One Day in Varna, Bulgaria: Itinerary To Transform & Travel with My Mom and Dad!
You love culture, beaches, and travel to unique destinations. You want to go beyond the usual tourist destinations. You love to get away, stay healthy and try new experiences when you travel. Traveling helps you transform in more ways than one when you travel to Varna, Bulgaria. Maybe, you want to come with your family too? You want to transform and travel.
It's easy to see why Varna and Bulgaria are destinations to add to your travel bucket list sooner rather than later with culture, beauty and food. The city and surrounding areas have a lot to offer ranging from a sea garden, beaches, pirate ship, experiential restaurants, spa along the Black Sea, and walkability among the cities streets.
There's plenty to experience one day in Varna, Bulgaria to transform and travel whether you come solo, with a group, or with family. After you read this, you will likely decide to stay in Varna, Bulgaria especially with the beautiful beaches and surrounding cities to explore within driving distance like Necessebar, Veliko Tarnovo, and Plodiv to name a few.
Follow this One Day in Varna, Bulgaria Itinerary toTransform and Travel. It will help you make your travels transformational even it's a short trip. These are my recommendations for the top experiences for your one day in Varna. My intention for you is that you choose exploration.
Shot on my Canon EOS M100
Fun Facts about Varna, Bulgaria
One of the reasons I love Varna is because of the city's culture, history, and beaches. Beaches all around the globe speak to my soul.
Interesting things to note about Varna include their Varna Sea Garden- the largest landscaped park in the Balkans Sea Garden, Roman Thermae - 4th largest preserved Roman Bath Complex in Europe, Varna International Ballet Competition is the oldest and most prestigious in the world, Dolphinarium is a one-of-a-kind attraction and the only one in the Balkans, and Varna is the last place where the crusade ended.
My parents live there now too! Each and every time I visit Varna, Bulgaria, I learn and experience new things!
My Experiences With Varna, Bulgaria
If you are connecting with me and us for the first time, Varna, Bulgaria is special for may reasons.
Some of you may have instantly thought - why Varna - why Bulgaria? Well, to give you background into my life and story, I was conceived in Sofia, Bulgaria early in 1978.
My parents met there at a night club while my mom was on vacation with her aunt in 1976. My dad introduced her the next day to his mom and said this will be the mother of my children. She went back to Poland two weeks later, and to keep a long story short my dad sent marriage papers and they were married in Bulgaria about three months later.
My parents lived in Sofia for about two years and later left for Poland where I was born in Katowice Oct 7, 1978 in a military hospital. Six months later, my dad went first by himself to a refugee camp to Italy (after some detours including jumping from a train!). My mom and I left for the camp when I was six months old.
Fast forward to 10 months later when we would leave for the United States. We lived in South Carolina at first and moved to Houston in 1980. I grew up in Houston, Texas. You could easily say I was born with exploration and adventure in my blood.
We visited Bulgaria when I was in sixth grade again exploring Sofia, Albena, and Varna to name a few places. When my parents were retiring in 2017, they decided to go to Varna, Bulgaria because they knew the language, cost of living, and it is a short 1-2 hour plane ride from Vienna, Austria where my brother and his family (and grandchildren) live!
Since they moved to Varna, Bulgaria, I've visited them three times. The first time in 2017 in September. The second time in September - October 2018 including for my mom's and my birthday. Recently, for Christmas in 2019 for our first Christmas along with my brother and his family for 20+ years! Any time, I visit I explore new experiences in Varna and nearby, as well as around Bulgaria.
Mom, Dad and I on my birthday in 2018 in Varna, Bulgaria.
I thought it would be great to do a one day guide on Varna, Bulgaria including insights from my mom and dad, Eva and Krum. I'll be sharing experiences throughout from 2017-19. Throughout, I'll share highlights from my childhood as well.
It was interesting visiting Bulgaria almost 20+ years later with all the changes in my life. When my feet touched the earth in Varna, Bulgaria in 2017, I realized the last time I visited was in 1991. A flood of memories took me back to the time when our family almost moved back to Bulgaria then.
At Varna Airport - love the colors on the sign!
Each time I've visited my parents in 2017-2019, I've stayed with them in a house about 10 minutes away from the city center. From the terrace, I may see the Black sea, and a small beach is a 10 minute walk. If you know me, the beach is my happy place.
Me at Albena Beach
In 2019, they added a new addition to the family, Benji (or my brother as I call him). He is the sweetest, and absolutely man's (or more accurately my dad's) best friend.