Hi dvdsteve,

For comparison:

By coach, e.g. Etap Adress it costs 58 Leva per adult return from Sofia to Slanchev Briag (Sunny Beach), so a total of 174 Leva for 3 (around €89.23 for 3 adults) - the journey time is around 6-7 hours each way.

There are several trains per day from Sofia - Burgas, with First Class return fares @ 42.25 Leva per adult (around €21.7) or Second Class returns @ 33.90 Leva (around €17.38) but you'd need to make your way from Burgas to Sveti Vlas by taxi or bus. The rail journey time is similar to that of the coaches.

Baldur

thanks that information was just what i was looking for!

could you tell me if its possible to reserve tickets for the etap coach, or is it a case of just turning up on the day of travel?

thanks again

You should be able to book in advance, as far as I'm aware - I've only passed through Sofia Central Bus Station once (en route from London to Varna with Balkan Horn) in the past, so can't give you a definitive answer, unfortunately.

Etap offices are shown on their website & there are certainly several companies' booking offices in Sofia Central Bus Station for coach operators, see HERE for more departure/fare information for lines operating between Sofia & Slanchev Briag (indeed, there are 5 services scheduled right through to Sveti Vlas).

Union-Ivkoni also operates a service which leaves Sofia at 11:00 and arrives at Slanchev Briag at 18:30 @ 47 Leva return - Info in Bulgarian - this service appears not to run on Mondays, as 'ponedelnik' (Monday) is greyed out.

Baldur