One day in Burgas
- 1Morning coffee on Bogoridi Street, then the cathedral and the old centre
- 2Walk the Sea Garden from end to end, past the Pantheon and casino
- 3Sunset on the wooden bridge
- 4Dinner of grilled fish near the port
Bulgaria · Black Sea coast
Burgas: a traveller's guide to Bulgaria's easy-going sea city
Salt lakes full of flamingos, a park that runs the length of the shore, and old coastal towns half an hour away in either direction. Here is how to see the best of Burgas, whether you have a day or a long weekend.
- Country
- Bulgaria, Black Sea coast
- Population
- Around 200,000
- Airport
- Burgas Airport (BOJ)
- Currency
- Bulgarian lev (BGN)
- Language
- Bulgarian (Cyrillic alphabet)
- Best months
- May to September
Start here
Seven short guides cover everything a first-time visitor needs, from the city centre to the wetlands and the old towns along the coast.
Things to do
The Sea Garden, the wooden bridge, Bogoridi Street, museums, the port and Aquae Calidae.
Lakes and birdwatching
Flamingos on the Atanasovsko salt pans, Poda's hides, Lake Vaya and Mandra, on the Via Pontica flyway.
Day trips
Nessebar, Sozopol, Pomorie, Sunny Beach, Ropotamo and Strandzha, most under an hour away.
Food and drink
Grilled Black Sea fish, shopska salad, tarator, banitsa and the white wines of the coast.
Getting around
Airport, seafront train station, coastal minibuses, city buses and journey times.
Practical tips
Money, tipping, the Cyrillic alphabet, best season, sun advice and useful phrases.
Why Burgas is worth a stop
Burgas is Bulgaria's fourth-largest city and the working heart of the southern Black Sea coast: a port, a rail terminus and the airport most beach holidays fly into. Travellers often pass straight through it on the way to a resort, which is a mistake.
The city itself is unusually easy. A long pedestrian street runs from the station to a seaside park that stretches for two kilometres above the beach, and the whole centre can be crossed on foot. Add three big lakes on Europe's second-busiest bird migration route and the old towns of Nessebar and Sozopol within forty minutes, and a couple of days here go quickly.
Sea Garden (Morska Gradina)
The city's beloved seaside park, laid out in the 1910s on the cliff above the beach. Shaded alleys, the casino building, open-air stages, flower gardens and long sea views. Locals walk it every evening, and it stretches for around two kilometres above the shore.
Burgas Bridge (Mostta)
A wooden pier reaching out into the bay from the beach below the Sea Garden. It is the classic spot for sunrise over the water and for watching cargo ships waiting their turn outside the port.
Bogoridi Street
The pedestrian spine of the centre, running from the train station up to the Sea Garden. Cafés, ice cream, street musicians and restored late 19th-century facades from the town's merchant era.
St. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral
The main Orthodox church of Burgas, completed in 1907, with a richly painted interior, stained glass and a tall triple-nave hall. A short walk from Bogoridi Street.
How long to stay
Two days
- 1Everything from day one
- 2Morning bus to Nessebar's old town
- 3Back for an afternoon on the central beach
- 4Evening at Magazia 1 in the port
Three days
- 1Everything from days one and two
- 2Early birdwatching at Poda or Atanasovsko Lake
- 3Lunch and a swim in Sozopol
- 4Late drinks along the Sea Garden alleys