![]() It was my second time in Bulgaria this year, and I’m planning on heading back again in a few weeks from now. On this visit, I extended my stay, multiple times, at every place I stopped. I’ve visited Bulgaria seven times since I began my journey back in 2012. It always has been, and always will be, personal.ĭuring my more than 1000 days of travel (so far), Bulgaria has been the quiet highlight. Because, I know that travel, is personal exploration. So, I can’t see any point in getting too specific about Bulgaria with short-term prescriptive advice on what you should do and see, and I’ll leave the disposable top-ten articles to somebody else. Indeed, for millions of years, the humans that came before modern humans, have been travelling through Bulgaria. For thousands of years, Bulgaria has truly been a crossroads between Europe and Asia, East and West. Already, more information on Bulgaria exists in every language than you will want or need. And the thing is, from a generic tourist perspective, everything about every country everywhere has already been written about, photographed, published, shared, liked, and forgotten. ![]() Obviously, a top-ten listicle can never do an entire country any justice. The remote beaches along the coast of the Black Sea in Bulgaria are probably the least expensive, and quietest, peak-season beaches anywhere in Europe. Bulgarians invented the Cyrillic alphabet (Bulgaria is the reason “EBPO” is written underneath “EURO” on Euro banknotes all across Europe – even though Bulgaria doesn’t use the Euro). Leafy cobble-stoned streets wind through quaint villages, and the food is great, as are the people. There’s a handful of UNESCO-listed towns nestled in between rolling mountains, with much of Bulgaria’s stunning nature remaining pure and pristine.īulgaria was communist for almost half-a-century, these days that legacy is only apparent by the appearance of mostly decaying concrete monuments and brutalist architecture, and I’ve been told, the often onerous bureaucratic processes. Sofia is a vibrant and modern European capital city. Then, I decided against it, because it’s easy enough to pithily summarise Bulgaria in just a few sentences: Bulgaria is a classic European nation, with visual and cultural elements derived from a multitude of empires, with history spanning back longer than almost any other nation in Europe. I considered running this article as a top-ten list about Bulgaria (and you wouldn’t believe number three). Sinemorets, Bulgaria.Ĭlick to see an interactive map showing the location of this article Honestly, I could sit here all day adding photos like this. Despite the reputation this place has, I can assure you the media has exaggerated. I’ve never visited a city where so many people hang out, catch up, drink, party, play music, chill, and just enjoy life in the city parks – well into the night. Typical summer scene at the Black Sea, Bulgaria. The river is the border between Turkey and Bulgaria. View from the abandoned communist party headquarters “Buzludzha”, Bulgaria. I’ve just spent six weeks in Bulgaria, it’s about as East as Eastern Europe gets. The entire carefully crafted image of Eastern-Europe as a backwards, drab, gray, muddy, dangerous, poor little cousin of Western Europe isn’t entirely true. Romania has the fastest internet anywhere on the continent. Budapest has the newest subway line in Europe. A grim, poor, ramshackle, communist, and muddy group-perception of life behind the Iron Curtain emerged, and unfortunately, that image still exists for many people in the West – despite Eastern Europe having moved on long ago.īy 2015, seven of the top eight tallest skyscrapers in Europe, are located in Russia. But, we were fairly certain we knew exactly what Eastern Europe was like because all our blanks were filled in by the ever-reliable Western media. Not so long ago, very few people in the West knew anything about Eastern Europe. Growing up in the “West”, Eastern Europe seemed like a kind of bizarro world where life seemed similar, and yet, very different. I remember seeing a late-night public-access 1970’s-era TV doco, laced with heavily moustached Bulgarian taxi-drivers talking about politics and America whilst the women made home-made yoghurt and darned socks. Maybe you’ve spotted a curious packet of old Bulgarian stamps at the local flea market, identified by a Russian-looking alphabet, communist motifs, and skilled drawings of prized cows. Every four years, you might see a Bulgarian champion weight-lifter at the Olympics. ![]() Bulgaria view 266 comments Sea Cows, Bulgariaįor most, Bulgaria is one of those Eastern European countries we only catch glimpses of.
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