Balchik Palace and Botanical Garden

Queen Marie of Romania built a summer residence at Balchik between 1926 and 1937, when this stretch of coast was Romanian, and she built it as a set of small buildings on terraces stepping down a slope to the sea rather than as one house: a villa with a minaret, chapels, guest houses, a well and a series of gardens, in a deliberate mixture of Ottoman, Romanian and Mediterranean elements reflecting her own eclecticism. Her heart was kept here for a time. After the border moved in 1940 the botanical garden of Sofia University took over the grounds and developed them, and they now hold several thousand species including a large cactus collection, laid out across the terraces with the sea below.

What you actually see

• Terraced buildings down to the sea - the villa complex on its slope.
• The minaret - the tower the queen added to her house.
• A large cactus collection - one of the bigger holdings in the region.
• Several thousand plant species - the university botanical garden.

When to go

April to October, with May and June best for the planting. Half a day. Summer weekends bring coach parties from the resorts. Mornings are quieter. The terraces involve a good deal of stepping.

Honest expectations

The terraces are steep with many steps and are hard for anyone with mobility difficulties. It is very busy with resort excursions in July and August. The palace interiors are small and sparsely furnished. Ticket prices are high by Bulgarian standards.

Nearby

Balchik town is below; Albena and Golden Sands lie south.