Bulgaria

jeff_chandler

Good morning all.

I am in the process of looking for a late deal on holidays. I have seen a cheap booking for Bulgaria on the 5th June in the Sunny Beach resort. The Hotel has very good ratings on trip advisor but there is nothing mentioned about Sunny Beach as a resort.

If there is anyone on here who has recently or visited in recent years visited this resort and how safe is it and what prices are like compared to euroland It would be more than appreciated.

Kind regards jeff

Ganga

jeff_chandler wrote: »

Good morning all.

I am in the process of looking for a late deal on holidays. I have seen a cheap booking for Bulgaria on the 5th June in the Sunny Beach resort. The Hotel has very good ratings on trip advisor but there is nothing mentioned about Sunny Beach as a resort.

If there is anyone on here who has recently or visited in recent years visited this resort and how safe is it and what prices are like compared to euroland It would be more than appreciated.

Kind regards jeff

Never been ( grandchildren are off there in July ) but i was told it was always very cheap compared with Euro destinations in fact was told its cheaper than Turkey.

michele-p

around 10 years ago went to neighbouring resort in Nessibar (which was beautiful!).

I've not been since, but Sunny beach is quite a big, built up resort. the beach is fab and huge, but maybe think Benidorm type hotels and entertainment. I think it's become pretty big for partying with young people, as it's so cheap (god I sound ancient at 41!). Though June would be fairly early season, so maybe quieter? There are lots of very new big hotels there too, which looked very plush.

z1a

Change your cash on the black market for a far better rate, just be careful who you deal with. We did this when we went and got 3X going rate. Just don't get caught.

bigadaj

jeff_chandler wrote: »

Good morning all.

I am in the process of looking for a late deal on holidays. I have seen a cheap booking for Bulgaria on the 5th June in the Sunny Beach resort. The Hotel has very good ratings on trip advisor but there is nothing mentioned about Sunny Beach as a resort.

If there is anyone on here who has recently or visited in recent years visited this resort and how safe is it and what prices are like compared to euroland It would be more than appreciated.

Kind regards jeff

It's the Black Sea alternative to magaluf or Ayia Napa, if that's your thing.

zagfles

z1a wrote: »

Change your cash on the black market for a far better rate, just be careful who you deal with. We did this when we went and got 3X going rate. Just don't get caught.

What? What rate did you get? The Lev is fixed to the Euro and freely exchangeable. If you got a much better rate than the fixed rate I suspect you got forged notes. Either that or your idea of the "going rate" is the sort of rip-off rate offered on the UK high street. Should be about 2.25 to the £

z1a

When we went we got 4.5 Lev to the £ - official rate was 1.4.
No we didn't get forged notes, I'm not stupid.
We changed on black market for at least 10 days, but we knew who to change with.

jeff_chandler

No squabbling please.
Were a couple in our early 60s who has been most places but willing to try somewhere different. We have done all the long haul places but we do enjoy at least three foreign breaks a year.
I was looking at Greece but been there many times and Turkey is out the question at the moment. Bulgaria came up cheap, which the late deals offered we couldn't refuse. The Hotel is in a quiet surrounds about ten mins walk from the centre. All we want is a few quiet bars, good beers and wines regardless of the cost as long as we don't get ripped off.
All I ask is a rough idea as to what we can expect.
Kind regards
Jeff.

zagfles

z1a wrote: »

When we went we got 4.5 Lev to the £ - official rate was 1.4.
No we didn't get forged notes, I'm not stupid.
We changed on black market for at least 10 days, but we knew who to change with.

You're either talking ancient history (last century) or there was something dodgy (forged notes, money laundering etc etc).

The Lev has been pegged to the Euro since the Euro came into existence, and before that to the German Mark. The "official rate" is fixed at 1.95583 to the Euro, which is over 2 GBP, so 1.4 is just rubbish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_lev

Why would any black marketeer want to pay 4.5 lev for every £ when he could just walk into any bank and pay less than 2.5?

If you could really get 4.5 lev to the pound, then go over there and buy loads, you can sell them back at around 2.5 at UK high street banks! Or less at other currency places! Go on - you'll double your money!

https://www.compareholidaymoney.com/sell-currency/bulgarian-lev.php

OP - ignore this. Bulgaria is now in the modern world and has been for the last couple of decades. For currency use a free free card, see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

DUKE

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g499086-i9527-Sunny_Beach_Burgas_Province.html Is this any good Jeff?

z1a

"You're either talking ancient history (last century) or there was something dodgy (forged notes, money laundering etc etc)."

Yes, was 1986.