March 2015
When we went to our St Vlas apartment this month, one of the days we took the bus (No. 5) to Sunny Beach to see whether any more places had decided to open during the winter months. The bus fare has gone up again unfortunately but hey, that’s life. It now costs 1.50 leva each (approx. 55p at the current exchange rate of 2.69 leva/£. It’s still pretty cheap though and saves the walk if you’re not feeling in the mood. The buses aren’t as frequent during the winter months as, obviously there are fewer people. We got off at the bus station.
There are loads of bus stops along the route – the photo below is the stop for the central part of Sunny Beach.
Hotel Kuban, Sunny Beach
If you go to Sunny Beach and lose your bearings, we were told that this is one of the tallest buildings in Sunny Beach and it’s very easy to see from a distance. If you can see the Hotel Kuban then you know that’s the central part of Sunny Beach.
Old Sanitorium Site
Although nothing was open along the sea front (everywhere was still boarded up or fenced off), it was still nice to have a walk around. It’s a very different place out of season. We also walked along the pier and, although it was a bit misty across the sea, we were able to get a photo of the huge hotel that’s being built on the old sanitorium site. Don’t know what it’s going to be called yet but it’s certainly a very imposing building. Here’s a photo – it’s right in the centre of the shot. Not sure if you’ll be able to make it out.
So What’s Open?
We were pleasantly surprised to see several places open this year. We’ve been during the winter months over the years and found that very little was open in Sunny Beach but it does seem to be getting a little bit busier. Maybe this is a sign of things to come.
Here’s just a few of the places we saw open close to the bus station …..
I appreciate that the menu boards are in Bulgarian but atleast it gives you an idea of the prices, which are all pretty reasonable.
Hotel Diamond
This hotel is apparently open all year round.
I guess the new hotel is Riu helios paradise. They should open it in May. Looks impressive 🙂