Bulgaria Activities

Bulgaria offers plenty of activities for families with children, with seaside and skiing resorts catering to the needs of all ages. There are also zoos and dolphin shows in the main cities and Sofia has a new, attractive amusement park.

Beaches
The Black sea is home to many fine beach resorts, most of them very child friendly. Sunny Beach is particularly popular with families and provides 24 hour day care facilities. The resort further offers children’s pools, merry go-rounds, pony riding, kid’s discos and electronic games for those who are unable to leave modern technology at home. Skilled instructors can teach the young ones a new sport or they can go on a day outing with Robinson Crusoe and his Man Friday, a 40 minute boat tour to a deserted island where they meet the two castaways and then play games on the beach.

Dolphin show
The Dolphinarium is located in the northern part of Varna Seaside Park. Seating 1,134 spectators, the show includes acrobatics, balance acts, music and dolphin dances. The shows last 30 minutes and are performed by dolphins of the breed tursiops truncatos. The Dolphinarium café gives guests an opportunity to watch dolphins play underwater. Website: www.beachbulgaria.com/varna

Skiing
Bulgarian ski resorts are extremely child friendly and many offer special deals for families who book in advance. There are Ski Kindergartens, organised locally, where young children get their own ski coaching and are looked after while their parents enjoy skiing by themselves. In Borovets, a nursery is provided for the very young.

Sofia Land Amusement Park
Located near Sofia Zoo and the Boris Gardens, Sofia Land is a new attraction in the capital, having opened to visitors in the autumn of 2002. Although it is quite small, the park offers a good range of amusement rides, including a few different carousels, a 'tower experience' offering fine views over the city from a height of 43ms and followed by a free fall, a rollercoaster 400ms long and 15ms high and a ‘Wild River’ ride on the water channels.

Zoos
Sofia Zoo was founded in 1888 and is the oldest and largest on the Balkan Peninsula. The zoo is home to a large variety of species, including many mammals, reptiles, birds and insects. Some of the more popular species include the Black Panther, the lama, the hippopotamus, the leopard gecko, the green iguana and the yellow anaconda. The most child friendly attraction in the zoo is the contact zone; this is where the visitors can make direct contact with tame animals. Here, children and adults can touch, pet and even feed animals such as goats, rabbits, ponies, ducks and geese. Website: www.sofiazoo.com/index.html.

The Exotic Zoo in Varna is home to the most diverse and unique collection of terrarium animals in Bulgaria.

If you are interested in participating in some sporting activities during your holiday, a wide range of options awaits you. On an area of 111,000 square kms there are four major mountain regions with an altitude of up to 2,925ms. There is a well-developed skiing infrastructure and all ski resorts have fine lift networks, virgin nature and lots of snow and sun. The three major Bulgarian ski resorts are Bansko, Borovets, and Pamporovo.

The Black Sea offers great conditions for fans of windsurfing. Several windsurfing competitions take place every year. There are several windsurfing clubs along the Black Sea shores that have training and quality equipment for rent. The sea is warm sunny days are plentiful. Wind speed varies and is generally higher in the late afternoon.

Bulgaria is home to no less than 4,620 caves, providing an opportunity to experience a unique natural environment, distinct from any other. Each of the caves has their own story to tell and most of them have already been explored and are accessible to visitors. Traces of pre-historical life have been found in many caves.

Horseback riding in Bulgaria provides a unique experience, whether you are a beginner or an experienced rider. Five Bulgarian mountains: Rila Mountains, Strandja Mountains, Rhodope Mountains, Pirin Mountains and the Balkan Range offer varied support and excellent itineraries for horse riding.

Bulgaria has a large variety of exciting rivers, which in spring and early summer offer great conditions for white-water kayaking. There are also a number of wonderful lakes in the country’s southern part, in the Rhodopes, which offer canoe or kayak tours in beautiful scenery. The great diversity on the Bulgarian coast also invites visitors to try sea kayaking.

Bulgaria provides a literally infinite potential for hiking activities. Hikers can enjoy some of Europe’s most stunning highland panoramas in the Rila, Balkan Range, Pirin, Sredna Gora and Rhodope Mountains, which offer spectacular peaks and glacial lakes, lush meadows by clear streams and forested valleys. There are also wonderful gorges and caves, century-old pine and oak tress as well as beech woodlands. Hundreds of trails and a huge range of routes offer a wealth of exploration opportunities. Bulgaria’s mountains also boast an exceptionally rich wildlife, flora and fauna, which are protected in three national parks and 11 nature parks as well as countless reserves.

For the more adventurous, Bulgaria’s mountainous terrain offers fine opportunities for rock climbing. Experienced climbers can find various rock formations in the mountain ranges, which are divided into a number of climbing areas. The most popular sites and those that are used for training are secured with special safety wedges providing a very high safety degree.

Outdoor dining is possible in Bulgaria for at least six months of the year, be it in a lively street in Sofia, Varna or Plovdiv, or a peaceful courtyard in Bansko, taking diners back in time.
Sofia is jam-packed with restaurants and new ones open every month. The more up-market ones often focus on international or Mediterranean cuisines, but also have some Bulgarian dishes on the menu. There are also many trendy bistros, and most cafés offer snacks. People usually eat late and slowly; food is all about relaxation and pleasure. Whatever kind of food you prefer, it will be of high quality and low price.

Traditional Bulgarian cuisine is served at a handful of specialised restaurants in the cities. For the real thing, however, you need to visit one of the various ‘museum’ towns or villages (Melnik, Zheravna Koprivshtitsaand and Bozhentsi), where old houses bring back Bulgaria’s late 19th century atmosphere.
One of the tastiest cuisines in Europe, Bulgarian cooking still makes use of fresh, naturally grown ingredients. The delightfully rich Ottoman influence is combined with peasant cooking that uses flavourful vegetables and herbs.

Bulgarian specialties include sirene (a white salty cheese) and yoghurt. Local yoghurt excellent and so unique that it’s exported all over the world, simply labelled ‘Bulgarian Yoghurt’. Two dishes use sirene as an ingredient. One is shopska salad, made with chopped tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and onion. The other is banitsa, a flaky savoury pastry sold at street stalls that is often enjoyed with coffee.
For meat lovers, most dishes are based on chicken, pork and lamb. Grilled meat is popular and dishes include kyufteta (spicy meat balls), and kebapchet (lengthened meat balls). Chushki byure are peppers stuffed with cheese and herbs and fried in breadcrumbs, a tasty entrée or a quick meal.

Shoppers will find a vast range of venues to pursue their hobby, with glitzy multilevel shopping malls in Sofia and markets selling old style souvenirs.

The main shopping areas in Sofia are on Vitosha Boulevard, Graf Ignatiev Street, Rakovski Street and the streets branching off from them. The recently opened Central Department Store (TsUM) offers three floors selling everything from souvenirs to household goods.

Great fashion items can be found in many shops in Varna and along the Black Sea coast. Designer labels are plentiful and can be had at a fraction of the cost you would expect to pay in the UK. However, sizing can be somewhat different.

Melnik wine is a famous and popular drink, which makes for a great souvenir. It is sold in supermarkets all around the country, although it is much more interesting to buy it in Melnik itself. This famous village has a wine producing tradition dating back to the 15th century. Several winegrowers also offer wine tastings in order to promote their wine.

Many stalls or shops in the resorts tend to sell products for much more than in the main towns such as Varna, so it’s a good idea to plan a trip to your nearest town at the start of your holiday so you can see what the prices there are like compared to your resort.

Large supermarkets such as Billa, Hit and Metro offer a broad range of local and imported products. In smaller shops, the service standard and friendliness of staff tends to vary. Many shop assistants are still grappling with the concept of customer service, with varying degrees of success.

When paying for something in a restaurant or shop, do not expect to always get the correct change. ‘Rounding up’ is common practice, and certainly not in your benefit. Credit cards are accepted more and more frequently in upmarket shops but there is still a definite need for cash.
Shopping hours Shops and stores are generally open Mon-Fri 10:00-20:00 and Sat 10:00-14:00. In Sofia, there are several 24-hour food shops in the centre and some private shops are now open on Saturday afternoons.