City Escapes & Beach Breaks

The Benidorm of The Balkans: Sunny Beach

When you hear the word Benidorm, the majority of people, especially the English will tell you that what used to be a small fishing village on Spain’s Costa Blanca has transformed into a hotspot for mass tourism.

Likewise, Sunny Beach, located on Bulgaria’s stunning Black Sea coast, was purpose built in the late 50s/early 60s to boost tourism in the country. What started as a modest seaside town has undoubtably turned into a favorite holiday destination for millions of Europeans due to its cheap prices for booze and food. Due to its over tourism, flashing lights and hundreds of bars and clubs, it has been dubbed the new Benidorm.

The Start of Our Travels Together

In 2019, we stayed in Sunny Beach for a week, it was our first holiday together and as we were both only 18 we opted to go to the cheapest place we could find. Dylan had been to Bulgaria before with his family but stayed in a little village called Kranevo, approximately 30 minutes from Varna. It was Hannah’s first time visiting Bulgaria and she was not disappointed.

Where We Stayed

We stayed in what was the Cooks Club, known now as the Sunny Beach Club, an adults only hotel located on the south of Sunny Beach, not too for away from the beautiful town of Nesebar. When on holiday, we don’t really enjoy partying every night so the location of the hotel was perfect for us. We were close enough to the beach so we could enjoy the beach bars during the day and we could choose whether we wanted to head to the strip of simply have a stroll into Nesebar on an evening for some food and a few drinks in an elegant restaurant. Most evenings we went to Nesebar to try out the restaurants and bars in the old town. Our favourite food spot was The Old Andromeda Restaurant, based on a roof terrace overlooking the sea!

The Strip

We have always said we prefer to visit places with a bit of authenticity, however, the strip lacked this. We ventured there one night after people recommended it. It’s fair to say it wasn’t our cup of tea! Too many flashing lights and music blasting out from every club made it seem tacky.

Walking down the street and being ushered into every bar with the promise of free shots on entry is not how we enjoy spending our time. We have to be in the mood for a night like that. For the majority we would much rather sample the local cuisine over a couple glasses of wine and beer – and maybe get a little tipsy!

Nesebar

Unlike Sunny Beach, Nesebar is a beautiful city with an even more picturesque UNESCO listed old town. Its the perfect place to wander down medieval streets, immersing yourself in local history and culture. Take in beautiful sights such as St Stephen’s Church, Church of Christ Pantokrator and the old windmill among many more!

Here you’ll also find some amazing family owned restaurants where you can sample local cuisine over a few evening drinks. Here we found one of our favourite restaurants which served amazing food and had some even better views. If you’re as lucky as we were, you might be able to see some amazing traditional Bulgarian folk dancing in the ancient theatre.

This is the best place we visited whilst staying in Sunny Beach. We took a stroll here almost every night – we couldn’t keep away!

Should You Go to Sunny Beach?

Definitely! We loved our stay in Sunny Beach. We do enjoy a drink but we aren’t massive party animals so the strip does not appeal to us. If you’re similar to us we suggest to do what we did, stay on the south of the beach. You’ll be far enough away from the strip but close enough to enjoy the delights of old Nesebar.

If your vibe is beach bars during the day, you’ll have them in abundance. If you enjoy immersing yourself in local culture, take a trip to Nesebar. Or if you are a party animal, explore the bars and clubs after hours.

Its fair to say Sunny Beach has everything, and its dirt cheap too!