Things to do in Varna
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Happy Bar & Grill
Varna’s home-grown, and now nationwide, chain restaurant has four branches around the city, including at this central location. The uncomplicated menu of grills, steaks and salads pulls in customers throughout the day, and the friendly waitstaff, who occasionally launch into spontaneous dance routines, certainly add to the atmosphere. There’s another branch on bul Slivnitsa.
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Pri Monahinite
[ourpick] Pri Monahinite Set in the courtyard of a little church, Pri Monahinite (‘At the Nuns’ Place’) is a classy place for roast lamb, grilled pork and other meaty offerings. It also does good salads and has an extensive wine list.
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History Museum
Watching over the ruins of the Roman baths, Varna’s ivy-covered History Museum is itself an intriguing part of the city’s history. Built in 1851 as the Belgian Embassy, it subsequently became a hotel, a prison and, under the communists, a Museum of the Revolution, before taking on its present role in 1990. Displays on the ground floor include photographs of the city from the 1920s, while the basement holds an exhibition on local trades and handicrafts such as printing, weaving and brewing. More imagination has gone into the replicas of long-gone 1920s and ’30s shops and offices on the 1st floor, including ‘Uncle Mityu’s Café’, a hat shop, toy shop and lawyer’s office. T…
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Warship Druzki
Embedded in concrete outside the museum entrance is the warship Druzki, which torpedoed a Turkish cruiser during the First Balkan War in 1912. It’s possible to clamber around this revered relic (ask the museum staff to open the gate). Inside the musty museum building itself is a collection of uniforms, model ships, naval insignia and displays on the Druzki, including an enormous torpedo, although there’s little labelling in English. Anchors, artillery and helicopters can be seen rusting quietly in the grounds, while encased in glass is the yacht Cor Coroli, in which Georgi Georgiev became the first Bulgarian to sail single-handed around the world, in 1977.
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Beach
Steps from Primorski Park lead down to the city's long, sandy beach, which is hugely popular with local sunbathers, paddlers and beach volleyball players. There are also a couple of tiny, outdoor, steaming mineral-water pools, more popular with rheumatic pensioners. The main attraction, though, is the long coastal lane, officially known as aleya Georgi Georgiev but more commonly referred to either as Plazhna aleya or Kraybrezhna aleya.
Some of the trendiest bars are found here, although most only have a brief existence in the summer sunshine and many change names from one year to the next.
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Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin
Standing a block north of pl Nezavisimost, this large cathedral was built between 1880 and 1886 by the architect Gencho Kunev, in celebration of the country’s recent independence from Ottoman rule. Topped with golden onion domes, which alleviate the sombre, blocky appearance of its main body, the church is a much-cherished symbol of the city, second in size only to the Aleksander Nevski Memorial Church in Sofia. Note the murals (painted in 1950), colourful stained-glass windows and intricately carved bishop’s throne.
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Primorski Park
Established in 1878, this large and attractive green space overlooking the sea stretches for about 8km, and is said to be the largest of its kind in Europe. It's full of promenading families and old ladies knitting lace in summer, and there's always something going on.
There are also several cafés near the entrance to the Aquarium and around the Summer Theatre.
Steps from park lead down to the city's long, sandy beach.
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Roman Baths
The ruins described previously are termed the Roman thermae (Latin for ‘baths’) to distinguish them from the Roman Baths, another, much smaller ablutions complex, built around the 4th century AD. There’s nothing much to see other than some foundation walls, and no explanations are posted on the litter-filled site. The grounds are closed, but you can lean over the fence for a quick look.
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Ethnographic Museum
Housed in a delightful revival-era mansion built in 1860, Varna’s Ethnographic Museum is one of the country’s best. The ground floor contains a collection of agricultural implements and displays about weaving, wine-making and fishing from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The 1st floor has an impressive range of costumes and jewellery, and the four rooms on the 2nd floor are furnished in period style.
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Kraybrezhna aleya
Officially known as aleya Georgi Georgiev but more commonly referred to either as Plazhna aleya or Kraybrezhna aleya, the coastal lane along the beach is the centre of Varna's summer nightlife. In summer it's lined with clubs, bars and restaurants, only a handful of which operate at other times of year, and many change names from one season to the next. Pick up the Summer Seaside Guide to see what's new.
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Roman Thermae
One unmissable sight in Varna is the well-preserved ruins of the Roman Thermae. The ruins are the largest in Bulgaria and the third biggest in Europe, although only a small part of the original complex (estimated to have been 7000 sq metres) still stands. The baths date from the late 2nd century AD and were probably abandoned only 100 years later.
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Archaeological Museum
The best of its kind in Bulgaria, Varna’s fascinating Archaeological Museum is a huge place, displaying some 100,000 objects in 39 rooms. All exhibits originate from the Varna area and are placed in chronological order, starting off with pottery and flint tools from the now-submerged Mesolithic settlements around Varna Lake.
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Aquarium
Further into the park is the Aquarium. Housed in a powder-blue Art Deco building, it’s an old-fashioned place with tanks filled with seahorses, piranhas and conger eels as well as some denizens of the Black Sea’s depths. There’s also a collection of seashells but there’s no English labelling.
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Dom na Arkitekta
Dom na Arkitekta ‘The Architect’s House’ is a fine old wooden National Revival–style building with a private, leafy courtyard popular with local cats. The usual grills, steaks and salads are on the menu and it’s a restful place for a cold beer or two.
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Varna City Art Gallery
Varna City Art Gallery, also known as the Boris Georgiev Art Gallery, features two floors of 19th- and 20th-century Bulgarian art, including works by Vladimir Dimitrov and David Peretz. It also hosts temporary exhibitions such as the International Print Biennial (odd-numbered years).
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St Michael the Archangel Church
St Michael the Archangel Church was founded in 1865 and is historically significant as the first place where religious services were given in Bulgarian. The building also contained Varna’s first school. The church is small and badly lit but there are some fine wooden icons.
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Mr Baba
The coast-long trend for novelty ship restaurants has come to Varna, with this wooden-hulled venture stranded at the end of the beach, near the port. Named after a 17th-century Ottoman admiral, it features a pricey but hearty menu of fish and steak dishes such as sea bass, trout and bluefish.
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Tambuktu
One of the few restaurants along the seaside promenade that stay open year-round, Tambuktu is a chain seafood restaurant, serving up a vast assortment of freshly caught fish. Sea bass, lobster, prawns and many other dishes are on the menu, and there’s live music in the evenings.
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St Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church
The elegant St Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church was built in 1842 and features a barrelled wooden ceiling and a wonderful collection of naive icons. It’s normally closed, but the custodian will be happy to open it up for you if he’s around.
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Zoopark
In the northern section, the Zoopark is a dispiriting place featuring a range of animals, including lions, wolves, monkeys, goats and a camel, all in small concrete enclosures. There’s also a solitary bear and birds kept in filthy cages.
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Orient Turkish Restaurant
Another of Varna’s best, this halal place serves up delicious Turkish and Middle Eastern dishes such as shish kebabs, tabouleh and stuffed vine leaves. Despite being on a busy road, the outdoor terrace is pleasantly shielded from the traffic by some bushes.
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Dolphinarium
Another 500m further north is the ugly concrete Dolphinarium. Apparently the only one of its kind in the Balkan regions, it presents 45-minute shows (at 10.30am, noon and 3.30pm) of dolphins performing various acrobatic tricks.
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Valentina
The city centre’s main department store, this ugly block has an eclectic range of goods on sale over three floors, ranging from replica Samurai swords and souvenirs to fancy soaps and clothing. It also has a café.
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St Anastasios Orthodox Church
The beautiful St Anastasios Orthodox Church overlooks the Roman Thermae. Built in 1602, it’s one of the oldest churches in the city and features an intricately carved bishop’s throne.
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Prestol
Busy place on the seaside promenade serving cheap grills and salads in an attractive beachfront setting. Pork skewers and fish are on the menu, along with ‘sausage by the metre’ for the very hungry.
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