degC is common, with wall-to-wall sunshine, and the occasional apocalyptic afternoon thunderstorm. Topless sunbathing is the norm, and Sunny Beach has a nude bathing section as well. Money changing is the most common rip-off, get your cash from the hole in the wall, not the change booths. At Sunny Beach you'll be pestered to eat in every restaurant on the strip, play them at their own game and demand a free drink in return for eating there. Do NOT be tempted to take a piss up an alley, vigilante squads patrol the place and will demand payment or frogmarch pissed up brits to the police if they catch you.
Enjoy your holiday

Thanks for the advise. That is ridiculously cheap prices for Alcohol! I have experienced the restaurant type pestering before, good idea about playing them at their own game.

Thanks again for all the help. Lots of research for me to be doing. Really cannot wait to get out there now.

[Blue Meanie]

karona said:

Yep, temperatures up in the teens for next week, and the first Stork is here already, nearly two weeks early.

Can get rid of the silly red bracelet!

[Blue Meanie]

As long as you realize the poor/rich divide, it won't look odd to you. I've lived and worked in West Africa, India, etc, so it doesn't bother me in the slightest!

[rich85uk]

sorry to hijack but hopefully this will also help the o/p

how does sunny beach compare to places like tenerife(americas) and the greek islands in terms of weather,price and nightlife

[Blue Meanie]

Can't help... Not a beach person.

[karona]

rich85uk said:

sorry to hijack but hopefully this will also help the o/p

how does sunny beach compare to places like tenerife(americas) and the greek islands in terms of weather,price and nightlife

Can't comment on the Greek Islands, but I've spent many a happy holiday in Las Americas. Put a few hundred drunken youngsters together and you couldn't tell which country you were in. Booze and food seems cheaper in Sunny Beach, but last time I was in Tenerife everything felt cheap too. There's loads of nightlife in Sunny Beach, nightclubs, sports bars (live football on Sky), restaurants, girls selling affection by the hour, the same as Tenerife. The weather is similar, hot, hot, hot, and I wasn't kidding about the thunderstorms, but Sunny Beach has a shorter season, from mid-May to September, by the end of September Sunny Beach is a ghost town, and the weather is much cooler and wetter. Flying time to Sunny Beach (Burgas) is a bit shorter than Tenerife (3.5 hours) and the transfer to Sunny Beach is around 20 minutes. WhizAir (Luton), Ryanair (Prestwick and Stansted) SleazyJet (Manchester, Luton) Balkan Holidays, BulgariaAir, First Choice, Thomas Cook all fly to Bulgaria, some just to Sofia, but an internal flight to Burgas is around 40 Euros

[Kwai Chang Caine]

Slightly off topic, but are any of you guys based in Bulgaria?

If so, how easy is it to hire a driver/bodyguard out there? There is very little on the web.

Cheers!

[Blue Meanie]

Kwai Chang Caine said:

Slightly off topic, but are any of you guys based in Bulgaria?

If so, how easy is it to hire a driver/bodyguard out there? There is very little on the web.

Cheers!

I live near Veliko Tarnovo. Why do you need a bodyguard? It's no more dangerous than any other country.

[Blue Meanie]

http://www.need.bg/en/?c=125&page=5

[Kwai Chang Caine]

Blue Meanie said:

Kwai Chang Caine said:

Slightly off topic, but are any of you guys based in Bulgaria?

If so, how easy is it to hire a driver/bodyguard out there? There is very little on the web.

Cheers!

I live near Veliko Tarnovo. Why do you need a bodyguard? It's no more dangerous than any other country.

I like to have a driver and security wherever I go to be honest. A serious dose of paranoia!

It's looking like I might be doing some business over there come the summer...this thread was an opportunity to ask.

Thanks for the link; most of the sites are in Bulgarian so I'll get my cleaner to translate for me etc.

Help appreciated muchly!

P.S. Don't ever stop contributing to the religion threads! Yourself and Carmonk do a fine job!