Just 2km from Varna is located the Fanagoria village – unique historical and ethnographic museum in the open. This village is exact copy of nomad Bulgarian war camp dated from 6th century and composed of wooden walls and towers, tents (called Yurts in the language of the nomad tribes), different workshops and recreated costumes, weapons, home cutlery and equipment. There are shooting bow competitions, riding a horse without a saddle as well as spectacular and dynamic show recreating old nomad Bulgarian holiday event in celebration of the horses and the young warriors. You will see training fights, horse rides, shamans praying to the old Bulgarian god-horseman Tangra and many more.

Madara Horseman is located 80km from Varna and 120 from Burgas. In the center of the composition is a horseman in 1:1 size, piercing with a spear lying in his horse’s front hoofs lion. It is believed to represent important historical events during 8th century because of the partly readable carved in texts together with the horseman carving. It is carved 23m above the ground in a vertical rock cliff. This monument is unique and one of the monuments on UNESCO’s list of world’s most important historical treasures.

Veliko Tarnovo is located 220 km away from the Black Sea coast line and the 2 main tourist towns of Varna and Burgas. There is a highway going from both Varna and Burgas to Veliko Tarnovo and the speed limit is 120 km, so this makes the trip about 2 hours drive. The town of Veliko Tarnovo has over 5000 years history with archeological findings dated as back as 3000 B.C. The town was a capital to the Old Bulgarian Kingdom during 9th-13th century. One of the main tourist attractions is the castle of Tzarevetz and the spectacular “Sound and Light” event, which is a unique and always-to-remember spectacle of sound and lights viewable from every place in the town and the surrounding areas.

Just on the outskirts of Tarnovo is the small village of Arbanasi known for the rich history and large number of historical monuments. You can see 5 17th and 18th century churches and 2 monasteries located just few minutes walk from each other, as well as examples of Bulgarian National Revival architecture – merchant houses, guest houses and homes. Today, most of the houses are transformed into restaurants and hotels, while the architecture remains untouched.

If you are visiting Veliko Tarnovo, make sure you find additional hour or so to visit the Hotnitza Waterfall (named Kaya Bunar), located just 15 km from the town of Tarnovo. This is one of the most beautiful places in Bulgaria with its unique aquamarine colored waters. The waterfall is over 30m high and the view of the water falling down the flat as a glass surface stones is breathtaking. The trees around the waterfall give the impression as they are growing from the very rocks around. Everything is like a magic – magic of nature.

The Botanical garden of Balchik is a must-see place if you are visiting Bulgaria. It is built in 1924 as a summer residence from the Romanian Queen Maria, just 40 km from the town of Varna and 120km from Burgas. Queen Maria was Bahaist (religion founded in 1863 in Persia and emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind). Her summer residence is certainly both. The architecture style is a mix of different styles (Arabic and European elements). Queen Maria invited architects from Italy and Switzerland to help her build this hidden between the sea and the rocks area into the summer dream it is now. The most breath taking part of the summer residence is the huge /over 65dka/ botanical garden with over 2000 different botanical species. The biggest attraction is probably the big-sized cactus selection as seeing 3m high cactus is not something we do everyday.

If you are interested in birds and watching them nest in their natural habitat, visiting the protected lake of Srebarna will be amazing way to experience Bulgaria for you. The Srebarna Ornithology Preservation Area is 90 km from Varna. It is located on the big European migratory road –named “Via Pontica”. Srebarna is a nesting area for rare and protected bird species. It is 3km long and 2km wide and is a diminutive model of the Danube river delta. There are over 220 bird species nesting in Srebarna. One of the most interesting species to see in Srebarna is the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), nesting in only 3 other places across Europe.

Just 18km from Varna and 100 km from Burgas is located one unique geological phenomenon created by nature and the power of water area, named Pobiti Kamani. It is still undecided how exactly this miracle was created by the nature, though the 1 to 5 meter high and 1 to 3 meter wide columns just *growing* up from the ground are a fact, and definitely worth seeing. They are empty inside and filled with sand, forming small groups in the area. They are believed to be 50 million years old, created by unknown forces of water and wind in a time back when the world was constantly changing. The area is 5km wide and 17km long parallel with the sea line and the formations of small and big columns are spread all over it in smaller or bigger groups.

Bulgaria’s geographic location and climate are perfect for growing huge variety of vegetables and fruits, thus there are always many season fruits available on the market at very affordable prices if you are visiting Bulgaria during the summer. You can buy strawberries and cherries for as low as 1euro /kg, grapes and watermelon for 0,15 euro/kg, peaches and apricots for 0,5 euro /kg and many more. This huge variety of fruits and vegetables combined with different types of meat defines the taste of the traditional Bulgarian cuisine.

Trying out some of the genuinely Bulgarian dishes is a must if you are visiting the country. Today, most of the town’s central streets are filled with smaller and bigger restaurants offering cuisine from all over the world as well as Bulgarian cuisine at very affordable prices.

Here are some of the most typical, unique and tasty Bulgarian cuisine dishes you can taste and enjoy when visiting Bulgaria:

Shopska Salad: probably the most popular and favorite salad you can get when dining out. Usually served as starter Shopska salad is made of cut tomatoes, cucumber and paprika mixed with parsley, onion, salt, vinegar and oil and generous amount of white cheese on top. It’s perfect in the summertime in Bulgaria, when the vegetables are the freshest, but it’s wonderful during any other season.

Tarator: another great for the hot summer weather starter and kind of cold cucumber and yoghurt soup. Very simple to prepare but very delicious little dish made of cut in small pieces cucumber, yoghurt, salt, fresh finely chopped dill, oil and small bits of walnuts and water, best served cold.

Banitza is a type of baked cheese pastry and one of the most popular and typical Bulgarian dishes, more of a breakfast or snack than a main course. There are many varieties of Banitza but the two most popular varieties are either simple without filling or with white feta cheese filling. If you are visiting Bulgaria and would like to try Banitza, make sure you don’t buy from the street kiosks, but rather ask for it at a restaurant, or if you make some Bulgarian friends during your visit – ask them for home made one.

Moussaka is a traditional dish served either for lunch or dinner. It is very delicious dish made with minced meat, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and flavors like parsley, salt, pepper, paprika powder and a little bit of oil. The most interesting and tasty part of this dish is the toping made of eggs, yoghurt and a bit of salt and paper baked for 10min before the dish is ready to be served.

One of the most delicious and unique meals you can taste when visiting Bulgaria is Kavarma Kebap. It can be prepared with either pork or beef but no mater which type of meat is used, the flavor is godly. Kavarma is prepared by cutting stripes meat, seasoning it with salt and pepper then frying for a few minutes and then adding different vegetables like mushrooms, onions, paprika and tomatoes and letting the meal cook at low temperature for about an hour. To finish the flavor it is normal to add few slices chopped garlic and parsley.

If you are vegetarian but still allow in your food eggs and some milk products like cheese, you will definitely love the Gyvetche, which is mixed layers of vegetables (tomatoes, paprika, mushrooms, and onions) and white cheese. The finishing touch is hot chili pepper and yellow cheese and egg on top. The Gyvetche is prepared in a small earth ware pots with lids and baked for about 20 minutes. Usually served with cold beer and salad, this simple little dish is very delicious.

Once you have decided what your meal will be, you can add a drink to it choosing from the lovely selection of quality Bulgarian vines, high spirits drinks and the always popular beer to make your experience about the Bulgaria cuisine complete and memorable. Enjoy!

You will probably also find very interesting the various handicrafts, wood carvings and souvenirs as they are wonderful choice if you want to take home something to remind you of Bulgaria. Lace-makers and embroiderers sell their handmade items usually at places where tourists visit often, so you don’t have to find them, as they will find you up on normal to offer you taking home piece of their work.

General information:
Currency
Lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki. Notes are in denominations of Lv100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 2. Coins are in denominations of 1 lev, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 stotinki. The Lev is tied to the Euro at a fixed rate – Euro1 = Lv1.955
Most shops are open Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 19.00, even though some bigger chains and shopping centers are open everyday from 9.00 to 20.00 including Sunday.

Banking hours are usually Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 16.00.It is possible to find banks opened on Saturday as well from 9.00 to 14.00, however those banks are very seldom and depending on where your vacation destination is located, you may or may not have access to bank open on Saturdays. There are ATMs placed outside every bank and inside every bigger shopping center so you will have easy access to your funds even if the banks are closed. The withdrawal limit from ATM machines is 400 leva daily.

The national credit/debit card circuit BORICA to which all ATMs in the country are connected accepts Visa Electron, VISA/Plus, Maestro, MasterCard/Cirrus, American Express, Diners Club, and some other cards.
American Express, MasterCard and Visa are accepted in all large cities, in all hotels and rent-a-car offices, and in most restaurants and shops. You will have no problem paying with your credit or debit card in the large cities or tourist resorts as those are quite used to have visitors from abroad. However, if you are visiting smaller town, you will most likely be kindly asked to pay in cash, as Bulgaria is still a country that operates mainly on currency, rather than credit cards.

Currency Exchange should be done only at a bank even though there are many money exchange offices in the most cities claiming to offer fair deal. Even if it is true, the cases of fraud and theft are not something that never happens, so never exchange money out on the street and do not agree to exchange money from people who may wait outside the bank offering you better deal. It will be a fraud.

Points of interest when you are out on a shopping spree:
Whenever you decide to go out and do some shopping, if you are located at the Bulgarian Black sea coast, you will most likely be in close proximity to one of the two major sea resorts and tourists destinations cities – Varna and Burgas.

Varna is rapidly becoming a great shopping centre with many new shopping centers and shopping malls being completed and operational as we speak such as Piccadilly Park, Central Mall, Pfhoe Mall and Varna Mall.
Mall Varna is one of the best places to go shopping in Varna as it is just 5 minutes from the central part and on the main road connecting the city center and the Varna airport. Mall Varna opened its doors to customers in June 2008. The modern building comprises of 70.000 square meters, of which 33.000 square meters are food and drinks shops, sport goods and home decorations stores and boutiques, hand made chocolate store and many more, as well as 800 parking places underground garage area. In addition visitors have access to a cinema complex with 8 cinema halls, a 3D Cinema and Sega Games, a bowling hall and a casino. If you happen to get hungry while checking what the Mall shops have to offer you, you can choose from the many different dining options, such as fast food restaurants (Subway, Mc Donald’s, Burger King), different restaurants (Chinese and Bulgarian cuisine), snack bars and cafes.

If you are closer to Burgas, then Тria City Centre shopping center is the place to start from your shopping tour. It is located in the center of Burgas near to Aleksandrovska Street. The three floors building has many shops offering carious selection of clothes, shoes, bags, cosmetics, souvenirs and many more. The underground car park is safe and easily accessible place to leave your car while shopping if you happen to come alone and not with a group. You can also find restaurants, cafés, and snack bars on the ground floor; however the top floor is also built as a lovely snack bar with view over the town.

Regardless of what you are planning to buy or searching for, you will love the Bulgarian shopping scene. The local production is very high quality while the prices are lower compared to rest of Europe. In addition, some brand chains also are opening shops in Bulgaria at lower prices. For example, a very high quality locally produced suit can be bought for around 90 euro, a shirt with it can be found easily for around 20 euro and a lovely tie to go with those is easy to find for just 10 euro. Most boutiques selling clothes for ladies will offer you spectacular prices as low as 10 euro for blouse or shirt, 30 euro for jacket and just 50 euro for winter coat.

Lingerie in Bulgaria is amazingly inexpensive and comes in huge variety of colors, fabrics and designs. Make sure you buy lingerie made in Bulgaria or Europe and you will get the deal of your life. You can buy bras from 5 to 20 euro, lingerie sets for as low as 20 euro for high quality products made in Bulgaria and many more.
You will be amazed by the prices on the locally produced leather goods. High quality bag or shoes made of leather, no cheap imitation, can cost as low as 20 euro if you are looking at the right place. It is often that the main street stores sell the goods 2x more expensive than same goods just 1 block away so take a look around before you make your pick.

Another thing you will definitely love is the price for crystal in Bulgaria. For example, you can find set of 6 champagne or wine hand carved crystal glasses for as low as 30 euro for the set of 6. Amazing! A lovely vase made of the same high quality crystal cost around 15-20 euro, so buying crystal in Bulgaria is a good deal if you can afford to take it as cabin luggage on the airplane.

It is not easy task to describe the variety of good deals on pretty much everything you get while shopping in Bulgaria, so make sure you have at least a few days specially dedicated to go around and check what the shops have to offer you before you go home and you will definitely be very satisfied with your purchases.

Happy Shopping!

Fancy visiting Bulgaria now? Visit BulgarianHolidays.biz for some amazing deals on travel and accommodation packages.

There are no strings attached, you simply register with the site and your details go in the draw.

Vist the site now and register, what have you got to loose!  Good luck

Villa Levante’s apartments are all well finished one bedroom apartments, fully integrated kitchen, air conditioned throughout, catering to families and groups of up to 4 persons.