Hi froggat,

Welcome to the board!

You say quiet but don't mention the type of holiday that you want - beach/rural tourism/walking/health or spa tourism, etc., etc.

Some hints as to your preferences may help someone to help you.

Hi Baldur, nice beach,ruralish mainly away from the noisey ''thump thump'' all through the night scenes

Sounds as though you need to avoid the larger resorts, like Sunny Beach & Golden Sands for a start - Sveti Konstantin & Albena are quieter but not really 'rural'. Unfortunately, the Bulgarians have overdeveloped many of their resorts and' at least in my eyes, have ruined them in the process.

Albena is a well organised resort, where development has been restricted to a reasonable level - Tonyt is our resident expert on the resort (his 25th visit is coming up at the end of this month) and I'm sure that he'll offer you information.

You basically have beaches/resorts from just South of the Romanian border (Durankulak/Krapets) right down the coastline to the Turkish border (Ahtopol/Sinemorets).

froggat, I just love Albena resort, for its more relaxed type of Bulgarian Holiday, nearly all the outside noise is off at midnight, obviously there are inside bars and clubs if you want to frequent after 12. There are numerous walks if you are that way inclined, A Bus Station on the edge of resort (mainly Mini Buses) to get you to Varna, Golden Sands, Balchik and of course Dobrich (Very cheap leather goods there, plus food less than half of Albena's prices) Baldur will point you to these.
There is also the train station at varna, where I go to do a circular trip, ie bus to Varna, Train Varna to Dobrich, then bus back to Albena, about £6.00 for the day, Albena is split into two, you have the level part and the other is up on the hill, but a noddy train is in operation from about 8 till midnight. let me know if you have chosen a hotel yet and I will try and advise you, I am there till 14th june, I leave here on 31st May, so you will have to think quick. Cheers. Tonyt.

Cheers tonyt
It seems Albena is the place for us.Will start surfing the net for hotels when i get in to work a little later.Any recommendations. B&B will suffice

Hi, most are now A/I, but you could try Hotel Drouzbha, this is my choice, but for past three years not opened on time. Or you could try Hotel Dobruja, (where I am going) rooms are a little tired, but food wise and cleanliness is spot on. this Hotel you must book via Web or you could give Balkan a ring for assistance. Drouzbha does not have its own Restaurant, you go next door to either "The Slavinkia" or "The Dorostar" both very good. Ivan is the owner Manager of Drouzbha and his staff all speak good English, They run a meal service outside on Tables, he also runs "The Irish Bar" in the resort. Any more help, just fire away. Where will you fly from. which could be a decider, A lot of flights are going south to Bourgas and you then have a minimum coach trip of 3 hours each way. Tonyt

Hi Tonyt/Baldur
I am trying to find a compromise,want to fly from b'ham as we are only 15mins away but only seem to be able to find flights to burgas.Do not fancy sitting in a coach for 3 hrs for the transfer to Albena.Have found a place called Sveti Vlas which is only 35mins from airport ,it sounds ok but the blurb is meant to make you believe that.Do you have any knowledge of this place ? Mark

Hi Mark,

Sveti Vlas is a small town in the Nesebar Municipality, located just around the bay (approx. 5km) from Sunny Beach, en route to the purpose-built tourist complex of Elenite, which is just under 5km away.

It is a real Bulgarian town, as opposed to a 'summer only' tourist resort like Sunny Beach or Elenite, but has been increasingly developed to cater to tourists over the years with apartment complexes, etc.

You'll find an interactive map of the Sveti Vlas area HERE. The overall location can be seen by entering the co-ordinates 42 42 40.03 N 27 45 41.29 E in the 'fly to' box in Google Earth.

Given the choice (and I personally don't like any of the tourist beach resort areas), I'd certainly take Sveti Vlas over Sunny Beach.

Hi Mark, Like Baldur says, that is a very good choice, I would not attempt that 3 hour hike, I have heard so many stories, They say coach transfer, if there is not enough, you are put on mini buses, some without air con, then you could be dropping passengers to Hotels at Varna, Golden Sands then Albena, the only other option for Albena is flying from Manchester, but carry on asking the questions. Tonyt

you could also try the riviera beach resort in golden sands, a self contained resort with 5 hotels foods very good, and its just outside golden sands, so if you want to walk the 10- 15 mins the nightlifes all there, theres plenty of village as Im sure Tony and Baldur can advise

lal wrote:

you could also try the riviera beach resort in golden sands, a self contained resort with 5 hotels foods very good, and its just outside golden sands, so if you want to walk the 10- 15 mins the nightlifes all there, theres plenty of village as Im sure Tony and Baldur can advise

The problem is the same as for Albena, lal - flights.

If Mark can only get flights to Burgas, rather than Varna, there's going to be a significant transfer involved, whether to Albena or Riviera/Golden Sands.

Balkan Holidays flight timetable shows that they are doing direct flights from East Midlands to Varna on Saturdays (however, the Varna Airport website shows that the flights are from East Midlands via Newcastle) but not from Birmingham.

he could fly from Manchester

lal wrote:

he could fly from Manchester

East Midlands is a shorter journey than Manchester, by about 30 miles - the BH Air flight is at 09:00 every Saturday, landing at Varna at 14:30 local time.

do they have to pick up elsewhere though

the nympha is a good base for a peaceful holiday, it has its own beach, loungers pedeloes are free, its all inclusive and not a bad price,

sorry Baldur just noticed they pick up at newcastle, thats the problem with flights to Varna Im afraid theres not a lot of choice

Hi all, thanks for all of your input.....have found a hotel in Sveti Vlas called the Primasol Sineva Park , anyone had experiences of this hotel ?
Mark

Looks as though this may be the hotel, despite it being described as being located in Sunny Beach. Reading through the posts reveal that it is in Sveti Vlas.

There are more recent reviews on tripadvisor.

Just had a look on trip advisor ,it has 76 reviews and a half decent feedback,shame flights do not get you there until midnight...oh well i suppose that is what compromise is all about :-)