Golden Sands is the oldest of the three largest Bulgarian sea resort located in the northern Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
The idea for the construction of a large Bulgarian Black Sea resort emerged in the mid 1950′s. Naturally the choice fell on the area north of Varna. The place combines unique virgin forest and wide beach. One of the outstanding natural attractions here, which, unfortunately, no longer exists, was a large freshwater lake, only a hundred meters from the beach, in which turtles lived. Today this place is the central attraction of the resort area with a model of the Eiffel Tower, the Ferris wheel and the International Hotel.
Golden Sands occupies an area of 1800 hectaresand is located 18 km northeast of Varna, 488 km east of Sofia. The distance from Golden Sands to the nearest airport is18 km.
The resort lies at the foot of the Franga plateau, which is susceptible to landslides and erosion and is characterized by its limestone construction. This place is known as an area with the most pure and fine sand at the seaside. In past times it was called Uzunkum (the Turkish word for Long Sands).
There are many streets parallel to the coast, small hotels with small parks around them, bays left and right of the resort – favorite places for tourists and holidaymakers who love solitude. Golden Sands resort is surrounded on every side with lush vegetation, which makes it look like a real park. Rich in mineral water flowing from several big pipes on the beach; with wonderful hardwood forest bordering Franga plateau, because of all of that Golden Sands is one of the masterpieces of the Bulgarian coast.
For many Golden Sands is a perfect vacation spot, though in recent years due to extensive construction the resort has lost its unique charm. The resort offers a huge selection of hotels of various categories suitable for various budgets.
Moreover, there is a great number of holiday rental apartments and villas in Golden sands.
Next to the resort is situated the mystical Aladja rock monastery. It was inhabited by monks in the XII century and has had an interesting history. At present very little has remained from the murals but the feeling of visiting the monastery, located high on a cliff, is amazing. At the monastery, which is a cultural landmark, can be visited a small museum.
As usual every hotel in the resort has a restaurant or snack bar. Golden Sands is abundant in restaurants with different types of cuisine and various attraction programs. In general, in Golden Sands perform the best musicians, dancers and artists along the entire North Coast. Popular restaurants with interesting architecture, program and excellent meals are “Watermill,” “Gypsy camp ‘,’ Goldfish ‘,’Kriva Lipa’ and ‘Dionisus’. There are many snack bars and kiosks for fast food, grills, toasters, etc.
Today, just as thousands of years ago, Golden Sands is known for some of the most healing mineral springs in Bulgaria. The mild climate, ultraviolet rays, clean air and seawater rich in minerals and salts for years have earned the resort the glory of one of the most visited spas in Bulgaria. To all of this, however, must be added the modern infrastructure of spa centers offering mud and herbal treatment, as well as procedures that combine relaxation techniques, Oriental and traditional massage.
These days hit among the services of the SPA centers in the resort are treatments from Thailand and Indonesia, Hawaiian procedures, Japanese shiatsu massage and French procedures with mud. For those who prefer the spirit of the European south, leading companies have developed spa packages in Mediterranean style. You need a breath of fresh sea air and relax near the waves? In this case the pleasure to relax after a massage directly on the warm beach sand can not be compared with anything else.
