Varna

Varna is the largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea and it has one exceptional thing: the Varna necropolis, found in 1972 during construction, produced graves of the fifth millennium BC containing worked gold objects that are the oldest processed gold found anywhere, several thousand pieces from a single cemetery, with one grave holding more gold than all other contemporary sites in the world combined. The archaeological museum displays it. Beyond that the city has the Roman thermae, among the largest surviving Roman baths in the Balkans, a large sea garden park running along the coast, a nineteenth-century cathedral and a working port. It is a real city rather than a resort and it functions year round.

What you actually see

• The oldest processed gold in the world - the Varna necropolis finds of the fifth millennium BC.
• Roman thermae - among the largest surviving baths in the Balkans.
• The sea garden - a long park along the coast.
• A working port city - shipping and industry alongside the beaches.

When to go

May to September for the coast; the museums work year round. Two days. Museums close on some Mondays. July and August are busy with resort traffic passing through.

Honest expectations

The beaches in the city are crowded and not clean in high season. The centre is worn in places. The Roman baths are a ruin with limited interpretation. Traffic and parking are difficult.

Nearby

Aladzha monastery and Golden Sands are north; Pobiti Kamani lies west.