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This article looks at Bulgaria’s seaside resorts from the perspective of a potential property buyer. The towns and villages are described from north to south.
Bulgaria’s seaside resorts are popular with young people, couples and older visitors, both for holidays and for buying property. The variety of options makes it possible to find:
- a quiet, peaceful place in a suburban area;
- a town with well-developed infrastructure;
- a place for active entertainment;
- year-round accommodation to live in or rent out.
For buying property and seaside holidays, resorts near Varna or Burgas (within 30 km) are the best choice. These cities have well-developed infrastructure, landscaped parks, modern medical centres and shopping centres.
Balchik and Albena
Balchik is relatively far from Varna (40 km). The town has a botanical garden and the palace of Queen Marie of Romania. However, local residents and visitors describe the town as rather dirty and poorly maintained, with infrastructure that is effectively frozen and barely developing. This is probably why visitors mainly come in summer. There are very few people here in winter.
Nearby Albena has a beach 3.5 km long and 150 metres wide. It is suitable for a short, relaxing holiday. Like neighbouring Balchik, the town is barely developing.
There are few properties available. Beachfront apartments start at €30,000.
Golden Sands resort
The resort is 18 km from Varna. It has many restaurants, hotels, sports centres and amusement parks for children and adults. There are several casinos and a balneotherapy centre offering preventive treatment for chronic conditions using seawater, therapeutic mud and medicinal plants.
Property here is two to three times more expensive than in Sveti Vlas (from €20,000) or Sunny Beach (from €17,000). Comfortable apartments in a modern residential complex start at €34,000. Food prices are also high, especially for fruit and vegetables.
Most residential complexes operate only during the season and close for winter.
Find out more about the resort and its properties here
St. Constantine and St. Helena
Located 6 km from Varna. A resort with thermal springs and mineral pools for people who enjoy quiet, peaceful holidays and feel nostalgic about the USSR. Many old hotels and other buildings recall the Soviet era. There are several recently built residential complexes with expensive apartments (from €47,500). Overall, infrastructure develops quite slowly. The beach area is also small and fills up quickly during the season.
Varna
A major port city with ferry connections to Istanbul and Batumi. Flights from major European and Russian cities regularly arrive in Varna. During the season, trains also run here from Minsk, Kyiv and Moscow.
Varna is continually developing. New shops, restaurants, nightclubs, cafés, historic attractions and entertainment venues are opening, including a dolphinarium, restored churches and Roman baths. It therefore suits people planning to expand a business or looking for an apartment in a city with developed infrastructure.
Property in new buildings starts at €40,000.
Read the article: Where to buy property: Varna
Nearby villages (Priseltsi and Bliznatsi)
Located 15–20 km from Varna, these villages are quite attractive by Bulgarian standards and suit people who enjoy country living. They have shops, a post office, a pharmacy and solid family houses. One of these houses can be purchased from €80,000.
Priseltsi and Bliznatsi can be considered for permanent residence. A private car is the main requirement for a more comfortable life, as local buses are not always a convenient way to reach Varna, its shops, shopping centres and beaches.
Byala
A small town in hilly terrain, some distance from Varna (55 km) and Burgas (75 km). Residential complexes are built on a steep hillside. We recommend choosing property around Chernomorka Street, near the town hall. Apartments in this neighbourhood start at €25,000.
Nearby Obzor has gentler terrain and less developed infrastructure. It is suitable for an undemanding seasonal holiday.
Elenite resort
Located 15 km from Nessebar and 48 km from Burgas, Elenite is a beautiful, quiet place with its own yacht club, several interesting restaurants, a small water park, a good five-star hotel with an excellent spa and, of course, clean seawater. Beachfront studio apartments are readily available from €22,000. The main drawback is strong winter winds, which mean that many residential complexes operate only during the season, turning off the water and closing for winter.
Between Obzor and Elenite, away from the bustle of town, the area around the beautiful, green Irakli beach is being actively developed. Comfortable hotels and residential complexes are appearing. It is an interesting place for seasonal holidays; the current drawback is that getting there is inconvenient and takes a long time.
Learn more about one of Bulgaria’s best resorts
Sveti Vlas
A well-maintained town just 10 km from Nessebar, Sveti Vlas has the country’s largest marina and a new hotel built on the site of the former sanatorium. Above all, however, it is a place of wonderful mountain scenery and walking routes. Warm sea air meets crystal-clear mountain air here, creating a peaceful, pleasant atmosphere.
Sveti Vlas beaches receive the prestigious Blue Flag award every year, while property prices are among the lowest on the coast. This is why many people choose to holiday or live here.
BolgarskiyDom offers more than 1,000 properties in Sveti Vlas. Our catalogue includes comfortable, stylish beachfront apartments and houses in the suburbs.
An interesting one-bedroom apartment near the marina, with a sea view: €50,000.
Sunny Beach
A town with a large beach area, well-developed infrastructure, shops and entertainment within walking distance. Groups of young people most often come here on holiday, so Sunny Beach can hardly be called quiet. However, it has a wide selection of very inexpensive properties for year-round living. You can find affordable studio apartments in Sunny Beach from €8,500, or choose a luxury beachfront apartment with a sea view (from €100,000).
The town also has quiet neighbourhoods, such as Chaika. This is a gently sloping area with modern residential complexes, suitable for permanent residence.
Overall, Sunny Beach is a rapidly developing, lively resort. New shops, restaurants and residential buildings are continually being built.
Nessebar
Located 30 km from Burgas, Nessebar is a small town with historic buildings in its old quarter and a rocky coastline. Its newer part has five to six resort complexes. Most of the remaining properties are ordinary apartment buildings.
BolgarskiyDom offers more than 200 apartments for seasonal or permanent residence, starting at €20,000. Most properties are concentrated in the Kokalu and Cherno More neighbourhoods.
Ravda
A very cosy, quiet small settlement with several shops and restaurants, 5 km from Nessebar and 30 km from Burgas. It suits people tired of the noise and bustle of town.
Nearby Aheloy is a beachfront resort with private houses and apartment complexes. Our catalogue includes about 400 properties in Ravda and Aheloy. We recommend this settlement for seasonal holidays.
Aheloy previously had an unpleasant smell from a pig farm. The farm has been closed!
Pomorie
A popular family resort with clean beaches and quiet streets in the old town, lined with cafés and restaurants. Children have an amusement park, while adults can enjoy golf, surfing and diving. Not all budget hotels have children’s swimming pools.
Prices for an apartment in Pomorie, located 300 metres from the sea, start at €25,000.
Burgas
Burgas is a large city with Soviet-era prefabricated blocks and new high-rise buildings. Modern hotels and apartment complexes are built near the park, but their prices are very high, comparable to Moscow property prices. We offer affordable coastal apartments in Meden Rudnik, Lazur and Sarafovo, starting at €35,000.
Read the article: Where to buy property: Burgas
A major drawback of Burgas is the oil refinery and the resulting potential environmental risk. Its advantages include affordable prices, developed infrastructure and a wide choice of housing.
Sarafovo
Sarafovo is a developing suburb of Burgas with good infrastructure and transport links: 2 km from the international airport, 7 km from Burgas and 15 km from Nessebar. New residential complexes, hotels and apartments have been built continuously over the last few years. Property prices are lower than in Burgas.
Intensive construction of tourist and residential buildings in different parts of Sarafovo makes it less comfortable for permanent residence. There is considerable rubbish and dirt, which is cleared away at the beginning of the bathing season.
Sarafovo has a good, well-maintained beach cared for by the developer Atlantis.
Discover Sarafovo Residence, a luxury holiday complex in Sarafovo
Chernomorets
A very small town suitable for people seeking a permanent home. Chernomorets is 30 km south of Burgas and is associated with leisurely, unhurried holidays. There are no noisy crowds of young people or all-inclusive hotels. Instead, there is a beach without waves and with a gentle entry into the water for children. Resort properties are mainly low-rise buildings of two to three storeys, starting at €28,000.
Sozopol
Bulgaria’s oldest town has splendid historic architecture and tourist attractions. You can stroll along narrow cobbled streets, visit an amphitheatre more than 1,500 years old or explore Ravadinovo Castle.
The exclusive holiday village of Dyuni lies 8 km from Sozopol, at the foot of the Strandzha mountains. This gated complex has five hotels, green spaces, a large clean beach with a gentle entry into the sea and an entertainment complex. It is an excellent place for a family holiday.
Green Life Beach Resort, a unique complex 50 metres from the coast
Overall, Sozopol is a pleasant, quiet and atmospheric place in a bay, 35 km from Burgas. It has a marina, a water park and several hotels. Green Life and several other Bulgarian companies develop the area. A one-bedroom apartment in a new building costs around €40,000–50,000. Finding a home in the town itself is difficult.
Primorsko
A small town with few properties, 50 km from Burgas. Just one major developer, Green Paradise, builds complexes here and offers heated apartments for year-round use. The other properties are residential houses. Infrastructure remains largely as it was in the 1990s. The main bright spot is the water park, which opens in mid-June.
Primorsko is most likely to suit older people planning a quiet holiday.
