Burgas, which is the biggest city on the Southern Black Sea coast, has had a successful summer tourist season. “Until recently the holidaymakers vacating along the southern coastline used Bulgaria’s fourth largest city as a transport hub. Now, however, Burgas is a preferred travel and tourism destination”, Radosveta Stewart, head of the Tourism Directorate at Burgas municipality, said for the BNR-Burgas. In her words, the city has already become a destination for weekend tourism.

However, some holidaymakers have chosen the capital of the Southern Black Sea coast for their summer vacation. Tourists travelling by campers to Black Sea resorts located along the southern coastline have the opportunity to park their campervans at one of the four camperstops in Burgas and see the city, which was declared several times “The best city to live in Bulgaria”.

The city offers competitive prices and a series of local tourist attractions. A record-high number of tourists are expected to visit St. Anastasia Island this year, contends Radosveta Steward. Burgas Municipality organizes transport to the Saint Anastasia Island with the 18 meters long catamaran “Anastasia”.

The fishing village Chengene Skele is another attractive tourism destination. The tourist complex Aquae Calidae is another preferred destination for tourism. The archaeological finds at Aquae Calidae include the fortress walls of the ancient town of Thermopolis, the 1st century Roman baths with hot and cold pool, the various medieval rooms, etc.

Burgas attracts Bulgarian tourists with its festivals. However, tourists are also interested in practicing a number of sports. The city attracts many fans of water sports, says Radosveta Stewart and adds that tourists are quite interested in kitesurfing. The thematic weekends, which have been organized by the Municipality of Burgas this summer, also attract a number of guests. According to statistics, the weekend dedicated to the Black Sea mussel, which took place at the end of June, attracted the highest number of tourists. Meals containing Black Sea mussels are part of the local culinary tradition. During the Mussel Weekend, all restaurants in Burgas offered meals containing this traditional delicacy. The restaurants located at the nearby St. Anastasia Island offered grilled mussels. Tourists are now looking forward to the Fish Weekend, which will take place from September 10 to 12.

The latest news from Burgas concerns the investment intention of a large Bulgarian company, a global leader in the manufacture of artificial climbing walls and attraction facilities. The investor is planning to build an attraction facility near the Horse Base and the Festival of Sand Sculptures.

The future attraction facility is called “The tree”. This is the most impressive development of Walltopia and will appear for the first time in the country where the company was founded. The huge facility is 26 meters high. It includes a rope park with obstacles and climbing walls for kids, which are harmoniously combined in the shape of a beautiful giant tree. The company is planning to build two facilities of this type in Bulgaria. The investment is estimated at EUR 1 million.

Editing by: Elena Karkalanova (based on an article by Stefka Bakardzhieva-BNR Burgas)

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

Photos: library, BNR-Burgas, BGNES, Ani Petrova