Tag: Sunny Beach

Travelling to Sunny Bech

We flew to Bulgaria in the month of June from Manchester Airport. We stayed in the Crown Plaza hotel a few minutes walk from the terminal. It also has a regular shuttle bus to the airport. Our car was parked there for the duration of our holiday.

Accommodation

We booked the holiday as a last minute deal with TUI costing £600 each all inclusive for a week. We stayed at the Riu Helios Paradise which is at the far end of Sunny Beach in an area called St Vlas. The hotel is rated as a 4 star plus and a Platinum hotel. The hotel is 24 hour all inclusive which we made good use of lol. There are a number of specialist restaurants in the hotel including Asian, Bulgarian and Italian. We ate at each of them and was not disappointed with the standard of food.

There is also a nightclub on the complex which is open until the early hours. This was a great place to go as it had Karaoke and dance music on every evening. There was also evening entertainment in the entertainment room but could be watched from outside whilst having a nice cocktail. The hotel has a lovely swim up bar with a good selection of local branded drinks.

There is a full itinerary for entertainment around the pool during the day which was great fun. The hotel has its own beach with a bar and snack bar. The hotel grounds and rooms were very clean.

Adults only Riu

Whilst we were in Sunny Beach an Adults only Riu hotel had just finished being built next door to our hotel (Riu Palace Sunny Beach) and opened part way through our holiday. We were able to go and look round the hotel which had a lovely infinite pool. As everything was very new it felt quite clinical and seemed to lack atmosphere but we are sure that this will change as the hotel is used more.

Location

Our hotel was a short walk from the center of Sunny Beach. We walked out most days along the front which was lovely. The only downside was that each shop, bar, restaurant etc you passed someone tried to sell you something. On the positive side they were not as pushy as other countries and as soon as you said no they left you alone. There are a lot of shops selling copies of designer clothing which did not appear to be good quality. There were a lot of things going on at the front and in hotels for children from large inflatables to fair ground rides. We did notice that there was a lot of families in Sunny Beach.

Nightlife

On a couple of evening we did go in to the center of Bulgaria for a few drinks. There were many bars with tribute acts Freddie Mercury, Robbie Williams, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner to name a few. We did go and watch some of them which was great fun with a lot of audience interaction. Sunny Beach is on a similar parr to Benidorm but not as big. We did not stay in the centre of Sunny Beach until the early hours but we were aware that it is a place that never closes.

There are many excursions to go on in Sunny Beach but as we were only there for 7 days we were limited as to where we could go without taking up too much time of our holiday. One of the things we would have done if we had had more time was to go to Istanbul.

Nessabar

We got a taxi to Nessabar which is only a short drive away from Sunny Beach. Nessabar is such a contrast to Sunny Beach with its cobbled street and old buildings. Whilst walking around Nessabar it feels like you are in a completely different place to Sunny Beach. There are lots of gift shops in Nessabar which are different to the ones in Sunny Beach. The restaurants and bars also have a different feel to the ones in Sunny Beach. Nessasbar is very picturesque and definitely worth a visit.

Summary

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in Sunny Beach. The hotel was lovely and met all our needs. We also liked the hotel as it was in a quiet area but near enough to all the nightlife to walk to. At £600 each for a week all inclusive we found the holiday to be very good value for money. As the world is such a big place we are not sure if we would go back to Sunny Beach but never say never.

Images

Things to do

• Visit Nessebar
• Take a boat trip
• Sample the local cuisine
• See a tribute act or two
• Sample the nightlife
• Take a day trip to Istanbul
• Visit the beach.

Top tips

• If you want to be near the nightlife but far enough away should you wish to relax than this area is ideal.
• Taxi’s are cheap in Bulgaria and can be cheaper than some excursions.
• Visit Nessabar
• The tribute acts are great fun and worth seeing.
• Designer copies appeared poor quality best to avoid.
• We regretted not having the time to go to Istanbul make sure you have enough time.
• Hotels vary so much with regards to location, standard etc. Do your research before you book.
• Bulgaria is very seasonal, check weather below for best time to visit.
• Check out other destinations we have visited in Bulgaria Borovets

Temp – Celsius Rain – mm	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High Temp	6	8	11	16	21	25	28	27	24	19	13	8
Low Temp	-1	0	3	7	12	16	18	17	15	14	6	2
Rainfall	41	43	40	54	42	49	33	30	37	47	56	48
Number of days	6	6	7	8	5	6	4	4	4	6	7	5