So Bulgaria may not be the first place you think of as a tourist destination?
Yet Bulgaria remains affordable, welcoming and varied in the scale of activities on offer for beach bums, skiers and all types in between!
People who want to enjoy reduced living costs will find Bulgaria a suitable place to live.
Stop and consider ... In none of those "world-famous" places do you find the beauty of the Bulgarian scenic nature, the golden-sand beaches, the nice climate, or the beautifully-forested mountains behind those beaches.
In none of those places are you offered restaurant menus at such uninflated prices; and in no restaurant do you see or hear traditional folk dancing and singing - something you can enjoy almost everywhere in Bulgaria. The cost of food and drink in places such as Sofia is much less than in many other European countries.
Europe's so-called "new frontier" offers better value for money than either the traditional European favorites or America. Along with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic is one of the most stable of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. In 1989 the country became democratic again through the Velvet Revolution. This occurred at around the same time as the fall of communism in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland. Within three years communist rule had been totally eradicated from Europe. The Czechoslovakian people are West Slavs, with German influences.. The Czech people have a wide range of influence in Bulgarian language and culture after the Turks. As you tour this new frontier, you'll also want to plan a few days in Czechoslovakia. We suggest a visit to Mary's travel & tourist services to see the many options available to you there.
The food in Bulgaria is naturally good. The beauty of Bulgaria's millenia-old mountains is breathtaking. The skiing is wonderfully exciting. Bulgaria boasts Eastern Europe's most fashionable resorts, says an article in the January 14 issue of Newsweek magazine. Danish tour operator Penguin Travel said bookings for Bulgaria's ski resorts were up by 30% this winter.
Here is your invitation to visit Bulgaria and other attractive places in Eastern Europe. Now, you just have to come and see what everyone is talking about! Bulgaria is a very attractive tourist destination because of the miraculous workings of nature and the numerous natural phenomena scattered across the country. It is a small piece of paradise blending in itself the remarkable beauty of the azure, the warm turquoise sea and the majestic, snow-topped mountains.
Bulgaria is a cornucopia of discovery, with millennia of history and centuries of traditions. The best way to explore Eastern Europe is through timeshare sales. You'll stay in the choicest resorts to be found, and those who buy timeshare usually report a more spacious suite in a relaxed setting.
Bulgaria was home to the ancient Thracians, including Orpheus, in Greek legend, the chief representative of the art of song and of great importance in the religious history of Greece.
Bulgaria’s evolving tourism industry is fueling the current property boom as Bulgaria moves up in the international property market, with coastal resorts attracting the majority of buyers. Several major projects being carried out at the moment promise to offer highest quality upon completion, and other new developments focus on golf and luxury property. Investors who entered the country several years ago have seen high return rates, and while the market has calmed, agents see continued growth in the future, agents said.
There is a spirit in Bulgaria, something you won't feel in those other places which have developed according to some stereotype. Bulgaria is a natural, lovely country, and without exception the people are open, warm, kind, and very appreciative of a foreigner's attempt at gaining even a limited Bulgarian vocabulary. Learning the Cyrillic alphabet is essential.
The ancient Bulgarians invented the most accurate system of measuring time – a fact which indicates their early civilizing force. The proto-Bulgarians used a calendar system based on a 12-year lunar zodiacal cycle on observations of Jupiter and the Sun. The Bulgarian calendar was more precise than the Gregorian calenda we now use. Although Bulgaria adopted the Gregorian calendar on November 14, 1915, the question was raised in UNESCO during the 1970's by non-Bulgarian scientists whether this more accurate calendar should be proclaimed the current one for the whole world.
An article in one of the most prestigious French tourist magazines L'echo names Bulgaria "the new Eldorado" - a place with extremely diverse and plentiful tourist product.
Reporting in the U.K.'s
daily online Guardian Unlimited of Tuesday, January 25,
Flip Byrnes
says "In Bulgaria, it's hard to spot the locals for all the English descending here every season. Their increasing numbers have made this the flavour of the month for one reason only. It's cheap. Crazily, undeniably, ridiculously cheap. A three-star hotel for seven nights with breakfast and dinner is from £165. That's great, but is there still snow? Yes.
The two largest resorts in Bulgaria are the purpose-built Borovets and Pamporovo. But the up and comer is Bansko in the Pirin Mountains, set to become the jewel in Bulgaria's snow dusted crown. With a respectable height of 2,580m snow conditions are good, and it boasts the only half pipe in eastern Europe. The runs are plentiful, running through a forest setting, but the real point of note is heliskiing. At only €50 per person (£35), it is the cheapest ride you'll ever have. In Bulgaria's Bansko, a week's half-board in a four-star hotel, is a third cheaper than most Hotels in Paris or even three-star accommodation in the French retreat of La Clusaz. But it is when you take off the skis that the savings really pile up. A three-course meal in Bansko sets you back six pounds per head while a bottle of beer costs 80 pence. At La Clusaz the same dinner and a beer would leave you 20 pounds poorer.
It's not Alaska, but then it is also not the standard US$500 rate. Russians and the well-heeled of Sofia head here on weekends; otherwise it is a tame yet uncrowded resort. Modern hotels mix with rickety farmhouses and empty-shelved grocery shops snuggle against well-stocked mehanas, the local taverns."
So, don't be negative to Bulgaria! Don't forget that the country has recently survived 45 years of communism and is still learning from the "big" tourist destinations like Spain (where, by the way, I have waited one hour for an orange juice, the airport was extremely dirty and my money was stolen from the hotel). Last year, some ten million Americans spent their vacation some place in Europe. This year, Bulgaria has the chance to attract more of those US holiday-makers. We suggest you choose a tour guide for individual tourists and groups for sightseeing of the many attractive places in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is a natural eco tourism heaven! Take a hiking trip through a quaint Rhodope or Strandja mountain village. Go see Sozopol, Sinemoretz, Nesebar ... enjoy the culture, the spirit, the colorful traditions and the history and think about where else in the world you can find a place with such stunning nature, such pretty women, such low prices, such unique folklore, so many mineral springs, such golden sand and fertile soil and such unfettered souls. Bulgarians have just had the bad luck to have 500 years under harsh Ottoman rule; more difficult than it is possible for westerners to imagine. They were freed from the Turkish yoke with the help of Russian Czar Alexander's strong army. Then, as a unified, independent nation, Bulgaria again was a part of the civilized Europe to which it truly belonged. After restoration of the national state in 1878, Bulgaria became a constitutional monarchy with a democratic governmental system and a rapidly growing economy.
An industrious people of skilled craftsmen, farmers and artisans by nature, these Bulgarians had just begun a strong renaissance, their country had again filled with calm and peacefulness, just when all of its land and wealth was surrendered to the communists as the consequence of an agreement signed between U. S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Churchill and Generalissimo Stalin (the Yalta agreement) giving Bulgaria and neighboring countries in trust to Joseph Stalin. Churchill branded the Bulgarians ungrateful and in 1944 he gave Bulgaria away to Stalin as a punishment - to build up socialism. Franklin Delano Roosevelt lied to the American public, misrepresenting the Yalta Agreement to hide the fact that he had essentially consented to postwar Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, creating the basis for a half-century of largely avoidable Cold War. In 1989, U.S. President George W. Bush admitted " The agreement in Yalta followed in the unjust tradition of Munich and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Once again, when powerful governments negotiated, the freedom of small nations was somehow expendable. ... The captivity of millions in Central and Eastern Europe will be remembered as one of the greatest wrongs in history."
Yet, after 45 years of hardship, the Bulgarian people mounted a remarkable "velvet revolution", demanding their freedom and the return to a democratic government.
There is no other European country where so great a variety of landscapes is to be found within so small an area: here are Alpine mountains, vast meadows, fruitful valleys, picturesque rivers, and thick woods, fine-golden-sandy beaches; a small country founded in the 7th century on the territory that was once inhabited by ancient Thracians, Romans, Byzantine and Slavs.
