Sozopol itself will delight you with two beaches, both of which are sandy. More popular is the beach, which is located in a closed bay. The second beach is located in the south of the resort and is not very popular among tourists, even at the height of the season, it is free and there are not a large number of vacationers. It is in a closed bay that the city beach is located, and it is best suited for families with children and for those who do not like strong waves. Since the beach is located in a bay, it is protected from the winds from almost everywhere, which allows you to enjoy a relaxing beach holiday. The beach is small in size, with white sand; during the high season it is advisable to arrive early to grab a free spot. The second beach is called Harmanite, located in the south and is considered a deserted place where you can easily meet people sunbathing naked (so keep this in mind if you are planning a trip with children). The beach is sparsely populated for two reasons: firstly, it is a wide beach strip, and secondly, great depth, which occurs almost immediately after entering the water. Despite such a striking difference, both beaches have good infrastructure, are equipped with umbrellas and sun loungers, and there are rescue service posts. Weather indicators (special flags) are installed every 50 meters. With entertainment, everything is in perfect order, there is a huge number of them, for every taste and budget, from banal banana riding or a jet ski to hang gliding. For children there are various slides, swings, water attractions and much more.
If for some reason you don’t like the beaches in Sozopol, you can find a good place For beach holiday outside the resort. At a distance of just five kilometers from old Sozopol there is resort area Kavatsite. This place is primarily interesting from an archaeological point of view, as jewelry, wrecks of ancient ships, various dishes and much more have been found here many times. In this place you can not only enjoy a beach holiday, but also see a number of interesting sights. Under no circumstances should you refuse a trip to Sozopol, since the beaches of this resort are considered one of the best in the Black Sea. So we can say that you have chosen the right resort with excellent beaches.
In addition, you should pay attention to a small holiday village called “Dunes”. It is located in the bay between Sozopol and Primorsk. This place is notable for its gorgeous sandy beach with a gentle entrance to the water and a soft bottom. Most vacationers who come on holiday to Sozopol definitely visit this beach. The beach can accommodate a huge number of vacationers, and there are no problems with an overabundance of vacationers here. The width of the beach is within 100 meters, and the length is about five kilometers. The uniqueness of the beach also lies in the fact that most of the plants that grow there are listed in the Red Book of Bulgaria. For its cleanliness and amenities, the beach was awarded a blue flag. If you wish and for little money you can try your hand at windsurfing or water skiing.
If you love Bulgaria as dearly as I do, or just dream of getting to know this wonderful country and are choosing a place where you can spend your vacation interestingly, breathe in the sea air, wander through the winding, cobbled streets of the Old Town, sit with a glass of wine (or a glass of brandy) in a cute cafe with a gorgeous view of the sea, go on excursions, then you can safely opt for resort town(even, rather, the town) Sozopol. If you are a fan of beach holidays and you simply need a clear sea and wide, not crowded beaches for a fully spent vacation, please DO NOT CHOOSE Sozopol!!! Most likely, you will be disappointed and, remembering your not very successful vacation, you will sigh and think: “Eh, my friends (parents, children, managers at a travel agency - underline as appropriate) told me - why do you need this Bulgaria!!! - go to Turkey (Greece, Egypt...)"
Sozopol is beautiful!!! But it is not created for a beach holiday... Admirers and admirers of this city, please do not throw slippers at me - this is solely my opinion!!!
There are two beaches in the city itself - Central and Harmanite ...Let's look at the pros and cons of each of them...
Central Beach located in a bay between the Old and New Towns...
First, the disadvantages of this beach:
1. To swim normally, an adult must first walk 50 meters (the water will be about knee-deep), algae often washes up near the shore and sometimes (not every day!) small leeches (bugs?) swim in the water, which local residents call " tweezers" or "nippers"... there's nothing particularly scary about them, but it's VERY unpleasant... It's worth swimming a little further - the water is calm and clean...
Now the pros:
1. The beach is thoroughly cleaned every day; in the evening, special machines sift and level the sand and remove algae. After 18 o'clock, all the people from the beach promptly pack up and leave...Probably rushing to a paid dinner at the hotel)))...We always stayed until the moment when the sun completely “set” below the horizon - it was incredibly pleasant to be on the beach and at sea almost alone))
2. Apparently due to the fact that the beach is hidden in a bay, even when the sea is noticeably stormy, it is on the Central Beach that you can swim - the water is much calmer than on other beaches.
3. There are many snack bars, restaurants and fast food outlets nearby, close Old city, in the bars near the beach there is free Wi-Fi, which you can easily catch while lying on the sand on your towel...
4. For me, the biggest plus was the opportunity to admire the views of the Old Town, rocks, while swimming in the sea.
Approximately the following views open:
Now about the beach Harmanite :
Minuses:
1. VERY dirty. Moreover, both on the beach itself and in the water... For some reason, no one cleaned up the algae that the waves washed ashore... so they lay there, day after day... then they began to be, to put it mildly, unpleasant smell... there was even some kind of life there)))
This is the picture we saw almost every day:
Agree, it’s not very pleasant...
2. For some reason, there were much more “pincers” in the water near the shore than on the Central Beach... and in general, some kind of garbage was constantly floating in the sea - chips, bags, matches, cigarette butts, etc.. ..this is not counting the “porridge” made from algae...
3. A lot of people!!! After ten in the morning there was often no place to even put things, not to mention a place to lie down and sunbathe...
Pros:
For me there was only one +: very close to the villa where we lived, literally two minutes walk...
This is the situation with the beaches in Sozopol itself...But not everything is so sad - there is still an alternative...You can get there, clean and well-maintained Kavatsi beach , which is located outside Sozopol. Look, what a beauty!!!
crystal clear water, fine white sand, umbrellas and sunbeds for a reasonable fee, children's playground and cafe, toilet, fresh shower...etc.
there are several BUTs!!! from Sozopol you can get there either by train (the fare costs 1 euro per person, for children too! one way; the schedule is not convenient, in the hottest sun the trains have a break of more than two hours, the ride takes 15-20 minutes)
There are several of them and they are all municipal and sandy. Those. Sozopol does not have its own fenced-off hotel beaches. You can freely settle down for swimming and sunbathing in any place on the coast you like.
The most popular and famous beach in Sozopol is Smokini beach. You can get to it by train from the Black Sea Square in the city center. The schedule hangs at the city public transport stop. The train runs every half hour, a ticket for one costs 2 leva. Get on the trailer and in 15 minutes you are at the final stop. Walk forward 100 meters and turn left onto the beach. This is Smokini.
Smokini Beach. Sozopol.
Here there is coarser sand and, in my opinion, the cleanest water. Sun beds and umbrellas here, as on all beaches of Sozopol, are paid, 20 levs per set for the whole day. But if you have your own umbrella, then you can sit with it on the beach anywhere, except in places where paid umbrellas are installed, from there you will be politely asked. You can buy an umbrella and straw mats in any store in the city. There are several cafes on Smokini Beach where you can buy water, beer or drink coffee. Next to Smokini beach is Kavatsi beach. More precisely, Kavatsi beach gradually turns into Smokini beach, if you count from Sozopol. On these beaches you can hunt for kalkan flounder. It hides at the bottom in the sand at a depth of 1.5 - 2 meters and only an experienced diver can see it.
In general, it’s nice to snorkel here; there are a lot of shells, brine and crabs at the bottom. If you arrive at this beach in the morning, keep in mind that the train takes a break from 12.30 to 15.00. Those. until three o'clock in the afternoon you will have to stay on the beach, because... There are no other ways to return to Sozopol, except by taxi.
By Sozopol Every half hour two trains run, one green, the other blue. Route - from the beach "Golden Fish" to Smokini beach. The fare is 2 leva per person.
Central Sozopol city beach. Located between the Old and New Towns. If you stand in the middle of the beach facing the sea, there will be rocks on the right and you can see the Coral Hotel on them. Next to these rocks is the rotten place. Algae accumulate here, rot and emit an unpleasant odor. No one swims in this place, they only sunbathe, mostly topless.
These are the algae that live in August and September on beaches of Sozopol.
The sea on the central city beach in Sozopol is shallow. To reach the neck-deep depth, you need to walk about seventy meters from the shore. Then you swim another 30 meters and again you can reach the bottom with your feet. Sun beds and umbrellas are also paid here, but you can sit anywhere with your own umbrella. But not among paid sunbeds.
Central city beach. Visible in the distance Old town of Sozopol , and on the left along the shore there are many cafes and restaurants.
Cost of sunbeds and umbrellas on the central city beach of Sozopol.
On the city beach of Sozopol you can ride a pedal catamaran, a jet ski, a banana boat and other sea attractions. Muscular Bulgarian guys walk along the beach shouting “Tsarevitsa, male.” These are corn farmers, they offer boiled corn to tourists. “TsarevItsa” is corn, “molya” is please.
Everyone who did not pay for umbrellas and sunbeds sat on their own mats and with their umbrellas in a free place. There are changing facilities on the beach.
There are many cafes and restaurants along the beach where you can drink cold draft beer or just have a snack. There are no problems with this. When darkness falls, a tractor with a flashing light drives out to the beach, levels the sand and sifts it at the same time. However, there are still a lot of cigarette butts and debris in the sand. We often saw sunbathers smoking freely on the beach and immediately burying their cigarette butts in the sand, even though there was a trash can located a meter away from them. What kind of people?
This beach is located in the new part of Sozopol. One of the most popular and visited streets in the city of Ropotamo runs along it. Harmonity beach is not bad, cozy, but in August the entire shore of the beach is also covered with algae and mud.
Uncollected dried seaweed lies on the shore, which does not provide comfort for swimmers. Swimming here at the end of August and September is also specific due to the presence of many green algae in the water. The beach is also sandy and there are umbrellas and sunbeds for money. For children at all beaches of Sozopol complete freedom, it’s shallow here and they have something to do.
Children will always understand each other. Sand castle on the beach.
Goldfish Beach. Actually, “Golden Fish” is a car camping and it is located outside of Sozopol, but really, not far. You can also get to this beach by train from the Black Sea Square in about ten minutes. It was noticed that when the sea was stormy on the central city beach, there were almost no waves on the “Golden Fish”. Apparently because the beach is located in a closed bay. The sand here is clean, and there are also several attractions, including parasailing behind a boat. Surf lovers can rest their souls on this beach; there is a surfing club here.
Camping "Golden Fish" is located ten minutes by train from Sozopol.
Goldfish Beach.
The water on the "Golden Fish" is clean and transparent.
However, in the surrounding area Sozopol not all beaches are sandy. There are secluded corners for those who like to dive in clear water among the stones. One of these beaches is located on the outskirts of the Old Town near the port. There is only one inconvenience on this beach: it is difficult to enter the water over sharp stones, but you can find the entrance if you want. The water here is always clean and transparent, every pebble on the bottom is visible. If from this place you walk along the stones to the right, then there is another wonderful place among the stones. In this place, fishermen usually fish, and young people jump from the rocks.
This place is good for snorkeling.
These rocks are located just behind seaport on the edge of the Old Town.
Sozopol is wonderful sandy beaches, but it’s just the algae that spoils everything.
Central beach of Sozopol is located in the old part of the city. This is one of the busiest beaches during summer season. The beach area is landscaped and there are bars and restaurants in the immediate vicinity. All kinds of sea activities are also offered. This beach is most suitable for families with children, since the entrance to the water is completely flat and the depth is shallow.
Goldfish Beach located 3 km north of Sozopol. The bay is famous for its fine golden sand and gently sloping shore. This beach also offers boat rentals, scooter rentals and other water activities.
Harmani— southern beach strip of Sozopol. It is located in the new part of the city in the direction of the Kavatsi district. There are sand dunes along the beach. Tourists are offered a wide selection of sea attractions and other entertainment.
In summer, there are children's and sports grounds on the beach. Along the embankment, life is in full swing around the clock; shops, restaurants, nightclubs and discos in Sozopol are concentrated there.
Kavatsi beach is located 3 km south of Sozopol. The beach there is long and wide, located between two capes, and the sand is fine and golden. The rocks located at the beginning and end of the beach are a place for lovers of underwater entertainment.
This beach has free use areas and a more comfortable paid area. It also offers marine entertainment, summer bars and cafes where you can quench your thirst and hunger.
Alepou- an exceptionally picturesque bay, which is located about five kilometers south of Sozopol. Its length is almost 3.5 km and its width is about 300 meters. Sand dunes surround two small lakes. This area is nature reserve.
Local wild beach called Duni, it does not have comfortable places for a beach holiday. The entrance to the water in many places is limited by stone slabs. Despite all the inconveniences, the place is very beautiful, suitable for lovers of wildlife and solitude.
Arkutino Beach- one of the few undeveloped beach strips on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The place reminds paradise, where sun, sea and soft sand are an integral part of pristine nature.
On the dunes along the beach you can see the sand lily, and from the bay there is a magnificent view of the island of Sveti Tom, where you can find wild cacti.
Swans and other waterfowl can often be seen in the bay. The beach is located near the main road between the Dunes and the Ropotamo Nature Reserve. There is parking, a cafe and a beach bar.
Sozopol is located near Burgas airport and is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful places Bulgaria
Bulgarian resort Sozopol
Sozopol – charming old town, buried in gardens and vineyards. Picturesque houses with red tiles, narrow cobbled streets, and magnificent views of the sea create an amazing atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
The town is located near the airport and is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful places in Bulgaria. It is no coincidence that it attracts not only ordinary tourists, but also representatives of bohemia: artists, actors, poets.
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What to see in Sozopol
Like many cities, Sozopol consists of an old and a new part. Moreover, the ancient part of the city itself is a museum under open air. Here you can wander endlessly through the winding streets, admiring amazing architecture ancient buildings.
Lovers of antiquity should definitely visit the Church of the Holy Mother of God with a wooden carved iconostasis from the 18th century. It is quite difficult to discover, since it is located almost level with the ground, but when you visit this place, you find yourself in an amazing atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
IN archaeological museum You can see the richest collection of ancient Greek art. In addition to antique vases and jugs, the museum has an interesting exhibit - the skeleton of a vampire, pierced with an aspen stake.
We definitely recommend visiting Ravadinovo Castle to all tourists traveling to Sozopol. Despite the fact that this is a remake, the castle looks truly fabulous, and the surrounding area is impressive with beautiful views. On the castle grounds there is a small zoo where you can feed the animals, as well as a pond with swans. Entrance to the territory is quite affordable, and you can walk and take photos here as much as you like.
Not far from Sozopol there is the Ropotamo Nature Reserve, where you can see many interesting objects of flora and fauna. The reserve is located along the river of the same name, which flows into the sea. Picturesque forests, sandy beaches and rocky shores are amazingly combined here. For a small price you can take a boat trip along the river and admire the surroundings.
In addition, from Sozopol you can go to the villages of Zidarovo and Rosen, where you can get acquainted with local residents, their customs and rituals.
Beaches of Sozopol
One of the advantages of Sozopol is the large selection of beaches: from sandy to rocky. Most of them are well-appointed and offer a wide range of entertainment. The most popular beaches are:
- The central beach, which is located between the old and new towns and is very popular with families with children. The beach is sandy with a convenient gentle entrance to the sea and clean, clear water. It should be noted that during the season there are quite a lot of vacationers here, so you need to arrive early to get a seat.
- The Golden Fish beach, located three kilometers from Sozopol, is very long. Autotourists and surfers love to come here. The beach is quite calm and well-maintained. There is a campsite, two restaurants, a surf school, etc.
- Harmani Beach is located in the new part of the city, but for family vacation it is unlikely to be suitable due to the great depth and rather dangerous underwater currents. But there are quite a lot of beach activities, restaurants and cafes where you can have a good rest.
- Kavatsite beach is a fairly popular place among tourists. There is a huge selection of entertainment here: water attractions, cafes, sports grounds, etc. The beach is very large, so there are usually no problems with a place to relax.
- Beach " Sand Dunes", which is a natural reserve, is one of the most picturesque places in Sozopol. In addition, the beach itself is very comfortable and clean. In addition to the landscaped part of the beach, there is also a wild beach, where it is not so clean, but there are few people.
Holidays with children in Sozopol
Sozopol is perfect for families with children. For children there is an amusement park, numerous water slides, swings and other entertainment. In addition, the central beach is convenient and has a gentle slope, which is important for families with small children.
Various playgrounds here literally at every step.
In addition, a unique feature of Sozopol are tents with plaster figures, which you can paint yourself. This business is quite exciting and fascinates not only children, but adults. Here you can safely leave your child for two hours and go about your business. As a result, the child will receive a lot of positive emotions and a nice hand-made souvenir.
What to buy in Sozopol
Almost all tourists want to bring something as a souvenir of their trip. What ?
Bulgaria is famous for the art of winemaking, so pay attention to the local wines of the brands Chardonnay, Traminer, etc.
Many tourists buy real rose oil here, as well as cosmetics based on it. Various ceramic products, linen towels and tablecloths are popular.
Food and restaurants
In Sozopol, you can literally eat tasty and satisfying food at every step. That is why we do not recommend having lunch and dinner at the hotel: one breakfast is enough, and during the day you can have a good snack in cafes and restaurants while walking around the city. By the way, prices here are much lower than, for example, in Greece.
Numerous cafes and restaurants serve delicious and fresh food at reasonable prices.
A traditional dish is fish prepared in different ways. We recommend trying the fish on the grill – it’s very tasty! On the streets of the city there are cafes where fried fish is sold by weight. In addition, everywhere you can buy delicious and fresh fried mussels, which are grown here on special plantations.
While walking around the city, we recommend stopping by the Chuchura cafe, where you can try the traditional Bulgarian dish “sach”, which is three types of meat fried in a frying pan with mushrooms and spices. The portion is so large that one cannot finish it; in Bulgaria, the portions are generally large.
In addition, there are many mini-bakeries on the city streets where you can buy delicious and aromatic buns, pizza, etc.
And of course, in all cafes and restaurants you can order a set lunch costing from 5 levs. Lunch, as a rule, is also very tasty and filling.
If you are a fan of a quiet and relaxing holiday, ancient architecture and beautiful nature, then Sozopol will definitely not leave you indifferent. At least, we have been here several times, and each time we discovered something new and attractive.
How to get there?
Tourists who fly to Bulgaria for a holiday in Sozopol land on comfortable planes in Sarafovo, as the international one is called. From there travelers go to Sozopol. For those who choose public transport, the first task is to get to the Southern Bus Station, where bus number 15 goes. From there, buses heading to Sozopol regularly depart. The trip will cost each vacationer 4–5 leva. You can see the bus schedule from the Burgas bus station to the resort of Sozopol.
Those who prefer more comfortable conditions, . For those who apply
