Burgas

You land at BOJ heading for Sunny Beach, Nessebar or Sozopol, so sort the transfer first; the Sea Garden and a cheap fish lunch still earn one night in town.

Written by the Departly editorial team Reviewed against GOV.UK on 9 Jun 2026

Find hotels in Burgas Tours & tickets

Best length

1 night, or as a transfer hub

Airport

Burgas (BOJ), ~10km northeast of the centre

Airport to centre

Bus 15 ~25 min for €0.80; taxi ~15 min

Best base

Near the Sea Garden / Bogoridi street for a city night

In short

Burgas at a glance

Burgas is the airport you land at for Bulgaria's southern Black Sea coast, not usually the place you stay. Most UK package and charter flights into BOJ are heading straight on to Sunny Beach, Nessebar or quieter Sozopol, so the practical job is a fast, fairly priced transfer out — but the city itself earns a night for its long Sea Garden, the pedestrianised Bogoridi street and the cheap fish lunches that the resorts overcharge for.

The short version

Burgas airport (BOJ) is the arrival airport for the southern resorts: Sunny Beach is ~35km north, Nessebar ~35km, Sozopol ~35km south — pick your transfer by resort, not by the city.
The city is a real Bulgarian town, not a resort strip: stay a night near the Sea Garden or Bogoridi street if you want low prices and no club noise.
Pre-book a transfer or use the cheap public bus rather than taking an airport taxi off the rank — GOV.UK flags repeated coast taxi-overcharging scams.
Burgas works best as a slow first or last night, or a culture-and-food contrast to a beach week at Sunny Beach.
Prices are in euro since January 2026 and genuinely low: a fish lunch by the water runs €10–€15 against double that in the resorts.

For most UK travellers Burgas is a name on a boarding pass — the summer-only airport you fly into for Sunny Beach, Nessebar or Sozopol, then leave within the hour. That’s a fair read, and the single planning decision that matters is the one people get wrong: rather than grabbing a taxi off the airport rank, where GOV.UK flags repeated coast overcharging, sort a public bus or a pre-booked transfer to your specific resort before you fly, because the right one depends entirely on whether you’re heading north to the package strip or south to Sozopol.

What first-timers miss is that the city itself is worth a night. The long clifftop Sea Garden, the cobbled Bogoridi street and a seafront fish lunch at €10–€15 are a real Bulgarian town at a fraction of the resort mark-up — the perfect slow first or last night, or a half-day escape from Sunny Beach via Pomorie’s flamingo salt pans. Below, the structured planning — transfers, where to stay, day trips and a budget in pounds — picks up from here.

Keep a first trip focused: book the big timed sights, then leave room for neighbourhoods and food.

Top things to do in Burgas

Bogoridi pedestrian street

Bogoridi is the cobbled pedestrian spine of Burgas's old centre, free to wander, lined with cafés, ice-cream parlours and faded early-1900s façades running gently down towards the pier and Sea Garden. This is where you eat and people-watch in the evening — local prices and local life, well away from the resort strip up the coast.

30 min

No tickets required Read the guide

Burgas Sea Garden (Morska Gradina)

The Sea Garden (Morska Gradina) is Burgas's long, free clifftop park strung along the seafront — the single best reason to give the city a night. Walk it end to end at dusk for the wooden pier, the old casino building, the beach below and a relaxed local evening crowd, not a package strip.

1 to 2 hours for a…

No tickets required Read the guide

Where to stay first

The areas that make a first visit easier — not an exhaustive directory.

Burgas centre (Sea Garden / Bogoridi)

£ value

The walkable heart of the actual city: pedestrian Bogoridi street, the Sea Garden and the train and bus stations a short walk apart. Best base for a city night, cheap eating and onward connections, with none of the resort club noise.

Best for: A city night, food, transport links

Browse hotels Central, ~10km from BOJ

Sunny Beach (Slanchev Bryag)

£ value

Bulgaria's biggest, loudest beach resort, ~35km north — long sandy beach, very cheap food and drink and a heavy club scene. The default UK package base, but skip the taxis touting outside hotels, which GOV.UK flags for repeated scams.

Best for: Cheap beach week with nightlife

Browse hotels ~35km / 40-50 min north

Nessebar

££ mid-range

The UNESCO peninsula and its modern beach extension, ~35km north and next to Sunny Beach. A more characterful base than the resort strip, with old-town atmosphere on your doorstep and the same coast.

Best for: Beach plus old-town atmosphere

Browse hotels ~35km / ~45 min north

Sozopol

££ mid-range

The old fishing town ~35km south — cobbled lanes, wooden Revival houses and smaller, calmer beaches. The pick for couples who want the coast without Sunny Beach's volume, and an easy transfer from Burgas.

Best for: Calmer, characterful beach base

Browse hotels ~35km / ~40 min south

Airport to city centre

Burgas airport transfer options
Option	Time	Cost	Book ahead?
Bus 15 to Burgas centre	~25 min	about €0.80	Cheapest into the city; pay the driver
Public bus to Sunny Beach / Nessebar (from the bus station)	~50-70 min total	about €5-€7	Cheapest to the resorts
Pre-booked private transfer to Sunny Beach / Sozopol	~40-50 min	about €30-€50 per car	Best with luggage or a family
Taxi from the airport	~15 min to centre	about €10-€15 to the city; far more to resorts	Use a metered yellow taxi only

Pre-book a door-to-door transfer

When to go

Sweet spot: Mid-June to mid-September is the only realistic window: BOJ is a summer-only airport, the sea is warm and the Sea Garden is at its best in the long evenings. July and August are warmest at 26–30°C but busiest and priciest; late June and early September are quieter and still beach-warm.

The southern coast is a short, intense season — resorts wake up from mid-June, peak in July and August, and largely shut by October, when many coastal hotels and restaurants close entirely. Burgas city stays open year-round as a working town, but with BOJ closed in winter there is little reason for a UK visitor to come off-season unless routing through Sofia.

What it costs

UK summer return flights to Burgas (BOJ) are typically £80–£200, peaking sharply in July and August school holidays; easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Wizz and TUI fly the route. BOJ is summer-only, so for a winter or shoulder-season trip you fly to Sofia year-round and travel on, or accept higher fares at the season's edges.

Daily budget per person

Budgetcheapest £30-£45 / day

Mid-range £65-£95 / day

Comfortable £140-£190+ / day

Sample trip: A realistic single city night in Burgas around a beach week is roughly £70-£110 before flights: about £30-£55 for a central double share, £20-£35 on a seafront fish lunch and dinner with drinks, a few euro on city and resort buses, and the rest on a Nessebar or Pomorie half-day. The beach week itself is where the money goes — Burgas is the cheap end of the trip.

The fastest way to overpay on this coast is eating on the Sunny Beach strip and taking taxis off the rank. Burgas city centre is markedly cheaper for the same meal, and the public bus to the resorts costs a few euro against a heavily marked-up taxi fare.

Book the essentials

Where to stay

Browse staysvia Booking.com

Trains & rail passes

Book railvia Trainline

Also in Bulgaria

BanskoBlagoevgrad Province (Pirin Mountains)PlovdivUpper Thracian Plain (Plovdiv Province)SofiaSofia Province VarnaNorthern Black Sea Coast (Varna Province)

See the full Bulgaria guide

Burgas FAQs

How do you get from Burgas airport to Sunny Beach?

It is about 35km north. The cheapest way is a public bus from Burgas bus station (a short hop from the airport) for roughly €5–€7; the easiest with luggage is a pre-booked private transfer at about €30–€50 per car, taking 40–50 minutes. Avoid taxis touting at the airport — GOV.UK flags repeated overcharging scams on this coast.

Is Burgas worth staying in, or just an airport?

Mostly it is the arrival point for the southern resorts, but the city earns a night. The long Sea Garden, the pedestrianised Bogoridi street and seafront fish lunches at €10–€15 are a genuine, cheap contrast to the resort strip — good as a slow first or last night rather than a full base.

What currency do you use in Burgas?

The euro. Bulgaria joined the eurozone on 1 January 2026 and the lev stopped being legal tender on 1 February 2026, so prices, cards and ATMs in Burgas and along the coast are all in euro. Carry some small notes for buses, markets and tips.

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