Introduction to Varna

449km (278 miles) east of Sofia

Long the premier summer destination for the Eastern bloc, this heavily developed coastline is now also playground to hordes of package tourists from the West, keen to dance the night away to the pulsating beat that emanates from the numerous makeshift summer clubs that seem to range almost continuously along the coast. But when the sun rises, and the shadows draw back to reveal the monstrous hotels that line the beaches, and rows of large pink bodies start to sizzle off their hangovers, it's a far from attractive sight.

Bulgaria's once pristine coastline has largely been ruined. Despite municipal bans stating appropriate distances between beaches and hotels, and specifying the times of the year that building can take place, greedy developers keen to cash in on the huge foreign interest often build year-round, so even those who aren't offended by the existing developments are by noise and dust. But that's not to say that a trip that incorporates a few days on the Black Sea coast is without merit. Besides blowing off steam on the coastal capital's beachfront, it's worth coming this far just to view the "oldest gold in the world" in Varna's Historical Museum, vying with the National History Museum as the most fascinating museum in the country, then heading south to stroll past Byzantine churches and charming 19th-century timber houses in the UNESCO-listed village of Nessebar. Admittedly Nessebar's cobbled streets can get clogged with day-trippers, but this is just the reason to head south to the gorgeous old town of Sozopol, with its plethora of seaside restaurants -- time your visit for lunch and, mesmerized by semitranslucent twinkling sea views, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were on the Riviera. Only better, you realize, when the bill arrives.