Nesebar

Nesebar (Bulgarian: Несебър, also romanized Nessebar, pronounced neh-SEH-buhr) is a town in Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast.

Understand

Church of Christ Pantocrator

Nesebar itself consists of a new town and an old town, the latter located on the ex-island. Old Nesebar is a central ancient town full of medieval churches and quite beautiful. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Get in

By bus

• 1 Old Nesebar Bus Station (Старият Град Несебър). Right at the entrance to the old town. Some stalls around selling tourist goods. (updated Dec 2021)

Bus schedule (as of Sep 2021):

• Sunny Beach Bus: Emona (restaurant) - Strandja (hotel) - Centre - Svejest (hotel) - Arda (hotel) - Continental (hotel) - Fregata (hotel) - Stadium - Festa Panorama (hotel) - DSK bank - Old Nesebar
• Bus 2: Sunny Beach - Water park - Black Sea complex - Nesebar
• Bus 4: Nesebar - Sunny Beach - Kosharitsa
• Bus 5: Nesebar - Sunny Beach - St. Vlas
• Bus 6: Nesebar - Sunny Beach - Gyulyovtsa
• Bus 7: Sunny Beach - Nesebar - Ravda - Aheloy - Pomorie centre
• Bus 8: Sunny Beach - St. Vlas - Elenite
• Bus 10: Sunny Beach - Nesebar - Ravda - Aheloy - Pomorie - Burgas

From specific destinations:

• Surrounding resorts – There are regular (every 15 mins) local buses into Nesebar. If you are on a package holiday in one of the nearby resorts, the rep may try to sell you an excursion to Nesebar on the basis that local buses are unreliable, confusing and expensive; ignore them. You can get buses to Nesebar that are clearly marked in English from numerous bus stops along the main road, and they only cost 1.50 лв.
• Burgas – Hourly buses run for 7 лв.
• Sunny Beach – The Burgas bus (unless marked 10) might not run to Old Nesebar. Better take the Nesebar-Sunny Beach bus to the corner of old town.

By boat

You can also get a tourist boat from Sunny Beach to Old Nesebar. It is more expensive and less frequent that the buses.

Get around

Roads in and around the Old Nesebar are quite narrow and cobbled. It is probably wise to park just outside of the old town and go on foot. The cobblestone does make wheelchair access quite difficult but some streets have smoother surfaces.

See

The ruins of St. Sophia church

Part of the ancient town of Messembria (the old town of Nesebar) has sunk under water. When counting the numerous sunken ones, Nesebar becomes the town with most churches per capita in Bulgaria. Many of these churches are older than Bulgaria itself. The old town gates are a popular photo spot, the beaches on the south of the island are also often busy.

Do

The main things to do in Old Nesebar are to wander around the cobbled streets and visit the churches. In winter museums are closed on Saturday and Sunday.

Buy

There are numerous shops and stalls selling souvenirs in Old Nesebar. Most of their stuff is cheap tourist tat, but you can pick up locally produced lace too.

Eat

There are loads of restaurants in Old Nesebar, with a high proportion employing touts to encourage tourists into their premises. These are likely to be more expensive that most restaurants in Bulgaria, and not very good quality. The Tequila Bar is often recommended though.

• Vegetarian Healthy Menu (Krishna Food), Liuben Karavelov St, New Town (at the school's entrance), ☏ +359 887 389 031. 11:30-20:00. Vegetarian food to have at the spot and to take away. 3–4 лв for a good lunch. 
• 1 Familia Fish and Grill (Фамилия фиш и грил), ul. Krajbrezhna 7, 8231 Staria Grad, ☏ +359 877096892. 11:30–23:00. Seafood with vegan options and views over the bay. So close to another restaurant that they practically share a terrace. (updated Aug 2021)

Drink

• Zagorka is the national lager and is excellent value and tasty.
• Kamenitza is also a good beer known nationally in Bulgaria.
• Burgasko is the local beer but have heard rumors that the quality has declined.

Sleep

Much of the accommodation around Nesebar is in Sunny Beach, a massive tourist resort to the north of the town.

Stay safe

Nesebar is extremely safe but you may find that the sellers and shopkeepers are very persistent. A lot of the time a shop keeper will insist on following you around the shop and trying to make you try on jewellery clothes etc. A polite but firm "no" usually suffices.

Go next

There are regular buses to:

• Sunny Beach – The largest beach resort in Bulgaria, in the southern part of the Bulgarian Black Sea Riviera stretching along a beautiful semicircular bay facing east. It feels more like a fairground than a city.
• Bourgas – The second biggest city on Bulgaria's coast.
• Varna – The nation's third largest city, primarily famous for its nearby beach resorts, like Golden Sand, with a notorious nightlife, especially during the summer season.

Routes through Nesebar

Varna ← Sunny Beach ←

N  S

→ Sarafovo → Burgas