When you think about the Bulgarian Coast, empty golden sand beaches as well as giant all-inclusive resorts may come to mind. That’s part of it, of course. However, Varna fits in none of these categories. Varna is the largest harbor city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. But beyond the industrial and commercial aspects, there are many things to do and places to explore in Varna.
Let’s take a look!
Best Things to do in Varna
All of the things I am proposing next are within walking distance around the city center. You’ll also find a few things to do outside Varna at the end of this post.
The Sea Garden
The most popular attraction in Varna for tourists and locals alike is its park, the Sea Garden, Where other cities developed large seafront buildings, Varna municipality preferred to preserve that precious land. Instead of steel, glass, and concrete, you get sea views from an ample green area. The mix of greenery and sea is pretty rare and very comforting. The park alone is great but that’s not the only reason to visit.
In the Sea Garden of Varna, you will find plenty of things to do. The park is a long strip following the coastline. Scattered around the park you’ll find the Naval Museum, Aquarium, and Dolphinarium kids will love.
The green strip is about 3,5 km long, and you can stop to admire the sea from place to place.
Fun Fact: There are many cats in Varna, and some of them prefer to spend their time in this park. Have fun watching them patrol the alleys!
The Sea Promenade
Just under the Sea Garden, another narrow strip is an alley full of restaurants, bars, and terraces. This is a great place to go for lunch or dinner. We stopped at El Kapan, and I loved it. The food was great, the service was fast, and the place was extremely colorful! If it’s not too hot, you can sit outside and have your meal looking at the sea, with your feet in the sand. Pure therapy!
The strip goes on for a al least three kilometers. Walk those calories out after lunch and enjoy the sea.
The Roman Baths
You know I love some good ruins when I stumble across them, whether they are Roman Amphitheaters, Roman Mosaics, or Thermae. The building techniques and their sturdiness never cease to amaze me.
Anyway, Varna used to be a large port even in the golden era of Ancient Greece. In 15 AD it was annexed to the Roman Empire.
So, it’s no surprise that like any important Roman city, Varna (or Odessus at the time) had public thermae (baths) in the city. To this day you can visit not one, but two baths complexes in Varna.
I recommend the larger site, at the end of San Stefano Street, a few hundred meters away from the Sea Garden. Even if it’s not very well preserved, you can still get a pretty good idea of the facilities and how they worked.
The entrance was through a covered alley, lined with stores, and a shopping gallery. On-site, they had changing rooms, an exercise room (palestra), as well as hot, warm, and cold rooms. Underneath all that, slaves fed the furnaces cold to preserve the ideal temperatures for every room and pool. The heating system Romans used at the time, the hypocaust, is still used today in many places. I recently saw a functioning hypocaust at the Orangery of the Schoenbrunn Gardens in Vienna.
The Roman Baths site in Varna is not a huge complex like the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, but it’s still the fourth-largest thermae complex surviving today. It always amazes me, to see the facilities Romans had 2000 years ago.
The smaller baths
A short walk from the Roman Baths, you will find a smaller bath complex. It was closed when I visited, but you can see most of it as you walk by, because it’s below street level.
The Museum of Archaeology in Varna
I don’t go to every museum in a city, especially on a short trip. I prefer to spend the time I have outside, walking the streets and discovering new places.
However, I usually squeeze in one museum, and in Varna, it was the Archaeology Museum. Seeing the evolution of humanity in a region is always interesting, even if you’re not a history buff. Varna Archaeology Museum displays just that, the various steps mankind went through in Varna Region.
You can see various artifacts from the oldest stone objects used by our predecesors to bronze and iron weapons. You can witness the growth as a Greek colony and then as a Roman city.
One of the most interesting displays is a gold treasure found in a necropolis nearby. Together with the gold pieces, you can also see the photos documenting the archaeologists’ work in the necropolis. The last rooms are dedicated to an iconography collection.
Although the building hosting the museum could be in a better shape, the museum is an oasis in Varna’s center, where you can disconnect and learn about past times.
The museum is open every summer day, but only from Monday to Friday from October to May. Opening hours are 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Other Things to do in Varna City Center
Traditional Houses
Take a few moments on the street (8th November street) heading down to the smaller Roman Baths of Odessos, and admire the few traditional houses. Don’t miss a photo of the vernacular architecture: the house’s ground level is painted, while the upper levels are covered in wood and larger than the base. Besides being highly functional, the combination creates a beautiful effect. I’ve also seen this type of construction in Plovdiv, Koprivshtica, but also in the old part of Thessaloniki, and in Turkey.
The Clock Tower
The Tower next to the park is one of Varna’s most iconic buildings. Built at the end of the 19th century, it was initially used by firemen as a watchtower. The clock at the top has been measuring time since then.
The Cathedral
Across the street from the Clock Tower, the Cathedral of Dormition of the Mother of God will catch your eye with its golden domes. It’s
The Key Beer Bar
In the same area, just behind the Clock Tower, you can stop at the Key Beer Bar. At the bar, a giant clock with 12 taps, where each hour is a different beer. Most of them are Bulgarian beers, but you can also have a pint of Guinness here. Some of their beers, like Glarus, are widespread and you can also find them in most stores, but they also sell craft beers from smaller breweries, that you can’t find elsewhere.
The Harbor
The Harbor is now a promenade area with many restaurants and bars. Walk to the lighthouse, admire the sunset, and maybe stay for a coffee or beer at one of the terraces. We stopped at Craft Beer and Meat for a quick lunch and a house beer.
Useful info about visiting Varna
One word of advice: Varna is a large city and the developments from the communist era are not particularly good-looking. However, most things to see and do in Varna are around the Sea Garden, so in a walkable area.
The ideal time to visit Varna as a city break is in either spring or autumn. For a summer vacation, I would rather recommend staying in a beach resort nearby and visiting Varna as a day trip. You would get the advantage of a beach and it would feel more like a holiday.
Things to do close to Varna City
There are a few attractions in the area worth a short trip out of Varna city.
Prisoe Winery
Bulgaria produces great wines. It’s one of the best-kept secrets in this part of Europe. The climate is good for a variety of grapes to flourish here. Personally, I prefer reds but they also make some decent whites.
About 20 kilometers out of Varna, you can find out more about Bulgarian wines, if you visit a small family vineyard, Prisoe Winery,
Don’t expect a chateau or a large domain. From the main road, you need to enter a discouraging enough dirt road for the last few hundred meters. The winery is a two-generation winemaker family. They live and work at the vineyard to take care of the vines and to create the perfect glass of wine.
I loved the passion Stefan puts into his work. The visit starts with a vineyard walk, where you see and understand a little of the work involved for that bottle of wine to land on your dinner table. Then, during the tasting in the storehouse, Stefan talks about his search for the perfect balance, and also about time and patience. Because it takes more than hard work to create the wine. It requires knowledge and adaptability too. The soil, the weather, everything matters for the vines and grapes. The wine-maker needs to adapt constantly, not only to get good wine but to be consistent with it.
The Wines
We tasted 5 fresh out-of-the-barrel wines, 2 whites, 1 rose, and 2 reds-a Cabernet Franc and a blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet Franc felt fresh, but you could feel the tannins in the aftertaste. I loved the blend, I thought it was very well balanced.
You can’t find Prisoe Wine in too many places in Varna, so I suggest buying a bottle or two for later. I bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to take home. The Cabernet Sauvignon needs more time to mature, so it wasn’t part of the tasting, but the aged bottled one was perfect with some cheeses.
The tour price was 14 lev/person (about 7 euros) and you can book on TripAdvisor. A bottle of wine was 15 lev, which is very good value.
The Stone Forest
Very close to Prisoe Winery, you will find a very interesting area with some unusual rock formations, the Stone Forest. A very long time ago, this whole area was at the bottom of the sea. You will step on fine sand and try to understand how these stone pillars were formed and survived to this day. It’s not as dramatic as in Meteora, but still very unusual to walk on a former sea bed.
Sea Cruise or River Kayaking
If you have a warm day ahead, I can’t think of a better way to see Varna than from the sea. This Black Sea Cruise is your best bet. Bring your swimsuit on a summer day, because you’ll get the chance to swim in the Black Sea as well.
Another water activity close to Varna is a kayaking trip on the Kamchia River and back to the sea. This one comes with a great bonus, a stop at the longest beach in Bulgaria.
Day trip to Balchik
One of the most popular places to visit close to Varna is Balchik. The town is connected to the Royal family of Romania. You can visit the villa and the amazing terraced gardens around it.
Balchik is about 45 kilometers north of Varna, and the most convenient way to get there is to rent a car.
Where to stay in Varna
We stayed at Reverence Hotel in Varna. It’s about 10 minutes walking from the Sea Garden and close to everything else on this list. They can offer underground parking in a building nearby, the room was cozy and tastefully decorated. I also loved the breakfast in the greenhouse area.
Disclosure
Some of the above may be affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. However, I only recommend companies, activities, or products that I use myself. Thank you for your support in keeping my blog live!
I was just listening to a podcast that had a former Bulgarian ambassador on it. It sounds like a delightful country that many Americans don’t consider. I’d like to check out the Key Beer Bar and attempt to drink around the clock haha The stone forest is interesting too. I was convinced those were Roman ruins!
The Beer Bar attempt sounds like a good plan 😉
I hadn’t heard of Varna before this but it looks lovely. There seems like so much to do. The stone forest is so cool!
First time I hear of Varna, Anda, but what a fascinating history (I had no idea the Roman Empire expanded so late in this region) and how cool they still got all those ruins. The Stone Forest totally looks man-made, amazing it was formed naturally below sea level.
I know, those pillars look sculpted indeed. It’s interesting to step on that fine sand at some kilometers from the sea.
Varna is amazing. It combines the best of Bulgaria like the traditional houses, the roman ruins, and the wine with a location at the sea.
Well said, it has all that in a relatively small area.