Weather is getting hot. Everyone wants to touch their feet on sand. Although Plovdiv isn't a sea side town, reaching the most popular beaches in the country is relatively easy and cheap. If you live in or visit Plovdiv, you will know how hot June, July and August can get. Having and option to travel to seaside is a lifesaver during these months. Here is your gude to cool down:
Travelling to Burgas
You can travel to Burgas by train or bus if you don't have a car. Train will cost you around 18 BGN (€9 - $11 - £7,5) while bus journey is around 30 BGN ($19 - €15 - £14) at the time of writing. Both methods are scheduled multiple times everyday including night travel options.
Travelling to Burgas from Plovdiv by train takes 4 hours. If you choose the bus option, it will take roughly 4,5 hours. The distance between Plovdiv and Burgas is 250 km. This road takes 2 hours and 20 minutes if you travel by car.
Travelling to Varna
Traveling to Varna by train takes 5,5 hrs costing you 20 BGN ($13 - €10 - £8) while the bus rates are approximately 45 BGN ($30 - €23 - £21) with the travel time around 7 hours. It requires longer travelling hours compared to reaching to Burgas, but don't forget that Varna is home to award winning Sunny Beach. Also, you can travel in the night time for your convenience.
The distance between Plovdiv and Varna is about 370 km and it takes roughly 4-4,5 hrs by car.
Travelling to Greece
Closest coastal location you can go is a place called Fanari with a kilometres long golden sand beach. From there you can even travel another 1,5 hours to reach to Thassos Island.
Traveling to Fanari takes around 3 hrs by car. The distance from Plovdiv city centre to beach is 200 km.
Before you travel to Burgas or Varna
One thing to keep in mind is knowing the deparature point before you travel. If you travel by train you have only one location where the train departs towards to your destination. It's Plovdiv Central Train Station. But things are slightly different when you travel by bus as there are multiple bus companies with different deparature points. All companies will point out central bus station as deparature point but there are few different stations close to each other. Do not forget to ask to your bus company the exact deparature point.