Balchik
Balchik (Bulgarian: Балчик, Romanian: Balcic) is a town on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria.
Understand
Balchik is mainly visited by Eastern Europeans on holiday from countries such as Romania, Russia, Moldova and also Bulgarians themselves. Here is the Balchik Castle, the Queen Mary of Romania's favorite summer residence, surrounded by a uniquely famous botanical garden in Central and Eastern Europe, especially due to the cactus collection.
Get in
National Road 9 Burgas - Varna - Constanța (Romania) is trepeassing Balchik.
By bus
There are numerous bus service to Balchik from all around Bulgaria during summer. Bus services also run from Romania to Balchik.
By plane
The nearest airports are Varna (VAR IATA) 53 km (33 mi) away and Constanța (CND IATA) 140 km (87 mi) away.
By thumb
It is possible to hitch a ride from Golden Sands, probably faster than a bus which might never stop for you. From Varna first take a bus out of town.
See
- 🌍 Botanical Garden (about 2 km south of the center). This is the largest botanical garden in the Balkans. Of considerable interest is a large collection of cacti (250 species; only Monaco has a larger collection in Europe) and a rose alley, with 50 species of this beautiful plant.
- 🌍 Palace of Queen Mary (The Quiet Nest) (in the botanical garden). The palace was built in 1926, when Balchik was part of Romania, for Queen Mary of Edinburgh (Queen Victoria's granddaughter and grandmother of King Michael of Romania). The palace complex includes ten villas, including a royal one, built in the oriental style. On the ground floor of the royal villa there is an art gallery and a souvenir shop, the second floor is available for inspection. In addition, there are a church, several gardens and a bridge.
- 🌍 Temple of Cybele. The temple was built in 280-260 BC, in honor of Cybele, the Phrygian goddess of fertility, the mother of the Pontus gods. In the 300s AD, a landslide completely covered the temple, which was discovered only in 2007. It's considered to be the one of the best preserved temples to Cybele in the world, and among Hellenistic temples in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, it's not open to visitation as it's on private property; controversies about what to do with it have continued for over a decade.
- 🌍 Church of St. Nicholas. A functioning Bulgarian Orthodox church, listed as a heritage asset. Its turbulent fate reflects the struggle for an independent Bulgarian Church during the Bulgarian National Revival - it was built in 1848, then destroyed and restored only in 1866. At the same time, a small secular school was built next to the church - now it's a museum of education and life in Balchik during the Revival.
- 🌍 Church of St. George. It was erected in 1897. A typical Bulgarian church is a three-nave building with a pentagonal apse. The highlights are the episcopal seat and the carved iconostasis created by the famous Avramov masters.
- Church of St. Constantine and Helena. The Greek Orthodox Church, built in 1894.
Do
- 🌍 Tuzlata Mud Baths (A few km east of Balchik). M-Su 09:00-15:30. Similar procedure as the Dead Sea—the water is salty but not salty enough to properly float. The place includes showers, change rooms and a nice rest area with benches. Men and women go separate.
You can also access the pools from their southern side walking along the beach, but there are no showers and going to the sea might proof difficult—you might just dry yourself regularly with a towel though.
There are two restaurant or so just north of the pools. 6/3 лв. - 🌍 Sulphur spring. Pseudo warm, sulphuric water coming out of a pipe. Good for taking a shower.