Having used this forum for a while now I thought I would leave a review of Sunny Beach. I understand that many people posting here love Sunny Beach and will not hear a bad word whilst others have had a bad holiday and paint a very bad picture of the place. I think my wife and I to an extent can see where both sides are coming from and hope this leads to a more neutral review than can sometimes be posted.
We returned on Monday after two weeks half board at the Majestic. I have reviewed the hotel also for anyone who cares to read up on it. It was a fabulous hotel only slightly let down by the food and by how busy the restauarant was. This is not really a complaint as we never find food the best in hotels.
We feel that for this time of year we were quite lucky with the weather. The day we arrived was horrific and the next day not too good. After this however we had warm days, sometimes a little cloudy but we were also lucky to have several days of bright sunshine.
We flew Balkan which was basic but got us there and home safely and on time.
Due to the fact we travelled with our three year old we steered clear of excursions so sorry cannot comment on these. We did visit Nessebar though and found this a very nice little place to spend a few hours.
If you do not like a busy, noisy holiday then Sunny Beach is not for you. If you hate touts constantly trying to get you in pubs/restauarants or trying to sell you things then again this is not the place for you.
If though, you like the idea of music, fun, bright lights and having some banter with the touts then this is for you.
I reckon that in a few years this will be the number one hotspot for teens and twenty somethings. 24 hour pubs, clubs and partying for theyoung and young at heart.
We found that eating out was not as good as other parts of Europe and they have some catching up to do. We had a few very bad meals. On the other hand we had some great meals and I would reccommend The Fat Cat, The Funny Pub, an Italian called Stella di Mare and mostly one of the A la Carte restaurants in the Majestic called Dolce Vita. If you want a proper restaurant then this one is great. It has a lovely interior, great food and is reasonably priced.
Food was probably not much different in price to back home. If you are willing to drink the local booze then it is dirt cheap. I paid as little as 40p a big beer in one place with the dearest being two quid in our hotel. Local beer I found to be very nice. Wine %26amp; local spirits also cheap and cocktails buy one get same free all over the resort. Imported drinks are way too dear so if possible stay local.
Watch out for high pavements. Watch out for fruit sellers, do not take fruit from them. Watch out for guys trying to con you into changing money in there booths, use Crown, String or proper banks only. Watch out for prostitutes trying to dip your pocket, we saw them plying there trade as early as eight o%26#39;clock one night. Touts at first really annoyed us but as we got used to it a pleasant no thank you from us seemed to be all most were looking for.Taxi drivers are a pain in the a**e and seem to take offence when you tell them you don%26#39;t want a taxi.
Above were the bad things but in my opinion the following are the good thingd to look out for. Generally the locals are very friendly. Artist Street is amazing and these people are unbelievably talented. We got a 16%26quot;x12%26quot; framed portrait of our son for about £60 and it is awesome. We really enjoyed shopping along the beach front. It%26#39;s nice to buy a few wee fakes when you would never pay the money for the real deal. My wife got a couple of bags and I got a couple of pairs of jeans all for good prices. My jeans were far too long but for an extra £2.50 the sellers took them to a shop to be taken up and they did a very professional job. Also good was sitting at one of the quiter bars at night with a drink watching the crowds go by. The price of cigs is also very good. Less than £2 a packet. Not many brands on sale but if you can handle Silk Cut, B%26amp;H or Lambert %26amp; Butler then you are in luck.
Along the front there are various play areas on the beach for kids and loads of crazy golf courses so they won%26#39;t get bored. 18 holes of crazy golf is average of £5 adult and £3 kids. The little trains which run around the resort are great fun and only cost £1.50 a journey.
I hope I have given an honest review and please leave any questions you have and I will answer them for you.
All in all we had a pretty good holiday and we will reurn in future but prbably just for a week next time.
Thank you to anyone who answered any questions I posted before our holiday as much of the advice on here was taken on board by us.
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I think your report is fair and comprehensive and quite a good guide for newcomers to Sunny Beach.
I noticed an increase in the younger generation this year and what saddened me was it was the Brits who were organizing the %26quot; Pub Crawls %26quot;.
I have been going for a number of years and loved the vibrant atmosphere but it%26#39;s getting OTT now and seeing very young lads out of their heads may well mean holidaying elsewhere in future.
Toonman
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Thanks for a very honest report. I assume from your report that you spent a lot of your time along the main beach drag. I have been to Sunny Beach twice this year, as usual and spent a total of 5weeks there. I can honestly say, I went along the beach road only twice, and only went then as we wanted to call at one of the hotels on the front to see Bulgarian friends.
The resort is changing every year, but we spend most of our time in the local restaurants and therefore are never bothered by the touts.
As Toonman says, the British organising the party crew bar crawls are in my opinion spoiling the resort, and I am not a prude and enjoy partying as much, if not more, than most.
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Toonman, WelshLady,
Thank you for reading my review and replying on it.
I hope for you Toonman that the invasion of 18-30 ers will not lead you to have to stop visiting somewhere you must love so much. Over the years when I was younger and holidayed with my mates, I have been to Ibiza, Magaluf, Tenerife %26amp; Gran Canaria and I reckon for a good night out this might beat them all. There are so many pubs/clubs to choose for them, the drink is cheap and the place is 24 hour non stop. The only thing missing are perhaps really big clubs and regular appearances of big name DJ%26#39;s. If this happens then it will be the place to be. In my opinion of course.
Welsh Lady, we really enjoy wandering on holiday and walked miles each day so we did see quite a lot of the quieter and more local areas at the other side of the main road at the top of Flower Street. The location of our hotel meant we really had to walk along the beach front every time we went out. The other option was the back way but this was the busy road throught he resort which the bus used and not as pleasant a walk.
Again I must stress that the touts did not put us of to the extent that we would not return.
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Im afraid that Sunny Beach is already going down the same road as the other resorts you mention, Malia, Ibiza etc. There were visits by top DJs this Summer and these gigs I believe are held at Cacoa Beach, between Sunny Beach and Nessebur.
I see your point about walking into the centre along the beach road.
Did you visit Sv Vlas? Although its very hilly, it is a much quieter area with a nice beach and marina. Very good restaurants around the village square.
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Hi Welsh Lady,
We didn%26#39;t visit St Vlas but probably should have as it maybe sounds more like our cup of tea but we live and learn.
Already I have been asked since returning by friends if I would reccomend a holiday and I told them yes but that they should fully read up on the place so that they know what to expect and then they can make there own choice.
It completely took us by surprise as to how big and busy the place was. We were naive when booking that we thought it would still be a reasonably under developed resort but it is far from it.
Still at the end of the day who can argue with 40p a pint lol.
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I went this year with club 18-30 and there was not just British bar crawls. Lots of other Countries have them to like Germans, Swedish and Norwegians to name a few, so dont think you can just blame the younger British groups as lot of other countries younger groups do act the same on them.
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Hi
Think you may have missunderstood the above posts. What Toonman and myself pointed out was that the party crew crowd is orgainised by BRITISH, who have an interest in many of the party bars as well as discos, Orange and Revolution. Hence, the red London buses.
I do realise that all the other nationalities have their party nights as well, and we were not stating that ALL the younger crowd were Brits.
Good to see you had a good holiday. Will you return to Sunny Beach.
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Not sure if i would return again. In general did enjoy the holiday just few bad points like our hotel that we stopped in Bahami hotel was not bril the cleaners were shocking in two weeks towels and bed sheets only changed once. The weather was also very bad but think we got unlucky and picked the worst two weeks of summer 3rd July to 17th i think we had rain at least half of the days.
The main plus point like a lot people will say is the price it is a lot cheaper than anyway else in Europe by a mile. Also think some of the resturants were hit and miss but again cant go wrong with the price.
So if i did go back again would stop in different hotel and hope for better weather, but can see how it is a place that people would enjoying going year after year.
Also thanks to you ( welshlady) and toonman for all advice u give to people i am sure it has helped alot of people to enjoy their holidays more and will do in future.
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We have also just returned from 2 weeks in SB (my 30th visit) and enjoyed it more than ever...We stayed in the Europa hotel and ate out in the many great restaurants in the immediate area...
The centre of the resort is a no go area for us, far to expensive and is a rip off compared to what you can get in other parts of the resort...
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