What to do in Nessebar, Bulgaria (Burgas Region)
Nessebar (or Nesebar) is a beautiful town, situated on the coast of the Black Sea in the Burgas region in Bulgaria. It’s a seaside resort known for beautiful beach holidays and of course, its amazing Old Town. This Old Town is situated on a peninsula (previously an island) connected to the mainland by a narrow man-made strip of land and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a fascinating ancient history dating back 3,000 years. It was originally a Greek colony and being very close to the Greek border it has a lot of Greek influences – especially the food with lots of fresh fish, seafood, and salads.
Recently we were invited by Jet2holidays to choose one of their package holidays to Bulgaria with destinations ranging from Sunny Beach, to St. Vlas, to Nessebar. After much debate, we chose to travel to Nessebar as we thought the Old Town looked beautiful and the hotel we chose looked incredible for the kids.
Nessebar is super convenient to get to as it’s only about a 3-hour flight from the UK and a 30-minute drive from Burgas airport. It’s also only a 2-hour time difference which is great when you have kids and don’t want to upset their sleep routine too much. We decided to just keep them on English time which worked really well as it meant we got to wake up at around 9 am and we could go out a bit later in the evenings for dinner.
Nessebar has a European climate with cold winters and warm summers. It is experiencing a heatwave at the moment with temperatures around 30C but summertime temperatures are normally in the mid twenties while winters can be around 0C or lower. The currency is the Bulgarian lev which at the time of writing this was about 1 lev to 45p (UK). It’s well worth getting some cash out as there are quite a few places that don’t accept cards.
How to get to Nessebar, Bulgaria
For this weekend away to Nessebar, as part of the holiday package we had flights to Bulgaria with Jet2 airlines and we were flying from London Stansted airport to Burgas airport (around a 3-hour trip ). We’ve actually never been on an all-inclusive package holiday before so we weren’t sure what to expect. What we loved the most was how seamless everything was – with 2 little kids everything is a hassle but Jet2 took all of the stress out of the holiday for us. Upon arriving at the airport, check-in was so fast and the bag drop was great. The flights were fabulous (partly due to the fact that both kids fell asleep for most of the journey both ways!!) but also I was impressed at the planes and especially the staff. I have been on my share of low-cost flights and found the Jet2 planes to be the cleanest and most comfortable of all the ones I’ve experienced with the friendliest crew. They also had a great range of onboard food and drink and we arrived feeling quite chilled out.
At Burgas airport, we weren’t sure what to expect having never done pre-planned transfers but there were so many Jet2 staff around that as soon as we were through baggage claim we were directed outside and onto our bus in about 5 minutes. It then departed 5 minutes later which meant no sitting around! We usually hire a car for our holiday so there is always a lot of faff when you get to the airport and have to go through car hire before your holiday can even begin but we both agreed that the transfer was just so hassle-free. The journey to our hotel was around 30mins and we were there before we knew it. We had the express transfer service meaning we were guaranteed to be one of the first three hotels to be dropped off and one of the last three to be picked up meaning more time at the resort! I was texted a half-hour slot to be in reception for on our day of departure and the bus turned up promptly to take us back that morning. A really seamless experience and one we will definitely consider in the future for our family holidays.
Where to stay in Nessebar, Bulgaria
We stayed at the Sol Nessebar Palace thanks to Jet2holidays and we knew it was the right choice as soon as we arrived. Check-in went smoothly and we were shown to our room (a family room) which had two bedrooms, a twin and a huge double along with a bathroom with a huge corner bath and a balcony with a sea view. Anyone with kids knows how important it is to have a bath as ours really do not love showers and the two rooms were perfect as at the moment we both co-sleep with one kid each! Having all of us in one room means they wake each other up constantly in the night so being able to separate them was amazing. It was late so we all just went to bed with two kids very excited for the next morning.
The next morning the kids were up early and ran to the balcony to check out the view. We could see the whole resort and the kids were so excited to explore.
The Sol Nessebar Resort is made up of 3 hotels and ours was the Sol Nessebar Palace. Being at the Palace meant that we could use all the facilities including those of the other hotels so we could do and go everywhere in the whole resort. The best bit about staying at the Palace Hotel as opposed to the others was the access to complimentary sun loungers and an umbrella on the beach. We loved the beach and took full advantage of this, however, if you’re staying in one of the other hotels you can use the free beach area and lay on the sand or you can pay 30 leva for two sunbeds and an umbrella in some of the paid areas.
We also loved the beach bar but this wasn’t part of the all-inclusive deal and wished the hotel had a bar on the beach as it was a bit of a trek to go and get drinks once we were settled by the sea. For this reason, we ended up paying for drinks and ice-creams and even lunch one day at the Azzaiia Beach Bar rather than dragging the kids back to the main resort for drinks and food.
Within the hotel itself, there were 4 pools, a splash pad, a spa, waterslides, multiple playgrounds, bouncy castles, a beauty salon, billiard/games rooms, and much more. Our kids (1 and 3 years old) loved the splash pad with the baby waterslides and the playground and bouncy castle areas but there were plenty of activities for older kids too that my littlies couldn’t take full advantage of. There was a kids club for children from ages 4 and up. Lots of scary-looking waterslides, archery, darts, an inflatable obstacle course in the sea at the beach as well as craft tents and evening entertainment such as magic shows, mini discos, and a variety performance.
We spent most of our time at the beach, the splash pad, and in the main pool with our little water babies. The sea was really warm and so clear and calm – our eldest has never really loved the sea and has always been a bit scared of it but she was laughing and swimming all day in crystal clear waters. Back at the pool, our kids loved the water aerobics every day and the animation team was great at getting everyone involved.
The food and drink options at the Sol Nessbar Palace were great and there was something for everyone. The main restaurant offered a buffet breakfast lunch and dinner with every option imaginable. From Bulgarian pastries to salads, cheeses, fish and meat, soups, breads and plenty of desserts. Around the resort there were other options too, a German Bierhaus serving sausages and pretzels, a tapas bar, a paella shack, a panini shack as well as my kids’ favourite, the ice cream hut! There were also donuts, pizza and fries served at the main pool bar as well as fresh fruit which was always available. The bar served a huge selection of cocktails as well as every soft drink imaginable, coffee, beer and Bulgarian wines. There was also an Italian restaurant which required pre-booking so we didn’t get in but heard great things about it.
What to do in Nessebar, Bulgaria
There are plenty of things to do in and around the hotel if you’re happy to venture out and about. We headed into the Old Town a couple of times for dinner which was an amazing experience. It took about 10 mins on the bus for about 3-4 lev an adult or around 20-25 lev in a taxi and was well worth the effort to be in an amazing 3000-year-old town. You can walk through the ruins to the most picturesque Old Town full of tiny cobbled streets lined with shops and restaurants – we even saw a traditional Bulgarian dance in one of the ruins.
We ate in a couple of restaurants in the Old Town and can highly recommend The Old Nessebar Restaurant and Restaurant Zornitza. We chose them as they both had beautiful balconies that you could sit on which overlooked the sea and we sat sipping our cocktails and eating fresh fish at the sun set. I highly recommend the fresh grilled bream and the Greek salad- in fact, I had it in both restaurants!
We did a wine tasting there one night in Messembria Winery. For about 20lev we got to taste 6 local wines and were given a huge cheese and charcuterie board. The wines were all really interesting and having never experienced Bulgarian wines I was very impressed. We had been told that Bulgarian wine was traditionally very fruity but these wines were dry, elegant, and could rival any decent French vineyard. In fact, we came away with a couple of bottles of the oak-aged red to take home with us.
We could’ve spent so much more time exploring the Old Town but as we only went for three days and we spent most of our time in the hotel we didn’t get to explore as much as I would have liked – next time maybe! However, other experiences I have heard are great are:
Having a cocktail in an actual cave! Michael’s Eco-Bar is a bar inside a cave with actual floor-to-ceiling stalagmites. It has a river running through it with turtles in it and seems like a really magical place to grab a drink before dinner.
Alternatively, you could head to Sunny Beach for the day. Sunny Beach is a real party area with plenty of bars and nightclubs so if you’re after a fun, buzzy evening it’s the place to be. The easiest way to do this is to take the Water Taxi from the hotel beach or there are other boats you can catch or you can get a bus or taxi ride about 20 minutes up the coast.
St Vlas is another great town to take a day trip to. It’s a glitzy harbour town with lots of shops and boutiques. The restaurants are fancier with a lot of modern fusion food and it’s definitely a place to buy a cocktail and people-watch for an afternoon.
Visit one of the water parks. Although there were great slides in the resort that we stayed at, if you want to spend a whole day at a water park there are plenty to pick from.
Cruises along the coastline. There are lots of sailing boats and catamaran cruises that go along the coast. From party boats during the day (we saw a pirate ship sailing along) to romantic sunset cruises there is an option for everyone.
Visit a winery – there are lots of wineries in the area and plenty of tour operators offer day trips. Try some Bulgarian wine in a beautiful setting and experience true Bulgarian hospitality.
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