Sunny Beach and Nessebar, a happy encounter between modern tourism and tradition

by Victor Grigore, Webphoto.ro

Nessebar is one of the oldest cities in Europe, with proofs of existence from the 6th century BC. It looks like a tiny island, but a strip of land as wide as a road ties it to the coast. From Nessebar you can have a marvelous view over the bay on which is developed Sunny Beach, the largest Black See resort in Bulgaria, 35 km from international port Bourgas.

In the Middle Ages, Nessebar must have looked like a Bulgarian Athos, with 40 churches active on such a small piece of land. Today, most of them are in ruin, but there are still some that can be visited. The little island is packed with souvenir stores and bars. Small boats come and go here all the time and the night life is spectacular, with music and street performers entertaining tourists.

Sunny Beach is an example of turning a communist unwelcoming resort into a nice place where everyone can have fun. Not only the large hotels have been put to good use and renovated, but the capacity has been extended, now being able to accommodate over 300.000 visitors. And the distractions are numerous day and night: two aqua parks, distraction parks, a very large beach with fine sand, clubs and restaurants with evening shows. The name of Sunny Beach comes from the orientation to the East of the semicircular bay, that gets a Mediterranean like climate at the Black Sea.