Getting here
Varna Airport is the one to fly into — about half an hour by road, most of it along the coast. It takes seasonal flights from across Europe through the summer and thins out sharply in winter, so check before booking shoulder-season dates.
Buses run the coast road between Varna and the resort through the season, and taxis are plentiful. If you would rather not arrive and negotiate, tell us your flight when you book and we will arrange the transfer.
The beach
The sand runs for several kilometres and shelves gently, which is why the resort has always drawn families rather than surfers. Sunbeds, cafés and water sports cluster along the central stretch and thin out towards both ends — walk five minutes in either direction and it changes character entirely.
From our apartments it is a 7-minute walk down, or ten from the fifth floor side.
The forest behind it
What sets Golden Sands apart from the other Black Sea resorts is what sits behind it: Zlatni Pyasatsi Nature Park, a protected stretch of woodland climbing the slope directly inland. Marked paths run through it, and within a few kilometres is Aladzha Monastery — a medieval monastery carved into a limestone cliff, its cells and chapel cut straight into the rock face.
This is the side our fifth-floor apartments look onto. Guests there consistently describe it as the quiet half of the building — the resort is a short walk away and does not sound like it.
Varna
Bulgaria's third city is close enough for an easy day out and different enough to be worth one. Its archaeological museum holds the Varna gold — the oldest worked gold yet found anywhere, buried in a necropolis here around six and a half thousand years ago. The Roman baths near the centre are among the largest surviving in Europe, and the Sea Garden runs the length of the waterfront.
