2008 News Archive - Holidays - Bulgaria defies expectations

09 02 2007

Visitors to Bulgaria can expect a warm welcome and great hospitality, according to a recent travel review.

Writing for Time magazine, Barbara Kiviat admits that many people approach Bulgaria with unsurprisingly cagey preconceptions.

"It would be understandable if Bulgaria - ancient Roman annex, Ottoman Empire conquest, Soviet Union satellite - wasn't all that welcoming to foreigners," she observed, before insisting that the exact opposite is true.

"Hospitality in hand, Bulgaria is the next little thing on the international travel scene," she noted, perhaps encapsulating the subtle splendour of Bulgaria's notable rise to prominence.

The report admits that Bulgaria's beach resorts have long been popular with European visitors, which is unsurprising given the quality of the country's Black Sea coastline.

Beyond this, however, visitors are advised to pay a visit to Sofia, the country's magnificent and rapidly-improving capital.

Ms Kivita jokes that you can "impress your hipper friends by talking about how you visited after tiring of Prague", but this is perhaps quite a poignant quip. Sofia, like Budapest and Bucharest, is a beautiful, historic capital city that is packed full of character and oozing charm.

It has also developed a cosmopolitan feel and the city's nightlife is certainly worth sampling. Tourism officials in Bulgaria are expecting a record number of visitors this year and with so much on offer, it is hardly surprising.