This week guest writer Oliver Adelman remembers the summer and wonders like many others what happened to the Bulgarian tourist industry.
Despite seeing the longest rat I have ever known outside of New York City, my family persevered with our full seven night holiday this August outside the Black Sea port of Varna, for the simple reason that we had paid a travel agent in advance.
For legal reasons, I will not identify the name of the resort or specific hotel that the rodent was in residence outside, but, having completed our seaside vacation, my family for not the first time during a leisure trip to Bulgaria, was in bad need of a holiday. It is with this in mind that I can genuinely recommend the town of Hisaryia (pictured) in central Bulgaria.
The town is 1000s of years old, having been first a Thracian and then Roman spa centre and settlement. Although the Roman ruins seem to have survived significantly better than many of the late 19th and early 20th century town houses that populate the town centre, it maintains a very authentic and friendly atmosphere.
The town is between 139 and 165 kilometres from Sofia, depending on which sign on the highway you choose to believe, and some 40 kilometres from Plovdiv. It is reachable by coach, car or rail, although the latter of these options can prove lengthy and exotic, as is usually the case with Bulgarian trains.
Having visited Bulgaria almost 40 times from the UK in the last 15 years, I consider myself something of an expert in the country and its tourism industry. While the people deserve respect, the tourism industry most certainly does not, but even so there are ‘little islands’ to escape to.
Hisariya is truly blessed with both its nature and climate. Located around 800 metres high, the town is in what could be described as very low lying mountains that feature verdant green fields and fruit trees of virtually every variety. There is also a complex array of mineral waters that seem to obsess visitors and natives alike, but which is far too complicated for me to understand. Suffice it to say that they are pleasant and healthy to sit in.
There appears to be a general kind of Southern California weather situation, with sun and 26 degree temperatures eight months of the year. August can be unbearably hot at well above 35, but it still feels significantly more comfortable than the 35 of urban Sofia or humid Varna at the same time of year. I understand that December and January can be very cold, but we have also experienced 25 degrees in the town in mid-November, so clearly the slight elevation is doing something for the place.
The town itself has a population of around 7,500, but the wider Hisariya province, of which the town is the capital city, has closer to 15,000 inhabitants. There is a wide range of accommodation, ranging from five star hotels to more humble B&Bs. There are two or three very good small hotels, but generally the larger ones are also perfectly good, with prices that are well within the norms of the market.
The true pleasure of the place is its swimming pools and parks, a few of the former, mainly in hotels, being located outdoors and yet still open 365 days a year.
There has been some construction in recent years, but so far, the town has not been ruined or significantly overdeveloped, as so many of Bulgaria’s Black Sea or mountain resorts have. While no doubt the slightly exotic transport options and lack of a major airport (unless you count Ryan Air and Plovdiv) within 50 kilometres are not good for the town’s economy, these factors do have some benefits.
In addition and unlike some other places in Bulgaria, Hisariya appears to have intelligently used the EU funds available to it, both for smaller businesses such as independent hotels and agriculture and for larger environmental and urban development projects.
You still see a “bridge to nowhere” part of the Trakiya Highway on the drive down from Sofia, but at least this is confined to not more than 100 meters and well outside the town. I will be certainly back.
‘Budilnik’ s newspaper new English Language Page contains original journalistic content in print and online on key developments in Bulgaria and Britain and on UK’s ex-pat life, aiming to build a higher and well-informed mutual awareness of the two countries and the viable prospects ahead of both. It will include exclusive articles, interviews and pictures about business, investment, work life, politics, culture and identity, which are of specific interest to the Bulgarian community in the UK and across the world, also known as‘the Other Bulgaria’. Interested sponsors for this page, please contact contributing editor Rumyana Vakarelska (FT Group, London Press Service, WSJE, the Guardian among a few), Team New Europe, an editorial and public affairs consultancy in London by email: rumy.vakarelska@gmail.com
