Bulgaria - Beaches of Bulgaria at the Black Sea

At the southernmost tip of the Bulgarian beaches on the Black Sea, we arrive. Today, I saw the first dolphin swim through the bay from the beach. The beaches in the south of Bulgaria are wonderful.

Butamyata Beach (June 15, 2025)

We are reluctant to leave Varvara Beach. To embrace something new, one must let go of the old. The new is the beaches even further south of Varvara. We do not reach Silistar Beach at the border to Turkey because we like Butamyata Beach too much.

We leisurely eat our lunch there and park directly by the beach.From the back part, steep paths lead up the rocks to the nearest coves. Tamara is buried in a book, and the fine sandy beach has no stones or shells. I get bored, so I try to climb the nearest coves.

A Bulgarian writes in his reviews that people who are afraid of snakes must know that the snakes are even more afraid. That sounds encouraging. However, when I first see hikers armed with 'snake sticks' coming towards me, I feel a little uneasy. Oh, these are just anxious people, I try to encourage myself... The path is narrow and the grass is hip-high. Suddenly, I hear a snake right next to me, panicking and fleeing. The knowledge that it is more afraid of me than I am of it (fades away) like my face. I manage to take a few photos, and then I quickly turn around and stomp back loudly. Tamara is still peacefully reading, and I relax again.

The bay is large and there are many places to park freely. We choose the spot with a sea view.

After the nice dinner that Tamara has lovingly prepared, the frogs start croaking loudly again. That means it's time to go to bed.That's no surprise. The freshwater river is right next to our camper.

Tamara is still googling when the sun rises and I'm already done for. I go to bed with the goal of seeing the sunrise. This means I wake up early and stay awake for a long time. However, it was worth it. One rarely sees the sun rising from the sea.

Veleka Beach (16.6.25)

The water gauge shows 0 liters and there is just barely enough left for coffee. Today we need to load water, go shopping, and withdraw cash. Here in the south, people prefer cash. However, before that, we want to go to the beach again to refresh ourselves. The water is cooler today and there is a small unpleasantness. In the clear water, "cellar rattles" just swim thicker and longer. Tamara googles them and they are called (probably?) bristle worms. The name doesn't make the little creatures any more lovable. Only in the first 2 meters do we see the creatures thrashing about in the clear water. Further out, the water is dreamy and free of the disgusting creatures. Tamara and I have already become somewhat hardened after a year of traveling and wade out into the open sea to enjoy a cool swim.

No more than 5 minutes to the store and no more than 5 minutes to refill water. Park4Night also indicates where you can refill water. The location is easy to find and beautifully set up.

From there we can already see the beautiful Veleka Beach. We will visit it afterwards.

Said and done, and we are thrilled with this place. First, we go to the beach bar and sit on a sack under the sunshade. What do we see there? Dolphins swimming along the shore for minutes and fishing. Dolphins can often be found because seagulls accompany them in the hope of catching a fish as well. After this experience, it's clear that we will stay here all day.First, we have lunch and I take a round with the drone. This beach gets 5 stars!

We chill at this beautiful place all afternoon. The internet connection is great, so we also call our dear daughter and let ourselves be 'öpdaiten'. Only when the sun sets do we return to our camper.

Beautiful if beautiful (June 17, 1925)

Once again a whole day at this beautiful beach. First, we stay indoors and take care of this and that online. After lunch, it's already 2 PM. Now it feels like 40 degrees, and we go to the beach. There we want to eat an ice cream. The saleswoman at the beach bar notices Tamara's Italian accent when she excitedly says the word Gelato. She recognizes the connoisseur from Italy and leads us to the special ice cream freezer. Here we are introduced to 'Luxury Ice cream' in all flavors. We choose pistachio with raspberries. A bit bold, but the choice was right. Unfortunately, we don't see any dolphins from the beach bar today. Swimming in the sea is amazing.

Before dinner, we chat with our German camping neighbors. They have also been traveling since May and have a 4x4 Woelke with a self-built interior. I'm amazed that they are under 3.5 tons. Today they went paddleboarding on the freshwater river and saw several water snakes, which turned out to be 'non-venomous' after googling them. They didn’t know that while 'suping', and therefore it was just a small outing. Besides the snakes, the beach is wonderfully pleasant.

After eating and showering, we meet two more neighbors. Suddenly, two horses are grazing in front of our car. Watching horses graze is very calming. I also prefer that much more than a pack of stray dogs under the car ;-).

And yes, we absolutely need to clean the windows again.

Sozopol and Driver Beach (June 18, 2025)

The morning starts as idyllic as the evening ended. The horses are grazing and the frogs are croaking.

A last walk on the beach so that we can part with full hearts. The scenery is enchanting and invites us to stay. We almost stayed and treated ourselves to another swim in the cool waters.

We stay tough and head to the next beautiful beach.Driver Beach sounds like we are allowed to drive there. That is not the case, but parking and camping is allowed along the long beach. So we decide to enjoy our lunch there.

Tamara enjoys the walk on the beach while I do the dishes and prepare coffee. Of course, the espresso is served on the beach. The beach is wild and many 'Cozze' in all colors lie on the shore. I like this very much and I immerse myself in the different colors, from violet to brown to black.

Of course, this dream beach must also be flown over with a drone. Without a drone, I feel the beach as little as Tamara does when she cannot walk on it.

Rejuvenated, we drive to Sozopol and want to visit the old town there. A parking space where we can also sleep peacefully is on the cliff between the main beaches. From there, all must-sees are within walking distance. At the city beach, a sun umbrella with two loungers costs 12 euros. It's already 5 PM, so we don't need the beach anymore today. The pedestrian zone runs from the city beach over the hill to the old town of Sozopol. The entire old town is still surrounded by a 'wall' or what's left of it. All the houses from the 19th century within the wall are protected.

The longer we are here, the more exciting this coastal city becomes. Here, old and new are also connected in surprising ways.

The hunger rises within us, and we are torn between eating in the 30-degree warm camper or enjoying the sea breeze here on a terrace. The entrance to the restaurant looks tempting, and the reviews are also very good. The decision is difficult, but we quickly lean in favor of the sea bass with mashed potatoes and fresh grilled vegetables with a glass of white wine.

The homemade dessert is an ice cream with pistachios. There is also a complimentary vodka with lemon from the house.

In the old town, we continually find excavations from the 5th century BC. This region has also been inhabited for a very long time.

We find our way home contentedly and go to bed early. The parking lot costs only 6 euros for 24 hours. We will stay overnight.

Burgas (19.6.25)

We wake up at 8 o'clock and it's already 30 degrees in the car. It is completely windstill, which makes it so hot. The nice thing is that we can run all the fans, and the solar panels are simultaneously recharging the battery. Our battery has never dropped below 85%. So we have breakfast with our seasonal fruits like strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and apricots as big as apples, in still pleasant temperatures.

In the green zone, we check in online for 3 hours because that's how long it takes until "Marco" has picked up our laundry. He is a private individual who has contacted the building entrance regarding laundry services. We ring the bell and wait, waiting a little longer until no one responds. A man on the balcony tries to make it clear to us that "Marco" does laundry again only on Monday and is currently on vacation in France. Our conversation feels like Pictionary. He explains something to us, we try to repeat what we understood, and he says "there". In the end, there is no fresh laundry available today. We use the remaining parking time to visit the nearby city park (called Meergarten) by the sea.

First, we walk along the beach and enjoy an ice cream. Then we stop at Burgas Burger and enjoy a nice lunch. On our way back, we take the shady path through the park. In the park, there are flowers, fountains, and many works of art.I am fascinated by works of art and the creativity of people. This is one of the three differences from animals and plants in creation. One of the sculptures, which stands in a prominent place, is about creation and that we are created in God's image: We are creative, we have free will, and we can receive and give love.

On the pedestal of this sculpture is precisely this verse from Genesis 1.26: СЛЕД ТОВА РЕЧЕ БОГ.ДАСЪТВОРИМ ЧОВЕК ПО НАШ ОБРАЗ.ПО НАШЕ ПОДОБИЕ И ДА ГОСПОДАРУВІА НАД МОРСКИТЕ РИБИ. И НАД НЕБЕСНИТЕ ПТИЦИ (Бит 1:26)

The image below also resonated with us: Hand on heart, which masks should I take off to face the truth?

In art, there is always a trace of truth, in my opinion. For example, the kneeling couple who are struggling together for something. And in this shared struggle and acceptance, love is born (heart in the middle).

Upon arriving in Nessebar, we look for a nice spot by the sea.

We also find it and enjoy the day until it approaches its end. It is impressive how the sun not only serves a practical purpose, but also is a delightful sight for us humans. That makes us grateful!

A snake slithers across the sandy path. It lies still for a moment, and only now can one see its true length. It is at least 1.5 meters long.After sunset, the "June beetles" arrive. We are sure of this, but we know only one thing about them: They buzz loudly, and because they are slightly overweight, they drag their abdomen and legs in the air behind them. This isn't very cozy, so we retreat to the camper. The night is quiet.

Nessebar (20.6.25)

In the morning, a security car parks next to us. Tamara tells me that she read in the comments about the sleeping area that a drug deal was observed here. After breakfast, we head towards Nessebar to a laundry. The road takes us along the coast back to an asphalted road.

There we wash three machines and dry the easy-care laundry with a tumble dryer. The remaining laundry has to air dry. By now, Tamara and I have become quite inventive and somewhat pain-free about it.

Many people wash there. Among them is a Belgian couple who have a holiday apartment nearby. They give us some restaurant and beach tips, which we gratefully accept. Since the laundry needs a bit more sun, we also have our lunch there and call our dear son. It's nice when it's nice. In Nessebar, we park at the yacht harbor and walk across the natural bridge to the city gate of the old town of Nessebar.

Nessebar originated from a Thracian settlement and was settled by the Greeks in the 5th century BC. Byzantine excavations and wooden houses from the 19th century dominate Nessebar. Since the Bulgarian holidays begin next week, there are already many tourists here this Friday evening. Last night we met three nice teenagers from the village and chatted with them. They have summer school holidays until September. Therefore, our goal is to be in Romania by June 26 - and because our vignette is expiring...

In Nessebar, we drink a fine Bulgarian wine in a panoramic restaurant and let ourselves be carried away through the town. Here, the many creative shops invite you to shop and browse.

We park not far from our last sleeping place with a direct view of Nessebar.

Nessebar (21.6.25)

Today it has been windy all day and we are staying around the "house". Only in the evening do we set off towards Nessebar. Dressed up, we walk along the beach. Tough beachgoers are still standing in the evening sun with the cold wind at their backs. Or rather, at their lower backs, because here people like to hang out on the beach without swimwear. Along the beach, I am inspired by stone sculptures that I might try out tomorrow.

We arrive in the city during the 'golden hour' and enjoy a fine Bulgarian dinner, grilled meat, with a captivating sunset.

In search of an ice cream stand, we find the Ice Rolls stand. We wonder what it is and watch as the freshly prepared ice cream specialties are created. The guests choose the ingredients themselves. The 'Glacietier' (ice cream maker) chops the ingredients with two spatulas on a chilled plate. Then, milk is poured over it and chopped together again. Now, everything is spread out squarely and evenly with the spatula on the cooling plate. Finally, ice cream rolls are rolled off the cold plate with the spatula and placed in an ice cream cup. This is called freshly prepared ice cream. We try it out and choose a Ferrero ball, a banana, and blueberries as ingredients. The taste is heavenly fine.

The old town of Nessebar creates a new impression at night. The illuminated shops and the 200-year-old wooden houses provide a special backdrop.

What is worth mentioning here is that Bulgarians wear very colorful clothes and rarely wear plain colors, instead always mixing various colors. Additionally, Bulgarians enjoy grilled food and the meat is excellent.

In contrast to the Serbs and Bosnians, the cars here are not washed as cleanly. This may also be due to the many seagulls that make it impossible to keep the car shiny.

Beach day Nessebar Beach (22.6.25)

First, I make coffee and then I fly my drone. No waves and no wind make it possible for me to take off directly from the camper. The bay of Nessebar with its beautiful sandy beach is currently not so crowded. We parked our camper right on the cliff with a view of Nessebar and the beach.

Today is Sunday and we have set ourselves the goal of taking more "quiet time". For one or the other, this may be surprising, because we are doing nothing all day anyway 😊 and "only" traveling. Unfortunately, there is hustle and bustle in all aspects of life, and that's why it's even more important to take "quiet time". We pray, have breakfast, and read the Bible together. Then we say goodbye for 1-2 hours for our personal "quiet time". I open the Bible and memorize Psalm 117. Then I go to the beach and think of many people back home. For each person, I symbolically take a stone. While I think of the person, these figures form.

On the beach, we lie in the fine, white sand and occasionally go swimming. Here, the water is saltier than in the south, where many rivers flow into the sea. At the same time, we witness how my 'Göttimeitli' wins a silver and a gold medal at a competition and achieves personal bests. It's lovely how we are still connected to our loved ones back home, even from a distance. We spent 4 nights on this beach, simply because it was so beautiful here.

When we get home, Tamara prepares an aperitif and I open the fine Sauvignon Blanc from the Thracian Valley. Flying drones is a must, because it is still calm tonight.

We are captivated by the Bulgarian beaches. Actually, we wanted to be in Romania on June 26 because our vignette is expiring. However, we are considering what to do. We will not decide today, as there is still enough time tomorrow :-).