Varna is a district town, situated on Varna Bay on the Black Sea, 469 km north-east of Sofia and is a famous seaside resort. Population of 301 000. Third in population after Sofia and Plovdiv, called the seaside capital of Bulgaria. Terminal station on the railway lines Sofia-Varna and Rouse-Varna, a sea port, an international airport, second in traffic after Sofia.

The gem of the Bulgarian Black Sea is situated at the end of the big Varna Bay, with a convenient and well-conserved water area. The city's peculiar sea charm is sublime and moving. Ancient, medieval, renaissance and modern cultures mingle and coexist throughout the city. Varna lies on the same latitude of the famous Atlantic resorts Bayonne and Biarritz in France, on a large, flat and high terrace on the northwestern-most curve of the bay which juts some 7 km inland. During the holiday season, July and August, the sunshine allows to 10-11 hours of sunbathing. There is nothing of the cold Baltic wind or the summer Riviera heat. The sea is amazingly calm and free of dangerous tides. The city is clean and green. Of the green miracles at least three are a must: the Marine Gardens which are the largest in the Balkans; Euxinograd park, the former Royal Palace; the paradise of St. St. Constantaine and Helen.

Varna is a city of old culture, living traditions and ambitious undertakings. Some 20 percent of its population are students in various educational institutions, four of which are higher.

Varna is Bulgaria's third largest city. It was an inhabited place even before the Greeks established the colony of Odessos there about 580 B.C. Later, under the Romans and their successors, the Slavs, Varna became a major port trading with Constantinople, Venice and Dubrovnik. In 1393 it was captured by the Turks, who made it an important military centre.

Apart from being a beach resort, Varna rivals the great cities of Sofia and Plovdiv, in its offering of cultural attractions and historical buildings, museums and art galleries. It also provides access to some of the quieter scenic spots along the coast, including the nature reserve of Kamchiya, the royal palace of Balchik and the hillside monastery of Aladzha. Varna is an 'around-the-year' holiday destination. Beyond the high Season its balneotherapy facilities can help you unwind and enjoy the many sights and sounds in peace.

The Roman Baths date back to the time when the region was a part of the Roman Empire and the settlement was called Odessos. The preserved parts of the building give grounds to believe that the Roman Baths were one of the largest buildings in the eastern part of the Empire and a proof for the wealth and importance of the town. The height of the domed construction is supposed to have been no less than 20 m. The building was constructed in the second half of the 2nd century on an area of about 7000 square meters and was in use until the end of the 3rd century. Its thick walls were blocks with 5-6 layers of solid clay bricks. The inside stairs and the arches over the doors are made of large stone blocks. In some places one can still see fragments of magnificent mosaics. They, together with numerous decorative fragments of marble, the stone columns and capitals are indicative of the ornate decoration of the building.

Passing through the spacious halls that formed a natural barrier to the cold air, the visitors entere a large hall called balestra. With its area of 840 square meters it was a unique center where the citizen of ancient Odessos got together to discuss important issues if public life. Even today people are curious to learn how its heating system was designed and worked. It included a double floor and special hollows through which hot air reached up to the roof of the Baths. A host of little shops, game rooms, halls for bathing in cold, warm and hot water, rest rooms - visitors today can imagine what a busy life was bubbling in the ancient Roman Baths.

The Marine Gardens - the biggest park of Varna, situated by the beach. Its construction begins in 1878. Within the park area one can find the Seaside Baths, the Navy Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Aquarium (unique exposition of water organisms - Black Sea, freshwater, tropical fishes), the Astronomical Observatory and the Planetarium which organizes observation seances for visitors, Dolphinarium with an amusing show, etc.

The Church of the Assumption - this church is second in scale after St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia. Erected in 1884-1886 by the master builder Gencho Kunev in honour of the Liberation from Ottoman yoke. Modern Byzantine architecture. Spacious interior, woodcarved iconostasis by masters belonging to the school of Debur, stained glass. The church is painted in 1949-1950. Declared monument of culture.

There is hardly a city in Bulgaria apart from the capital that has so many museum opportunities.
The former Girls High School, which used to be the biggest in the Balkans, houses the Archaeological Museum that holds one of the country's richest collections. A special treasury displays priceless gold jewels and amazing ancient toreutic works. The icon and church plate exposition is very impressive.

The National Revival Museum has a rich collection of documents and exhibits of earlier times.

The Ethnographic Museum has exhibits showing traditional means of livelihood and costumes with varying demographic features.

The Naval Museum is in the shady alleys of the Marine Gardens and features vessels, submarines and artillery from the defense history of Varna.

The Museum of the Histhory of Medicine in what used to be the city's first hospital and possesses the richest paleo-anthropologic collection in Bulgaria.

The Museum of New History is in the oldest surviving house in Varna, that was built in 1851. Bulgaria's only Aquarium with unique facade covered in ivy attracts many visitors.

The Varna Museum is full of treasures from all periods of the city's history, and will interest both the informed archaeologist and the casual visitor. In 1972 excavations in the Varna Necropolis revealed almost two thousand gold artefacts from about 4000 B.C. One stunning display case has the bones of a tribal leader arranged with skillfully-made jewelry and personal possessions around him. Some of the finds are displayed behind magnifying glass to reveal the complex and minute details of the craftsmanship. Some items are thought to be the oldest worked gold so far discovered. Other exhibition halls contain Greek and Roman antiquities, including some fine ceramics; icons, weapons and materials from the 19th century struggle against the Ottoman Empire.

Other museums include the Ethnographic Museum, with interesting displays of costumes and jewelry, and examples of folk customs such as the embroidered masks used in the Kukeri and Survakari rituals, and different-shaped loaves baked for festival days. The Natural History Museum focuses on coastal flora and fauna.

About 20 kilometres west of Varna is the so-called Stone Forest, a curious collection of stone columns up to 7 metres high. The first impression is of a ruined temple but scientists have discovered that it is a geological formation of stalagmites some fifty million years old.

The first higher school of economics and commerce in Bulgaria was founded here in 1921. Today it houses the Varna University of Economics.

The foundations of the Nicola Vaptsarov Naval Academy were laid in 1881. The Naval Academy prepares officers for the Navy and for the Merchant Marine. Traditions at the N. Y. Vaptsarov Naval Academy in training the specialties Navigation and Ship Engineering both for the Navy and the Merchant Marine are long-lasting and well-established.

The Technical University of Varna was founded in 1962 under the name of Higher Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Today the Technical University of Varna is a thriving, vibrant university with a uniqueness and spirit of its own.

Established in 1991, Varna Free University enters in the 21st century as a renowned and valuable partner for Bulgarian and International academic community. For its ten-year history the university achieved high standards of education and instruction. The University is a member of the Black Sea University Network.

The Palace of Culture and Sports is another venue for many business and scientific meetings and prestigious international sport events. Its Congress Hall can seat 3000 persons. There are 9 other halls seating from 50 to 800, air-conditioning, 10 cafes, a post office, a recreation centre, shopping area and a parking lot. The unique architecture of the Palace and the great number of visitors of cultural and sport events make it desirable place for advertising and trade.

Varna hosts many international and domestic cultural events. Every year from May till the beginning of October Varna turns into a cross-road of artists who work in the field of music, the theatre and dance. Music Weeks were held for the first time in Varna in 1926. They set the beginning of the International Art Festival Varna Summer.

Chateau Euxinograd is situated amidst a beautiful park with rare exotic plants. The construction of the Euxinograd Palace started in 1882. It was designed by the Viennese architect Ruppelmeyer. In that year the Bulgarian Prince Alexander Battenberg accepted as a present from the Council of senior clergy at the Greek Bisphopric the monastery Saint Dimitri with all its fields, vineyards and buildings. Later the prince expanded the estate to its present-day boundaries, some 8 km north of Varna, sprawling of 80 hectares. The palace was first named Sandrovo (after the name of its owner Alexander Battenberg - Sandro) but in 1983, at the request of Princess Maria Louisa, wife of the new Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand, the estate was given a name - Euxinograd which means a "hospitable town".

The construction of the famous Euxinograd Park began in 1890. Over 2000 different plant species from the Mediterranean, Asia and South America, personally selected by the Tsar grow here in amazing harmony. A deodar (a cedar from the Himalayas) as old as one hundred years is planted in a special fertile soil taken from the mouth of the Kamchia River. Next to it grow tall palm trees. Two exquisite bridges - one made of metal, the other - made of cement imitating the trunk of a felled tree, give the finishing touch to the park architecture.

St. Constantine and Elena is the oldest resort, quiet and peaceful, located amidst an age-old park, with secluded beaches and spa treatment possibilities, favoured by middle-aged tourists. It's located 10 km north of Varna offers an elegant holiday destination, which prides on a long tradition of hospitality. Situated in a fine old park with cypress trees, lilies and fig trees, quiet bays, sand beaches and curative mineral springs, the resort offers comfortable hotels, villa-settlements and holiday houses, dominated by Grand Hotel Varna (one of the best Bulgarian sea hotels), modern restaurants serving national and European cuisine, sports and entertainment for any age, excursions. Located in the middle of natural park with a broken coastline, small bays and scatteres cliffs - a paradise for anglers and drivers.

The resort is named after the local monastery that was built no one knows when. The Kalogersko Shoushoukane (Monks’ whisper) wine is said to have been made there. A small church halfway under the ground with regular services is the only surviving structure. This was favorite recreational place for the people of Varna long before the Liberation; the richer ones had rooms reserved for them in the monastery; others built summer houses amidst the woods. The first holiday house that was visited by Czech, Poles and Germans was built in 1908.

Comfortable quiet hotels, villa settlements and holiday houses are sheltered in the shade of this magic place, which is dominated by Grand Hotel Varna, the king of the seaside hotels, with some of the best hydrotherapy facilities, its own field stadium and excellent opportunities for sport. There are many reasons to visit this resort; the specific microclimate with a high concentration of soothing light-weight negative ions; the perfect harmony of the sea breeze at an altitude of 25 meters, cool, bracing air, the scent of century old fig, cypress and lime trees, and the abundance of mineral springs.

Ten kilometers north of Varna, a quiet bay in the resort of St.St.Constantine and Helena has given shelter to the Sunny Day Complex. It meets all the requirements of the club type of tourism: luxury hotels, a wide beach strip of fine golden sand, a yachting marina, playgrounds, a tennis court, facilities for spa treatment and preventive medicine.

Golden sands is located 17 km north of Varna. It deserves to be called "the pearl" of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast thanks to its unique park, the cool freshness of the woods, the vast stretch of fine golden sand. It combines uniquely calm and clean sea, rich vegetation in a park of 8 000 ha and curative mineral springs. The beach strip is 3,5 km long and up to 100 m wide.

This is one of the most charming places along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Jutting out for 2 km into the sea, Kaliakra is the longest cape along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Its name meant "Beautiful cape", аfter the crimson color of its cliffs. Put up in the Hellenic era, the Kaliakra fortress was at its heyday in the 14th century when it become the stronghold of the Bulgarian noble man Balik. During the Turkish invasion it was subject to an extremely cruel siege. All warriors and citizens of the fortress were murdered. Only 40 young maids were left alive. They decided to choose death to life in disgrace. When no one was watching them they plaited together their long hair, held their hands and jumped into the sea from the high cliffs.

Flora and fauna: The area is especially attractive in spring, when the steppe vegetation shows all of its fascination. The narrow-leafed peony and the Wide-leafed peony with glorious red flowers, the Spring and Volga Adonis and the irises (Iris spp.) hued in yellow or blue are most impressive. The reservation hosts more than 270 plant species, 41 of them being rare, endangered, or, endemic.
The region's bird diversity is exceptional too, due to the fact that it lies on their migratory way Via Pontica. Kaliakra is one of the few places in Europe hosting the Rose - colored Starling, the Pied Wheatear and five lark species, typical of the Balkan peninsular. The Stone Curlew, the Red - backed Shrike, the Lesser Grey Shrike and the Isabelline Wheatear find refuge in the steppes. The coastal cliffs are animated by the Shag, the Alpine Swift and different song birds.
In this peaceful nature reserve hooded cormorants nest, seals and dolphins cavort in the sea, and pink starlings and rock blackbirds frequent the cliffs and caves.

Albena is a beautiful resort on the Black Sea Coast with perfect location, high quality accommodation and a variety of amenities. Albena is the place where the sea meets the sand. Sport and recreation facilities, numerous entertainment spots, nightlife in bars and beauty facilities - Albena has it all. Albena - a world of quality service and value! Albena - a delight for all ages - sandy beach, crystal sea, and as much or as little action as you need, Albena has something for everyone. Albena offers a total of 13,000 beds in 40 hotels, 5 holiday villages and 1 campsite. It has 1 four-star, 17 three-star and 22 two-star hotels. The resort is intent on offering its guests the best it can by constantly improving hotel facilities and the standard of service.

The resort's hotels are located in a natural environment, either right on the beach or on the nearby hills which command a splendid views of the sea. One of Albena's latest acquisitions is the Maastricht Hotel, which houses the Dutch Hotel Management School. Albena is a BLUE FLAG winning resort, located in a picturesque and ecologically clean gulf on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, famous for its flower gardens, close to Varna international airport.