 I recently traveled to Bulgaria, Sunny Beach resort, for my honeymoon and as I always like to do, I made notes about my experience there so I can share it with all of you and maybe be of help to the ones planning to see this beautiful country. This will be a series of articles about my experiences in Bulgaria, Sunny Beach, some good, some not so good, but as always, I will try and keep it objective and to the point. For all of you complainers out there, please keep in mind that I am not advertising this as an absolute truth, I am merely putting my personal experiences and opinions on virtual paper. I would also like to note that although most of the things I will write about in these articles are related to the Sunny Beach resort, a lot of the information is general and can be applied to other Bulgarian seaside resorts. So, here we go....
Traveling cheap in Bulgaria - Part I
I was lucky enough to have a comfortable life and never really be short of money, well, except during college when i would spend all of it partying :-). But even as it is, I never liked to throw money out of the window sort of speak and value for money was always important to me and now even more because I am married and with big plans for the future.
If you are planning to holiday in Bulgaria but your budget isn't unlimited, then read below my way of having a great time and not empty the bank accounts. This is experience gathered from years of travelling around the world when I experienced both 5* way of living (while in Europe) and the backpacker's way of life (when I was in Thailand) adapted to the Bulgarian resorts.
So lets get on with it: Take a walk during the day to locate the best places to go at night
Most of the bars and clubs advertise their night programs and sales starting from the morning so take a walk after breakfast and chose the best options for the night. Don't be shy to ask
The best advice I can give you is to ask the locals. I use to stay by the bar and chat to the bartenders asking them for the best places to visit, eat or even where is it better to go if I should need a doctor. Do the same. Back street shopping
For every main shopping street out there, there are a few back shopping streets adjacent to them. You'll be surprised how the same items, just because they are sold on a smaller street, are much cheaper. Choose an apartment complex instead of a hotel
Bulgarian seaside is a mix of hotels, all-inclusive compounds and apartment complexes. The best place where you can stay in my opinion are the apartment complexes, they are so much cheaper, you get to have a kitchenette, a pool, most of the times a restaurant and a bar at the first floor and they all have a 24 hours mini market near by. 24 Hours mini markets
And since I mentioned the 24 hours mini markets earlier, those are the best money savers. I didn't want to wake up and go out for breakfast anyways, not after a night of drinking and dancing, so I always made sure I buy my water, drinks and food when I came back from downtown and save on eating out. Besides, how nice is to have coffee on the balcony and admire the sunrise? Meet for drinks at your place before going to clubs or bars
We call it the warm-up and it's been going on in our circle of friends since college. We used to meet at someone's place, have a few drinks, get in a good mood, then go to clubs or pubs, get a drink and continue to have fun without having to pay too much money on overpriced drinks. Same goes for Bulgaria, in some clubs, drinks can be as expensive as the entire bottle in the supermarket.
All that said, would like to emphasize that choosing the cheaper option should not ruin your holiday experience so sometimes choosing the expensive option would be a better wiser choice. The above is how I chose to spend my holiday and be left with more money to buy gifts for my family and souvenirs for me. You can read more ideas and advices in the second part.
As always, I hope this will be useful to you. Labels: travel |
