Jaunted

Greece Travel / Greece / Athens Travel / Bulgaria / Bulgaria Travel / Europe Travel / Tourism / Political Travel / Dangerous Travel / → All Tags

Protesters Shutting Down Greek Travel Attractions, Tourists Shifting To Bulgaria Instead

When we suggested taking advantage of Greek labor instability by scooping up cheap Athens hotel deals, that was premised on the idea that protesters would mostly ignore tourists. Certainly we never imagined that they'd actively try to ruin the Greek tourism industry, which powers almost one-fifth of the country's economy. Oops.

Last Wednesday and Thursday 150 protesters shut down the Acropolis, the ancient religious sanctuary-global tourist mega-attraction that rises above Athens. They didn't think they were getting enough money, so they wanted to make sure that tourist-dependent hotels and restaurants didn't get any either (we're paraphrasing, but only a little bit). Keep in mind these were government workers who shut down the site, not the usual hodgepodge of anarchists who normally get the blame for ruining everybody's fun. Government workers from the Culture Ministry no less, who are in charge of bringing tourists into contact with Greek's historical treasures, the Acropolis included.

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Bulgaria Travel / Britain Travel / Tourism / Europe Travel / Bulgaria / → All Tags

Visit Bulgaria Now, While the Going's Still Awesome

If you've been following our advice about Bulgaria travel, you already know that the country is a vibrant mix of everything you could want in a tourist destination: family-friendly travel, youth-oriented travel, skiing travel, green travel, beach travel, etc. We're aware that some of you are in fact reading along, since commenters are perennially popping up to rave about the country's awesomeness (see e.g. here and here).

And they're right. The food is incredible. The people are friendly. The sites range from mind-blowingly ancient to impressively modern. All while being almost absurdly affordable. It's not for nothing that we've been pushing you to go there for half a decade.

Here's the problem though. The Brits have discovered Bulgaria, and now they're going to ruin it for the rest of us.

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Europe Travel / Euro / Greece Travel / Spain Travel / Portugal Travel / Money / Political Travel / Italy Travel / Bulgaria Travel / Romania Travel / → All Tags

Where to Find the Best Euro-Driven Travel Discounts

We've emphasized before that, especially if your travel plans are flexible, you should strongly consider going to Greece. The economic turmoil has caused tourism to plummet, and prices have declined accordingly. But Greece's problems are the Eurozone's problems, which means that there are also macroeconomic issues driving the Euro down relative to the dollar.

Not to be too callous on the point, but Europe's woes are creating some fairly interesting options for American tourists. Portuguese hoteliers have been sending up red flags about the state of their tourism industry, and even government officials have begun to pay attention. The exact same logic holds for Italy: dependent on tourism, and in a broad economic slump that makes it highly vulnerable to fluctuations in the Euro. And by "vulnerable" we mean "welcoming," and by "fluctuations in the Euro" we mean "tourists."

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Sex Travel / Brothels / Serbia Travel / Bulgaria Travel / → All Tags

Serbia Thinks They Have The Right Stuff For Sex Tourism

We really don't think traveling to any country just to visit their brothels is particularly cool, but we did learn something amazing about sex tourism this week: it's worth a lot of money.

According to some Serbian "experts," in quite-near-by Bulgaria, the semi-legalized prostitution industry (other experts say it's illegal, so we don't know who to believe) brings in €1.8 billion ($2.5 billion) a year – and that's a whopping 7.2% of the country's GDP. They don't say quite how much of that cash comes from tourists, but they sure imply that it's a lot.

These same experts are proposing that brothels get legalized in Serbia, so that the country can rake in all the profits of sex tourism. They make the case that "foreigners associated Serbia with pretty women in general," so it would be easy to promote it as a destination for, well, a bit of night-time fun. Call us prudes, but we'll stick to visiting Serbia for its retro communist supermarkets and Rocky Balboa statues.

Related Stories:
· Serbia Should Follow Bulgaria Prostitution, Sex Tourism Model [No Invite]
· Germany Cracking Down On Recession-Friendly Brothel "Flat Rates" [Jaunted]
· Sex Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jotor]

Hipster Travel / Bars / Bulgaria / Bulgaria Travel / Sofia / → All Tags

Where the Hipsters Hang Out in Sofia

For years the weak dollar had people looking to Eastern Europe for affordable travel opportunities. Now that the dollar is on the upswing and oil prices are plummeting, you'd think that cities like Sofia in Bulgaria would fall off the radar. Which might make sense, minus the whole "nobody has any money" part.

So people are probably still looking to go to Sofia - and, just as importantly, they're still looking to find affordable bars and restaurants once they get there.

Sofia has enough overpriced restaurants in the city center to trap tourists aplenty. But the late-night bars where the cool kids congregate are distributed throughout the city's winding roads and alleys. If the latter is more your taste you should make a point of checking out The Apartment.

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Ski Travel / Bulgaria / Weird / Tourists / Bulgaria Travel / → 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]

Forum Ferreting Feature / Sofia / Bulgaria / Bulgaria Travel / → 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]

Adult Entertainment / Bulgaria / Bulgaria Travel / → All Tags

Sofia's Porn Expo

Here's a little date to pencil in -- this year Bulgaria's capital will be hosting the Eros show, a chance to meet Eastern European porn stars. As the Sofia News Agency reports: "Hungarian seducer GG Steel [pictured] and her Romanian colleague Dea as well as Ginger Devil, Jasmin Rouge and Titus Steel will be among the VIP guests at the Bulgarian show. There would be three Bulgarian stars, whose names are not revealed, that will also join the erotic show." We've never heard of them either, but don't you wish you had something signed by Ginger Devil? The show, which runs from March 22 to 25, is 18 and over.

Related Stories:
·   Eros Show Sofia [Official site]
·   Porn Stars Flock to Sofia in March [Sofia News Agency]