Experiences in Nessebar
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Nessebar
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Nessebar: Tours & Experiences
2 experiences and tours
Frequently asked questions
Old Nessebar stands on a small rocky peninsula, joined to the coast by a road only a few metres wide. Inside its walls, the remains of more than a dozen medieval churches stand between cobbled lanes and wooden houses from the 19th century.
The whole old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and you can walk across it in about fifteen minutes. But it is worth a whole day. Visit the churches in the morning, before the day visitors from the resorts arrive. Take a boat out on the bay in the afternoon. Then watch the sun go down over the water from the harbour or the old sea walls.
About Nessebar
Thracians first settled here, and called the town Menebria. Greek colonists arrived around 510 BC and made it Mesembria, a trading town with strong walls and its own coins. Parts of those walls still stand at the entrance to the old town.
Nessebar grew rich again under the Byzantines and the medieval Bulgarian kings, who built church after church on the peninsula. The ruins of the Old Metropolis (St. Sophia) stand in the middle of the town. St. Stephen (the New Metropolis) is covered inside with hundreds of painted scenes. The Church of Christ Pantocrator and St. John Aliturgetos, with their red brick and green ceramic decoration, are among the finest medieval buildings on the Black Sea.
In the 19th century the town's fishermen and merchants built the houses that line the lanes today: stone on the ground floor and dark wood above. A wooden windmill stands on the narrow road into the old town. Today a modern town and the large resort of Sunny Beach spread along the coast to the north and west.
What to expect on a Nessebar experience
A visit to Nessebar is half history and half sea:
- The old town: walks between the churches, the Greek walls, the museum and the harbour, with a guide who explains which church is which and how a small fishing town came to have so many of them. Quiet lanes away from the main street show a different side of the town.
- The sea: boat trips around the peninsula and along the coast, fishing trips with lunch on board, and evening cruises in the summer. Burgas, Sozopol and St. Anastasia Island are all within reach on a day out.
Best time to visit
Come in May, June or September if you can. It is warm enough for the beach and the boats, and the old town is less crowded. In July and August the lanes are very busy in the middle of the day, so go early in the morning or in the evening. From November to March many shops, restaurants and boat trips close. The churches and the old town stay open, and you have the streets almost to yourself.
Getting around
The old town is small and for walking only. Its lanes are cobbled and uneven, so wear good shoes. Cars must park in the new town, near the narrow road to the peninsula. Buses run often along the coast to Sunny Beach and to Burgas, about 35 km to the south. Burgas Airport is about half an hour away by road. In summer, small boats also link Nessebar with Sunny Beach and other places on the bay. Bulgaria uses the euro, and cards are widely accepted.
