Nessebar is one of the most interesting resorts in Bulgaria. Its pearl is the Old Town, which attracts many tourists. The first settlement on the peninsula dates back to the time of the Thracians in the 9th century BC. In ancient times, the city was called Messambria and was much larger - but now part of the peninsula with the remains of fortifications was under water as a result of earthquakes. In the 1st century A. D. the city submitted to the Romans, and then became part of the Byzantine Empire - from this time the remains of a fortress and many churches have been preserved here.
Over time, New Nessebar grew up around the fortress - a modern resort town with comfortable beaches. The climate here is very warm, and tourists come here from June to September for the warm sea and wide sandy beaches. The northern part of Nessebar is located in the bay, and there is less wind and waves, but many prefer the sunnier southern part. There are large green parks, amusement areas, several water parks - in short, besides sightseeing, the city has a lot to do. Nessebar is not a purely resort village, like, for example, Albena, so you can find a wide variety of accommodation here - from a five-star all-inclusive hotel on the first line to budget apartments on the third. But life in an apartment here can be quite comfortable: this is a city, there are shops in it, all the interesting places of the coast can be reached by public transport.
Areas of Nessebar
The following districts can be distinguished in Nessebar: Old Nessebar and New Nessebar, which occupy the small peninsula itself, the Perla region with the suburb of Ravda, which are located south of the fortress, and the northern beach area, which smoothly turns into the resort of Sunny Beach, and then Old Vlas.
- Old city;
- New Nessebar;
- Perla (South Beach);
- North Beach (Sunny Beach);
- Ravda.
Old city
One of the main attractions of the Bulgarian coast is the Old Town of Nessebar, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. From the Byzantine fortress, which was built on the basis of the previous Roman one, only a section of the wall with a length of about 100 m and several separate fragments remained. But the city has preserved many ancient churches and buildings of the 18th-19th centuries.
There are many churches here: Nessebar was once the center of the diocese. Of the temples, it is worth highlighting the most ancient basilica of St. Sofia, which dates back to the 6th century AD. NS. - it is part of the metropolitan court. The largest and most preserved church in Nessebar is the Church of Christ Pantokrator of the XIV century.
In addition to churches, there are several museums, for example, an archaeological museum, which contains finds from excavations that tell about the ancient past of the city; ethnographic, located in an old mansion from 1840, an art gallery and a private Film Museum.
The lower floors of the Old Town houses are occupied by souvenir shops and restaurants. It is always noisy and always a crowd of tourists. There is a private beach under the walls of the fortress, but it is very small and pebbly, not sandy. There is no infrastructure - it is too small, so for a full-fledged beach holiday it is better to choose New Nessebar, and come here to walk and have fun.
New Nessebar
New Nessebar is a resort village that occupies the cape itself, at the end of which there is a fortress. Unlike Sunny Beach, which dies out in winter, New Nessebar is a town with its own population and its own life, it is not limited to hotels. The city buildings, however, are old - 1950-60s, but there are ordinary city shops, supermarkets and household shops.
To the north of the fortress there is a green pedestrian street Khan Krum - this is the center of resort life. It is here that shopping centers, boutiques, the best restaurants, bank branches are located (there is UniCredit, Raiffeisen and a branch of the Bulgarian Central Cooperative Bank).
The nearest beach begins at the end of Khan Krum Street, all coastal hotels are located closer to the north, and next to the fortress there are only apartments of different classes, from which it will take about ten minutes to get to the sea.
Pearl
South of the fortress lies the green South Park, bursting with flowers. Pomegranates, figs grow here, there is a pine grove, three large playgrounds, a waterfall, an observation deck with a beautiful view of the Old Town. Near the park there is an archaeological site - the excavations of an ancient necropolis. Finds from here are exhibited in the Historical Museum of Nessebar.
In front of the South Park is the Russian beach. Unlike all other beaches of Nessebar, it is "wild" and covered with large stones, although the entry into the water here is smooth and sandy. This is not a place to lie down quietly - on the boulders it is simply impossible, but just to refresh yourself in the water - why not?
Further south, there is a wide golden strip of South Beach - this is the longest beach in Nessebar, about a kilometer long. The sun loungers are paid here, with your own umbrellas you can be located only in a few free zones. There are several hotels on the very coast, but they do not have their own plots, all the beaches of Nessebar are municipal. And even further and a little in the depths there is a natural landmark of the city - a section of sand dunes. They are very beautiful - grassy sandy hills above the waves. There is no infrastructure here anymore, but even if there are a lot of people, there is enough space for everyone. The dunes are considered a nature reserve. And, finally, even further, on the very edge of the South Beach, there is a nudist site, the approximate border is the Sahara Beach Bar.
The Pearl quarter itself is an ordinary urban development. A plus is the presence of a large supermarket Lada. Accommodation here, as elsewhere in Nessebar, is quite diverse. There are large hotels on the first line, and there are many different apartments in the depths of the block. But in any case, a rather flat terrain is a plus - even to the most distant hotels you won't have to climb much uphill.
Ravda
The village, which is formally part of Nessebar, is located quite far to the south. Ravda is the place of the most budgetary vacation in these places, but also the simplest one - here both coastal hotels are cheaper and apartments are inexpensive. The village has emerged recently, there are no attractions here, except for the views of the sea, but it is not so far from here to Nessebar and Sunny Beach - you can walk on foot, or you can get there by public transport.
Ravda is long and narrow, stretching along a five-kilometer beach line. There is only one street here, in the central part it is tourist, with shops, souvenirs and entertainment, on the extreme sides of the village it is rather deserted. In the central part there is a huge abandoned pioneer camp - there is a kind of picturesqueness in it, but it is not for everybody. The main street is the local “promenade”. That is, there is a path along the beach in Ravda - and stretches all the way to Nessebar, but this is just a path, sometimes not even asphalt, and not a familiar resort promenade.
Ravda has its own amusement park, but it is small and designed mainly for small children. There are several pools with water activities on the beach (they are cheaper than in neighboring Nessebar and Sunny Beach), but the further south, the more wild the beach becomes.
There are many cafes and restaurants in the central part, and here Ravda wins again - the prices here are much lower than in Nessebar, but the quality is not worse. There are very pleasant coastal restaurants here, with fish menus, live music and beautiful surroundings.
Approximately halfway between Rovda and Perla, in the depths of the quarter, there is the largest water park in Nessebar - “Aquaparadise”. Also, its own small water park is located in the hotel complex Sol Nessebar Resort on the border with Nessebar on the very coast.
North Beach (Sunny Beach)
The northern beach stretches towards Sunny Beach (the residents of Sunny Beach themselves call it "South", so be careful). It is located not next to the fortress itself and the sights, but a little further, through the non-beach area. The situation with sun loungers and sun loungers is the same as on the other side of the fortress: everything is paid, even if you live in a hotel on the very shore.
The North Beach area is the noisiest, funniest and most partying place. Here is the most entertainment. For example, in the most promoted part, closer to the fortress, there is the Pirates of the Caribbean mini-water park - this is a great place for families with children. There are no extreme and high slides here and it may be boring for adults, but children are delighted. There is free transport from large hotels to large water parks in Sunny Beach and Ravda.
On the South Beach there are two amusement parks with attractions - one closer to Nessebar, the other closer to the center of Sunny Beach, and on the beach itself there are many pools with water activities: trampolines, paragliders, jet skis.
There are several nightclubs, for example, the Cacao Beach Club - right on the first line, it can accommodate up to one and a half thousand people and is considered the most popular here.
