First time in Bulgaria / need some tips

Hi

We are a 30yo couple going to Bulgaria for the first time. We will fly to Burgas sept 19th and depart from Sofia on the 24th.

The general plan is to stay 2/3 nights at the coast, then go to Sofia for the remaining days.

The questions I have:

Is it better to travel by bus or by train?

Accomodation offer in Burgas is scarce, but Sunny Beach, Nessebar, Sozopol are all in a 40km radius.

Is the trip to these places easy (finding a bus/train, renting a car)?

Which one would you recommend?

Is there a connection from there to Sofia or do we need to go back to Burgas?

How many of the 5 days should we leave to visit Sofia?

Thanks in advance for the help.

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Firstly, Sunny Beach will be starting to close down by the time you visit and I would therefore recommend Nessebar for a couple of nights.

You would have to return to Burgas for either a coach or train back to Sofia.

See here for train timetables/cost

http://www.bdz.bg/

Have you considered a cheap internal flight from Sofia to Burgas?

http://www.air.bg/en

Toonman

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If not flying Burgas - Sofia, I%26#39;d vote for the bus.

You may want to consider spending a day/night in old town Plovdiv on the way to Sofia or visit as a day trip from Sofia.

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Thanks to both of you for the quick reply.

The train and flights websites are very user friendly. Is there a similar site to find bus information, for exemple the timetable from Burgas to Nessebar, or we just have find the bus station and go from there?

About going to Sofia, travelling by train at night, in a couchette, is a safe option, or should we really avoid the train?

Regards,

Sergio

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Update:

Found the bus website:

http://www.bgrazpisanie.com/

Did some more research today on places to go.

Thinking about 1 or 2 days in Nessebar or Sozopol (haven%26#39;t decided which one yet...)

Then bus to Plovdiv, and one day to visit the old town. Then would like to go to Trigrad and around (Devils throat and Yagodina caves).

Found a bus, but it only goes to Devin. And then there%26#39;s only a daily bus to Trigrad.

Only problem here is the shortage of time, and having to go back to Plovdiv because i dont think there is a bus from Trigrad or Devin to Sofia...

I think one solution can be to rent a car in Plovdiv and return it in Sofia.

I will devote some more time to research the rent-a-car options in previous posts, your recommendations will be most welcome.

Thanks again

Sergio

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You will find lots of options for buses, minibuses, etc. around Burgas, Nessebar, Sozopol, even the trip from Burgas to Plovdiv. I can%26#39;t help you with info about the places in the mountain, but please keep in mind that at the end of September the weather can change very suddenly. It looked like you are going on a mostly beach/city sightseeing holiday. Will you have the propper clothing and shoes for the mountain? Maybe focus on one type of tourism at a time, go back and do the mountains another time?