So Bulgaria may not be the first place you think of as a tourist destination?
But wait a moment! 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.
The food 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. 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 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.
Photo of Plovdiv's ancient theatre in winter courtesy of Idea Studio
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.
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. 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 some of those US holiday-makers.
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.
