bulgaria

Bulgaria's Black Sea coast is made up of two enormous bays and the holiday resorts are centred around two major cities on the coast: Varna in the north and Bourgas in the south. In between, 2,000 year old fishing villages provide quiet respite from the party atmosphere of the larger resorts.

Sunny Beach, near Bourgas, is the biggest resort on the Black Sea coast and is made up almost entirely of hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities, all geared to the convenience of the holidaymaker. Sunny Beach did not get its name for nothing. The sun seems to shine even when the rest of Bulgaria gets rain. The wide beach stretches off towards the cliffs in the distance - kilometre after kilometre of clean, soft, grainy sand, perfect for long walks. The main action takes place on a 1.5 km long promenade with market stalls, cafes and restaurants. This resort is ideal for family groups because while there are plenty of pools, slides, bouncy castles and mini-golf facilities to keep children entertained, adults are also well catered for with the thrills of water sports, parasailing, hang-gliding, boat trips in banana boats and parties until dawn in thumping nightspots.

Many visitors use Sunny Beach as a base from which to travel around Bulgaria, so that sunbathing can be interrupted with city trips and visits to museums monasteries. Trips by bus and boat are available to places such as Sofia, the capital and largest city of the country, Plovdiv, the second largest city with settlement traces dating from 4000 BC, and Varna. Another interesting place to visit would be Duni, a purpose-built resort nearby. It is situated on a south mountainside and has a very friendly atmosphere with its sunny terraces and small harbor.

Because the beaches in this area face east, early birds can watch the sun rise over the warm sea. With its rare sand dunes and as the habitat of several protected species of plants, Sunny Beach is also of specific interest to nature lovers. Thanks to the mountains, which form a picturesque backdrop to the far left end of the beach as one look out to sea, the resort gets a fresh breeze that keeps sunbathers from scorching.

• Treat yourself to seafood in Nessebar. It may look as if there are more seafood restaurants than people to fill them here, but prices are low, quality is high and everything will be fresh from the sea that day.
• Indulge in a traditional mud treatment in Pomorie the centre of Bulgaria's mud treatment industry; all of the village's hotels offer treatments.
• Admire Varna's majestic cathedral, built in 1886.
• Be blinded by the Golden Sands - a literal translation of the Bulgarian name Zlatni Pyusnati. The name is not the invention of an optimistic marketing man's imagination: the sand here really is as gold as you could possibly wish for.
• Go bird watching in the marshes and lakes of Bourgas, a unique and carefully protected ecosystem, or near the cliffs at Kaliakra Nature Reserve.
• Pretend to be a Roman during the Apollonia Arts Festival at Sozopol's Amphitheatre, held every September.
• Visit Bulgaria's answer to the Eurovision Song Contest in May, when composers and singers from around the world make their way to Varna to take part in a cheesy pop competition. The music is matched by an array of imaginative costumes and performances.
• Go to the Varna Summer International Music Festival, the oldest music festival in Bulgaria. Throughout June and July, Bulgarian and foreign performers stage music, theatre and ballet shows.
• In August, listen to impressive concerts at the Varna Summer International Jazz Festival or the International Festival of Folk Music in Bourgas