Give Burgas two days and a third for a day trip. Day one is the centre on foot: Aleksandrovska Street to Troykata, the Archaeological Museum on Bogoridi, then the Sea Garden and the pier at sunset. Day two goes out to the lagoons: Poda for birds, the pink salt pans of Atanasovsko for the mud, and the Roman baths at Aquae Calidae. Save the third for Nesebar or Sozopol.
Burgas is Bulgaria's southern Black Sea port and the fourth-largest city in the country. It sits on a strip of land between the bay and three lagoons, so the beach, the Sea Garden and some of Europe's best birdwatching are all inside the city limits.
The seafront park laid out by chief gardener Georgi Duhtev from 1910 and finished in 1924, with the Summer Theatre, the 1938 Marine Casino and an alley of busts of Bulgarian writers and artists. Walk it north from the pier and keep going to the beach.
About 300 metres of concrete out into the bay, rebuilt in the 1980s on the line of the 1936 original and reinforced in 2013. Locals fish off it; everyone else walks to the end for the view back over the city and out to St Anastasia.
A volcanic rock in the bay with a monastery, a church and a lighthouse a French company built in 1889. It held political prisoners from 1923, and 43 of them escaped by rowing boat in July 1925. Today it has a museum, a restaurant and rooms for the night.
A small wetland on the Sozopol road run by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, with hides, a trail and a centre with telescopes. Spoonbills, pelicans and herons pass through on the Via Pontica flyway.
A hypersaline lagoon north of the city and Bulgaria's biggest salt works. Algae turn part of it pink. The routine is brine pool first, then black mud left to dry, then a rinse in the sea about a hundred metres away.
Hot springs that drew Thracians, Romans and Ottomans for two thousand years. Walkways and glass floors run over the Roman walls, and the restored bath of Suleiman the Magnificent shows a 3D film on the site's history.
The Regional Historical Museum's archaeology branch, on the main boulevard. Its treasure hall shows Thracian gold, and the collection holds finds from the Roman spa at Aquae Calidae. An hour covers it.
The pedestrian spine of the city, from the station end north to Troykata square and its fountain. Bogoridi Boulevard branches east from it to the Sea Garden. The cafes fill both from late afternoon.
The city's main church, built from 1897 to 1907 to designs by the Italian architect Riccardo Toscani. It is a three-nave basilica with a central dome and looks more Roman than Orthodox from outside. Go in for the iconostasis and murals.
The city beach below the Sea Garden, either side of the pier, with lifeguards in season and bars behind the sand. It is a working city beach, not a resort, and it is busiest on summer weekends.
A freshwater reservoir south of the city, now the largest of the group, with Poda at its seaward end.
A salt lagoon 2 km north of Pomorie with working salt pans and about 200 recorded bird species.
The city gallery since 1966, in a former synagogue that Riccardo Toscani designed in 1909.
The Holy Cross church, built in 1853 on the site of a wooden chapel from 1673.
The Orthodox church that survives from the 1800s, finished and consecrated in 1869.
The open-air stage in the Sea Garden since 1958, home of the summer song and folklore festivals.
About 1.7 km of dark iron-rich sand beside the Sea Garden, with lifeguards and a windsurf school.
Bulgarian cooking in a restored house from the turn of the last century, with a fireplace.
The old town on its peninsula, 37 km northeast and about 30 minutes by bus, on the UNESCO list since 1983.
A river reserve near Primorsko, best seen on one of the boat trips along the wooded river.
Bulgaria's largest protected area, 1,161 km² of oak forest on the Turkish border.
On 6 January a priest throws a cross into the sea and swimmers race to bring it back.
The national flower show, running from late April into early May, its 40th edition in 2025.
A June weekend of mussels and coastal cooking from along the Bulgarian Black Sea.
The State Opera's summer season of opera, ballet and concerts at the Summer Theatre.
Sculptures up to 8 metres tall in the Sea Garden from early July to the end of September.
The pop song contest held at the Summer Theatre since 1973, late July or early August.
Folk ensembles from Bulgaria and abroad in late August, a festival founded in 1965.
St Nicholas Day on 6 December is the city's own day, with fish dishes, concerts and fireworks.
The airport is about 10 km northeast, at Sarafovo. Bus 15 runs to the centre and the South bus station in about 30 minutes; a taxi takes 15 to 20.
Burgas station is at the south end of Aleksandrovska. Trains run to Sofia via Plovdiv; the slowest take most of a day, so check the timetable.
The South bus station, beside the railway station, has buses to Sofia, Nesebar, Sozopol and the resorts north and south of the city.
The centre, the Sea Garden and the beach are a walk apart. City buses cover the lakes, Sarafovo and the airport; take a taxi for Aquae Calidae.
Tomato, cucumber, pepper and onion under grated white cheese.
Cold yoghurt and cucumber soup with dill and walnuts, for hot days.
Filo pastry baked with eggs and white cheese, the breakfast staple.
Grilled minced-meat rolls, served with chips and lyutenitsa.
Roasted red pepper and tomato relish, spread on bread.
Black Sea mussels, steamed or fried, the coast's signature plate.
Tiny sprats fried whole and eaten by the handful with a cold beer.
Horse mackerel, grilled or fried, the everyday Black Sea fish.
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