With more medieval churches per square meter than anywhere else in Bulgaria, Nessebar feels like Byzantine history crashed into a Black Sea peninsula and decided to stick around – because it really liked what it saw. When we were planning our few days on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast in August, one thing was pretty certain: if we were going to visit just one historic town, it would be Nessebar – even though Andrea had been here before, so it wasn’t exactly breaking new ground for her.
We actually toyed with the idea of basing ourselves here for those few days, but later – fortunately – we scrapped that plan (and chose Sarafovo instead). You really don’t need to stay here: this tiny town on the peninsula can easily be explored in a day (honestly, even half a day), and it’s a breeze to reach from Burgas, even easier from Sunny Beach, and Varna isn’t all that far either (though from there it really is almost a full-day trip).
Nessebar at a Glance
Perched on a rocky peninsula jutting into the Bulgarian Black Sea, Nessebar is one of Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited cities and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. This compact ancient town, connected to the mainland by a narrow 400-meter (1,300 ft) isthmus, packs over 3,000 years of history into less than one square kilometer (0.4 square miles). Today, it’s a living museum where narrow cobblestone streets wind between medieval churches, traditional wooden houses with stone foundations, and remnants of fortress walls, all framed by stunning sea views and the relaxed atmosphere of a coastal resort town.
Founded by Thracian tribes as Mesembria around the 6th century BCE, Nessebar has been shaped by successive waves of Greek colonizers, Roman conquerors, Byzantine rulers, and Bulgarian khans. The town’s golden age came during the Middle Ages when it flourished as a major trading port and religious center, leaving behind an extraordinary concentration of churches – over 40 were built here, with about a dozen surviving today in various states of preservation. This layered history is visible everywhere, from Greek acropolis foundations and Roman fortress walls to exquisite Byzantine and Bulgarian Revival architecture, making Nessebar an essential stop for anyone exploring Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast and a fascinating window into the crossroads of civilizations that have defined the Balkans.
How to Get to Nessebar
Since Nessebar is a major tourist destination, you’ll be happy to know it’s pretty accessible from multiple directions and by various means of transportation. We’ll break down the approach from the south in this article since that’s how we came, but if you’re driving from Varna, the route is also pretty straightforward.
By Public Transportation – Bus
If you’re coming from Burgas by public transportation, first you’ll need to find the Bus Station South Terminal (Автогара Терминал Юг) – unsurprisingly, in the southern part of the city (easily accessible by local public transport). From here, two bus companies, M-BUS and DS Bus, run more than 20 daily services combined. We didn’t try the bus ourselves, but based on other travelers’ reports, M-BUS is the better choice. Schedules can be found on both the BurgasBus and M-BUS websites. (If you’re comfortable with Bulgarian in Cyrillic letters, you can also check DS-BUS.)
You’re looking for route number 10, which usually departs from bay 3. A one-way ticket costs 8 BGN (~$4.4 USD) and can be purchased from the driver. The journey takes about 1 hour (depending on traffic, of course), and the bus will drop you off right at the entrance to the old town (then continues toward Sunny Beach). Along the way, it stops at several places, including Sarafovo (where we stayed), at the roundabout in front of the airport (where the Billa supermarket is).
Sharp-eyed travelers will notice you can easily squeeze in some beach time at Sunny Beach if you finish exploring Nessebar quickly. It’s about a 10-minute bus ride away, or you can actually walk to the southern part of Sunny Beach. If you’re doing this at the end of the day, the bus departs back from Sunny Beach Bus Station.
Note that M-BUS has a pretty big gap between the last two buses back (6:50 PM and 9:00 PM), but you can fill this with DS-BUS’s 7:30 PM or 8:20 PM departures.
By Car
By car, you obviously don’t need to worry (as much) about timing your departure and arrival, and it’s the more comfortable option, though there are still some pitfalls. From both Burgas and Sarafovo, the route is pretty clear: head north on Highway 9, then depending on traffic, turn right either at the Lidl or at Janet Market (Google Maps or Waze will guide you). From Burgas, count on about 35 minutes, and from Sarafovo about 25 minutes.
The challenge here is parking, which is another reason (besides the summer heat) to get a relatively early start. Against my own advice, we didn’t do this and ended up arriving around noon. Originally we had our eye on the “Yacht Port” (Яхтен пристан) parking lot, but I’ll admit we chickened out when we saw the traffic situation, and ultimately ended up at the more distant “Mill” (Мелницата) parking lot. There are actually two parking lots in the old town itself, the “Morska Gara” (Морска гара) and the “Old town Nessebar Parking” (Несебър – стар град), but we didn’t even want to attempt the parking space hunt there.
It appears that the parking lots are operated by the local municipality, which means the rates are the same everywhere: 2 BGN (~$1.1 USD) for every hour started, with a maximum of 12 BGN (~$6.6 USD), meaning you only pay for six hours of parking even if you stay until evening (this is the 24-hour rate). From the outer parking lots, the route to the old town is pretty obvious – you’ll walk along the narrow land bridge.
Arrive before 10 AM if possible during peak season to secure parking in the more convenient lots. The outer parking areas almost always have space but add about 10-15 minutes of walking to your visit.
On an Organized Tour
Interestingly, when I was researching for this article, I didn’t really find any worthwhile Nessebar day trips on the usual sites (like GetYourGuide, Viator or TripAdvisor). The only one I discovered was a day trip from Varna with round-trip transportation, while the rest are just plain audio guides. I even stumbled upon one that does provide a live “guide” for the walking portion, but all they do is hand out audio guides, then at each location they hold up a number so you can listen to the corresponding text in your headphones, followed by a wine tasting. Honestly, I wouldn’t pay for that.
Our Walking Tour of Nessebar Old Town – Things to Do in Nessebar
I should quickly note that modern Nessebar doesn’t consist only of the tiny peninsula – the current town has expanded onto the mainland as well. However, there’s – and I mean this with no ill will – absolutely nothing of interest to see there, so in this article I’ll only write about the historic quarter. If you want to skip the lengthy exposition and just get a quick primer on the most important churches, jump here.
Entrance to the UNESCO World Heritage Area
On the approach road (or from the bus if you’re arriving that way), you’ll first notice a windmill on the north side of the road. This 19th-century structure no longer operates and now houses a small museum. Across the road stands a statue of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of fishermen, so it’s no surprise they erected a statue to him at the entrance of this historically important fishing town.
At the end of the short road, you’ll find yourself at the entrance to the old town. The first thing that might catch your eye is the western city wall, whose Byzantine “striped” style (opus mixtum, meaning a mix of stones and bricks) will be echoed in the churches you’ll see. Since the city had outstanding strategic importance, the Thracians built walls here, which were naturally either demolished or rebuilt by various conquerors. The current wall dates from the early Byzantine period, then when this area became a stable part of the empire, it was neglected and slowly eroded to its present form.
The Southern Side: The First Churches and the Ancient Theater
Once through the city gate, you essentially have three choices: circle the island from the south, from the north, or cut straight through the middle. We chose the southern side, so I’ll present what we saw in that order.
Walking along Mena Street among the traditional Bulgarian Revival houses, we first ran into the tiny Saint Stephen Church, which was originally begun in the 11th century. I should mention that we only went inside (or rather, peeked into in the case of ruins) 1-2 churches, and we didn’t pay to enter any. The more spectacular churches do require an entrance fee, but if you’re interested in Byzantine frescoes, don’t let that hold you back. Individual church entry runs around 5-9 BGN (~$3-5 USD), the Archaeological Museum costs 9 BGN (~$5 USD), but you can also buy various combination tickets, even for the entire area (that one costs 35 BGN or ~$19 USD). Exact ticket prices can be found on the Museum Ancient Nessebar website.
Around the corner is the Church of St John Aliturgetos, which is much larger than the previous one but has survived in much worse condition – the 14th-century church was most recently damaged by the 1913 earthquake. The building is essentially built on top of the ancient theater. The Greek-style theater was originally built in the 2nd-3rd century, and although it has been significantly modified, it still retains its original function, meaning various performances and concerts can be enjoyed here on occasion.
From here, you actually get a pretty good view of the eastern side of the town, with walls, sea, a cityscape reminiscent of Mediterranean areas, and cheeky seagulls.
The Northern Side: More Churches and Views Toward Sunny Beach
From here we headed north, wandering rather aimlessly and discovering the old town serendipitously through the winding cobblestone streets. At a spot not marked on Google Maps, we stopped for a quick sandwich and coffee, then fighting our way through souvenir shops and vendors, we stumbled upon St Theodore Church. This tiny church, which looks mostly like a plain house but has survived in good condition, was built in the 13th century.
From here you can already see the sea and the town’s northern shore, along which we continued walking. If you look into the distance, you can see Sunny Beach on the other side of the bay, and if you look nearby, you’ll spot the previously mentioned Old Town parking lot, which actually had plenty of free spaces when we passed by. By the looks of it, it might be relatively new – they probably filled in the sea to make room for it, and it certainly doesn’t enhance the town’s historic atmosphere.
Continuing on, you can see the ruins of the Holy Mother Eleusa Basilica from above. Unfortunately, it hasn’t survived in great condition, yet it’s one of the largest in the town and also one of the oldest, having been built in the 6th century. Historical sources last mentioned it in the 14th century as part of a monastery complex.
Behind the basilica, closer to the water, you can spot a circular building, about which I found no information on Google Maps, but I can say with pretty high confidence that we’re looking at another windmill.
The Town Center: In Case You Haven’t Had Enough Churches Yet
After strolling along the northern shore, we turned south to dive into Nessebar’s downtown. Here there really is a church on every corner – in fact, some corners have more than one. I won’t claim we actually saw every single one, but we probably caught the most important ones.
What we spotted from relatively far away during our wandering was the Dormition of Theotokos Church, precisely because it’s a relatively new addition to the church population. This Orthodox church was built in 1873 and is still in use today. We actually went inside this one – besides the usual icons, there’s one that’s connected to a local legend. The “Black Mary” icon was supposedly found weeping on a tree, then for three consecutive days it was taken to various churches in Nessebar, but it always returned to the tree. After this, the Virgin Mary appeared to a young girl in a dream, telling her that she kept returning to the tree because she wanted the locals to build a church there. (The legend doesn’t explain why the several dozen existing churches in town weren’t good enough for her.) Thus this church became today’s Dormition of Theotokos (Theotokos means Mother of God).
A few corners to the west we ran into St. Paraskeva Church, which now operates as a museum, which is why the originally 13th-14th century building received a relatively modern roof. In the museum you can see frescoes from Nessebar’s “lost” (meaning destroyed) churches, for example from the St. George church that was destroyed in 1958. A separate entry ticket costs 5 BGN (~$2.8 USD).
Here the description of multiple churches per corner becomes truly accurate, because right across you’ll find the ruins of St. Archangels Gabriel and Michael Church. This church is almost the exact same size as the previous one and was similarly built in the 13th century, which raised the question in my mind of what the purpose was for the people of Nessebar back then to build these two churches.
Continuing on, we arrived at what clearly appeared to be the main square of the era, whose most prominent element is none other than the remains of St. Sofia Basilica. After its construction in the 5th-6th century, this impressively sized building (25.5 meters or 84 ft long) was one of the city’s most important religious sites, and the Bishop of Nessebar also had his seat here. This spot is visibly also the city’s tourist center, with countless shops operating on the ground floors of traditional houses to serve them, selling authentic (or authentic-looking) icons and wood carvings and less authentic plush capybaras and crystals.
If by this point you’re getting overwhelmed by all the churches, then if you follow our route, you can breathe a little easier: our next stop was the ruins of the Byzantine Thermal Baths. (Let’s overlook for now that in the corner of this stands the Church of the Holy Saviour (Sveti Spas), which by the way has spectacular frescoes depicting the lives of Jesus and Mary.) The baths were built in the 6th century during the reign of Justinian I the Great, and operated for a relatively short time – only until the 8th century in their original purpose, after which residential units and agricultural storage facilities were set up in them.
From here we wandered homeward along the historic streets. Of course, even if we’d wanted to, we couldn’t have avoided the Church of Saint John the Baptist standing across from the other corner of the baths. The church in its current form was built in the 10th century, but a basilica already stood here in the 6th century. If you’re curious about the interior and frescoes, you can visit it with a 5 BGN (~$2.8 USD) ticket (or with the full city pass).
We saved it for last, but actually if you head straight at the beginning of your town tour, you’ll almost immediately run into the Church of Christ Pantocrator. It’s a relatively new church (only 800 years old), which is why it’s survived in pretty good condition, and I think it’s also the most spectacular of all. Today it houses a photo exhibition including old maps, among other things, but we skipped this one.
Quick Guide to Nessebar’s Churches
As promised above, I’ve also prepared a condensed version if you just want to focus on the most important churches.
The Must-See Churches
- Church of Christ Pantocrator (13th-14th century)
- Best preserved facades
- Classic Byzantine brickwork patterns
- Now an art gallery
- Entry: 6 BGN (~$3.3 USD) without a pass
- Church of St. Stephen (11th-18th century)
- Only church with complete interior frescoes
- 1,000+ frescoes inside
- Visit early to avoid tour groups
- Entry: 6 BGN (~$3.3 USD) without a pass
- Church of St. Sofia (Old Bishopric) (5th-6th century)
- The massive ruins in the center
- Free to explore
- Best sunset photo spot
- Most dramatic of all ruins (but souvenir shops everywhere around it)
- St. John Aliturgetos (13th-14th century)
- Perched on eastern rocks
- Never consecrated (hence the name)
- Sea views through the arches
- Free access
The Second Tier (If You’re Not Churched-Out)
- Church of St. Paraskeva
- Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel
- Church of St. John the Baptist
- Basilica of the Holy Mother of God Eleusa
Church Visiting Strategy
- Start north, work clockwise (if you are only here for the churches)
- Pay for 2-3 interiors maximum, or consider a pass
- Morning light best for photos
- “Church fatigue” is real – pace yourself
If you plan to visit multiple paid churches, calculate whether a combination ticket makes sense. The full area pass (35 BGN or ~$19.3 USD) pays for itself if you’re visiting 4+ paid churches and the Archaeological Museum.
Museums in Town
If we don’t count the churches operating as museums, there are actually two museums in the town:
- Nessebar Archaeological Museum: This moderately sized museum features exhibitions about Nessebar’s colorful history, with statues, jewelry, vases, and other artifacts, plus a separate section specifically for icons.
- Ethnographic Museum: In a National Revival-style house, you can learn about the daily lives of early Nessebar residents. Besides household items, you’ll see authentically furnished rooms from the time of the Macedonian and Thracian settlers.
We actually didn’t visit either museum, so I can’t give you a first-hand account. Tickets cost 9 BGN (~$5 USD) and 6 BGN (~$3.3 USD), and if you want to see both, a combination ticket is 13 BGN (~$7.2 USD).
Beaches in Nessebar
We didn’t plan any beach time in the town (we originally wanted to stop in Pomorie for that purpose on the way home, but we ultimately couldn’t find a single decent parking spot in that town), but I’ll say a few words about this anyway, in case you’d like to take a dip in the sea after all that walking and church-hopping.
We honestly didn’t see any particularly inviting beaches in the immediate vicinity of the old town. There’s really just one, the Old Town Beach located at the eastern tip of the island, which is probably always pretty crowded just due to its size.
However, if you do want to hit the beach after sightseeing, you still have the option of hopping over to one of Bulgaria’s most famous beach areas, Sunny Beach, which is just a few minutes away by bus or car. That said, if you want to combine swimming with a similar historical vibe, put Sozopol on your radar: this small town is a lot like Nessebar but a bit quieter, and it’s got a great beach that we checked out ourselves.
Sunny Beach can get incredibly crowded and party-focused during peak season. If you prefer a quieter beach experience, consider heading south to Sozopol instead, about 30 minutes from Burgas.
My Mixed Feelings About Nessebar
In total (not counting parking and such), we spent about three hours in this UNESCO World Heritage town. I’m not claiming you can see everything thoroughly in that amount of time, but if you don’t want to go inside every museum and church, it can actually be enough for the old town. (Besides the sandwich and coffee, we didn’t consume anything else, so obviously with lunch it would be more time.)
A huge number of sights (churches) are concentrated in a very small area, and of course in the Middle Ages they didn’t design the streets and public spaces for hordes of tourists. If you go during peak season, you need to be prepared for some serious crowds – and we went on a Friday, I can’t even imagine what it must be like on a weekend, for example.
The architecture itself is very beautiful and atmospheric, but it’s hard to imagine what life was like here 5-600 years ago when every other corner someone’s trying to sell you a plush capybara or trying to invite you into a restaurant. Our August visit also meant it was pretty hot during our time there (fortunately the town is mostly shaded due to the narrow streets), and this combined with the crowds wore us out fairly quickly.
So is Nessebar worth visiting? Nessebar is touristy. Nessebar is crowded. Nessebar is full of souvenir shops. And Nessebar is still absolutely worth visiting. Just manage your expectations, arrive early, and remember you’re walking through 3,000 years of history – even if you have to dodge selfie sticks to see it.
