Jaunted

Tags: Ski Travel / Bulgaria / Weird / Tourists / → All Tags

Finding a Bed in Bulgaria

We're getting the message from all directions this week: Bulgaria is the new place to ski. Whether it's an EasyJet flight tip or a recommendation for the ski resort at Bansko, we're not surprised that an Irish tourist named David Gibbons decided to take a holiday to ski in the Pirin Mountains.

But we are surprised about where he chose to sleep. After drinking too much to find his own hotel, Gibbons decided to force open the door of a furniture shop and take a nap on one of the showroom beds. Staff arriving for work the next day found him snoring away and called the police.

This would make a great holiday tale to tell his pals back home--except for the $4,000 fine he's now facing. That makes it quite the alternative to a night in his cheap Bulgarian hotel.

Related Stories:
· Tourist Slept in Shop Window Bed [Ananova]
· EasyJet Reckons It's Easy to Ski [Jaunted]
· Ski Bulgaria: At Least It's Cheap At Villa Roka [HotelChatter]
· Spooks on a Train [Jaunted]

[Photo: stevec77]

Tags: Europe / Travel Media / Slovakia / Bulgaria / Slovenia / → All Tags

Times Plugs Eastern Europe Hard

The UK Times went crazy this weekend talking up a few eastern European cities. The biggest wrap went to Slovak capital Bratislava, citing great value for money and fewer crowds than Prague as good reasons to go. All in all, not a bad overview, especially as they plug our favorite hot chocolate destination, Čokoláda.

Slovenian capital Ljubljana also grabbed a headline: the reviewer uses the Interesting Site Per Yard measure and rated Ljubljana very highly (if still somewhat unpronounceable). The value is probably not quite as good here given that Slovenia changed to Euro currency at the start of the year (Slovakia won't until 2009).

Finally, so-called un-cool Bulgaria also rates a mention. A stay at Bourgas and nearby beaches actually sounds pretty cool, especially when they start talking wine-tasting and cheap Bulgarian reds.

[Photo: Friends Friends Friend]

Related Stories:
· Slow Slovak Summer Elates Chocoholics [Jaunted]
· Why I Like Un-Cool Bulgaria [Times UK]
· Chill With the Bratislava Pack [Times UK]
· A Jam-Packed Weekend in Ljubljana [Times UK]

Tags: Bulgaria / Men / Picking Up Guys While Traveling / → All Tags

Bulgarian Boy Inspires Epic Catfight

If you're looking for handsome guys on your travels, put Bulgaria on your list. This week in the Bulgarian capital Sofia police were called to deal with a fight over a handsome boy. And we're not talking a conflict between two best girlfriends here, but a brass-knuckles, smashed beer bottle battle between 23 teenage girls.

Twenty-three girls. That's gotta be one especially handsome Bulgarian guy, and we want to know if they're all like that. We figure a trip to this relatively seldom visited part of eastern Europe is more than justified: just be sure you don't take 22 of your friends with you.

[Photo: vonmachene]

Related Stories:
· 23 Girls Brawl Over Handsome Guy [Focus News]

Tags: Forum Ferreting Feature / Sofia / Bulgaria / → All Tags

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.

Related Stories:
·   Forum Ferreting [Jaunted]