Sofia, So Fresh
Online travel forums are filled with gems, if you have the time to dig for them. Luckily we do the dirty work for you in our somewhat regular Forum Ferreting feature.
Bulgaria: It's on everyone's lips, right? Sofia's a party town, there's cheap skiing, cheap seaside resorts, cheap this, cheap that. It gets difficult to tell what's true and what's travel writing B.S., so once again, we'll dip into the magic that is the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum to educate ourselves on the ins and outs of Bulgarian tourism:
Varna: Varna is well worth a visit in the summer, it's a great city. Lively nightlife, laid back attitude and nice beach. It's also a good place to base yourself to explore the rest of the Black Sea coast. Resorts like Sozopol and Nessebar are very pretty, but packed with tourists in summer and accommodation is pretty hard to find and can be very expensive. Varna is the only place along the coast with youth hostels and the prices (food, drink, taxis etc) are much cheaper than elsewhere as there are not so many Western tourists.
Sofia: I think one of the major problems is that the city doesn't have a central focus for people (and tourists) to congregate. Instead, it has many smaller areas -- parks, squares, etc. -- that take a little more time to see and appreciate. It's also not as pedestrian friendly as some other major cities in the region. And it doesn't have a quaint and historic "old town" like some other Bulgarian (and Eastern European) cities. Since it's the major transit hub for the region, you'll probably be heading to Sofia anyway. For that reason, I'd say it's worth a full day, and perhaps two, depending on how much time you have to travel.
Nessebar: If you will be there when the weather is warm, it is a nice place to go and walk around all the little shops that are there. It is beautiful as well --since it is its own peninsula.
Bulgaria--the next Slovakia? Discuss.
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