Bourgas holidays on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast

Bourgas is a city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, with a long history as a settlement dating back to ancient Greek and Roman times. The modern city of Bourgas grew from a 17th-century former military outpost to become a centre of trade and commerce, and later tourism. Bourgas is perhaps best known as the location of the airport, which serves the main beach holiday resorts on the southern Bulgarian coast, including Sunny Beach and Golden Sands. However Bourgas itself is an attractive city with lively marketplaces and lovely boulevards where visitors can shop and eat and soak up the atmosphere for a true taste of everyday Bulgarian life. There is no shortage of cultural attractions in Bourgas, with a wide variety of museums and annual festivals taking place throughout the year. Bourgas is a good base from which to explore the Black Sea coastal region.

Why Go?
The Black Sea coast of Bulgaria is an increasingly popular destination for many Brits, serving as an excellent alternative to the traditional beach holiday favourites such as Spain and Portugal. Flights to Bourgas are an inexpensive way to enjoy a great value beach holiday in one of Europe’s best family resort regions.

When to Go?
June to September is the best time to visit Bourgas when temperatures get above 25 degrees and the sea temperature becomes warm enough for swimming. Outside of the holiday season flights to Bourgas are more difficult to come by, and although April and May are mild temperatures in winter can drop below freezing.

How to get there?
Thomson flights to Bourgas International Airport (BOJ) depart from airports right across the UK, including Birmingham, East Midlands, Belfast, Cardiff, Doncaster, Manchester, Luton and London Gatwick. Thomas Cook offer Bourgas flights from roughly the same choice of airports. Transfers from Bourgas Airport to the Sunny Beach resort take around 20 minutes by private taxi, while Golden Sands is around 45 minutes away.

Must see
Enjoy watersports like windsurfing on Bourgas’s sandy beach. Spend the day shopping in the city on the elegant boulevards or visit some of the many art galleries and museums. As a university city, Bourgas has a great nightlife with plenty of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Throughout the year festivals celebrate both local traditions and welcome visitors from across the world to the International Folklore Festival. About half an hour up the coast is the town of Nessebar, a UNESCO world Heritage site known as the 'Pearl of the Black Sea'. Nessebar is bursting with beautiful mediaeval churches and ancient ruins from the Byzantine period.