At last my report!
We left for Bulgaria on 24th June and our holiday started when we arrived in Morrisson’s in Stockport on our way to the airport. We met up with Justjed (a fellow poster on another site) and spent an hour or so chatting. He kindly brought us a bag of coins in exchange for a cup of coffee. Thanks Jed, we had plenty of change for the toilet for our 3week stay! (I’ll e.mail you)x
Our Easyjet flight to Sofia was excellent. On arrival in Sofia we made our way to the prebooked hotel on the outskirts of the city. After breakfast the following morning, our hire car was delivered to the hotel (www.economycarrentals.com), a nice little Polo. Plenty of room for 3 of us.
We made our way to Rila and spent a few hours at the Monestary. We then visited Bansko, hoping to find a hotel for the night. Very disappointed with this ski resort, which I feel has been spoilt due to the massive developements. We left towards Razlog and found a lovely little hotel (Hotel Helier) near Yakoruda on the Velingrad road. Beautiful, peaceful location and only 50lev for all 3 of us.
The following morning, we visited Velingrad and made our way towards Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Sliven and onwards towards Bourgas. The weather was mixed, hot sun one minute and thunderstorms the next.
We arrived in Sv Vlas later that evening and we were very pleased with the accommodation we’d booked at the Watermill Complex. A large, 2bed, 2 bathroom apartment in an ideal location. There was a bus stop and taxi rank outside and only a short walk to the Dinevi Marina. Just across the main road and we were only a short walk into the village square. The complex has a nice pool area and popular restaurant. We did find the restaurant prices were slightly higher than other places in the village and 2.80lev for a big beer!
Our holiday was spent relaxing (with a few drinks, of course) and meeting friends old and new. We met up with Cindylou, a poster on TripAdvisor one evening and it was great.
We spent one evening in Tankovo, with Amanda and Keith, who have lived in the village for 4years. After a few drinks in the little village bar we went to a lovely restaurant. We had a delicious meal and much cheaper than Sunny Beach. Must visit Tankovo again!
Other times were spent with our Macedonian friends and Bulgarian friends in various restaurants.
We went to Nessebur, which was very quiet this year and another day drove to Sozopol and Ahtopol, a lovely day out.
On the 15th July, we had to make our way back to Sofia for our return flight. Having locked up the apartment and packed up the car we called in the Hotel Zora to say our goodbyes and enjoy our complementary breakfast of ham and eggs. Final goodbyes and kisses in central Sunny Beach with our Macedonian friends and we were on our way.
Arriving in Sofia, we had to return the car to Terminal 2 and our flight was from Terminal 1. Dropped off CarolV and luggage at our terminal and M and I returned to car to Terminal 2, which is about 2kms away. Taxi quoted 10lev to take us back, which I thought was a rip off and refused. Then a kind gentleman came along and told us that there was in fact a free shuttle bus between terminals.
Sunny Beach did seem quieter than usual but again we never experienced any problems. No trouble, muggings, prostitutes and friendly taxi drivers. There was a noticable differrence in the amount of 18-30s bar crawls. I try to enjoy life to the full and like a few drinks but it was sad to see so many youngsters, some looked no more than 14, unable to walk due to the amount of shots etc they are given on these bar crawls. We were waiting for the 12.30 (last bus) back to Sv Vlas one night when 2 red old ‘London’ buses came along to pick up these youngsters, unable to stand and sick all over the road. Most were wearing ripped Revolution and orange Disco T.shirts. I am sure they managed to get about 200 drunks onto the buses and drove them away to Orange Disco for more cheap alcohol!!!
So another great time in my beloved Bulgaria. Hoping to be back in September. Any questions, just ask.
WLxxxxx
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Welcome back WL. Forum has been quiet with so many of you in SB.
Toonman
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Tankovo sounds lovely, how far is it from Sunny Beach and can you get there by bus?
We%26#39;re going to Sunny Beach on 12 September for 2 weeks so looking for other places to vist as we like to explore %26amp; see more than just the resort.
Jen (one of the old codgers)
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Tankovo is about 5/10 minutes by bus or taxi outside Sunny Beach. A typical Bulgarian village. There are a couple of small bars and a very good restaurant opposite the village church.
The other village close by is Kosharitsa, but personally I feel its lost its charm due to many new apartment blocks.
Sv Vlas is also a nice place to visit, nice marina and village square with numerous good restaurants, my personal favourites there are The Central in the square and the Kotva Bistro in one of the small side streets. Bus from Sunny Beach to Sv Vlas is 1 lev or 15lev (max) in a taxi.
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what is the exchange rate at moment and welcome back
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great report welshlady and was great to meet you, merion and carolv , sadly we couldnt get to the bar !it is sad to see so many of the youngsters so out of it on the pub crawls , we were all young once but they should be looked after so much better on these %26quot;excursions%26quot;
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Thanks Diddles. Welcome home and hope to see your report soon.x
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