Britons living in Bulgaria. Guide to Bulgaria, Sofia and Varna

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Bulgarian Full Service Real Estate Agency :: Real Estate Bulgaria, ... Sales figures indicate that up to 200000 Britons will travel to the Balkan nation's ...

At the moment it is fantastic value for money, but it won't stay that way for long."First Choice Holidays, which has offered package holidays to Bulgaria since 2000, said that the country was its "star performer". Golden Sands lies close to Varna, another resort where Leonid Brezhnev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, holidayed during the Communist era. Marin Dimitrov, a spokesman for theBulgarian Embassy in London, said that his country welcomed the influx of British tourists. One British tour operator has already namedBulgaria as the top place to visit this year, while a report in America last week also named it as being among the 10 best international destinations. Richard Curtis, its spokesman, said: "At a time when holiday bookings are down almost 25 per cent on last year to destinations across the board, Bulgaria's performance is phenomenal. Sales figures indicate that up to 200,000 Britons will travel to the Balkan nation'sBlack Sea resorts this summer, where the attractions include cheap drink, large sandy beaches and temperatures in the 80s. Sean Tipton, a spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents, said thatBulgaria was the fastest growing holiday destination for 2004 and that at least 200,000 Britons were likely to visit this year - nearly double last year's total. The country is not only attracting package holiday makers: the capital Sofia is luring weekend visitors with its historical churches, museums and boulevards. The country, where a seven-day holiday in a three-star hotel, including bed and breakfast, costs from £259 per person, was already one of its three best-selling destinations, along with Florida and Cyprus. The country, which is roughly half the size of Britain, also has mountains and lakes and claims to be the motherland of the mythical songster Orpheus and of the gladiator Spartacus, who led a slave revolt against the Romans. The emergence ofBulgaria, and its 240-mile long "Black Sea Riviera", has been helped by the euro's rising value against the pound. The holidays are considerably cheaper than the equivalent in Spanish, Greek or Portuguese resorts."Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts boast white sandy beaches, warm seas and temperatures that average 80F (26C)during the summer. The number of inquiries about buying property in eastern Europe is growing rapidly, said John Howell, the senior partner in John Howell & Co, a London-based solicitor. The principal Black Sea resorts in Bulgaria are Albena, Golden Sands and Sunny Beach. This has made holiday spots such as Greece and Spain far more expensive for Britons than non-euro countries. Thomson Holidays, Britain's largest tour operator, said that it had includedBulgaria in its brochure for the first time this year. Todor Zhivkov, the former Communist leader of Bulgaria also used to take his holidays on theBlack Sea, at the resort of Evksinograd. Two thirds of the fund will be invested in Poland and Bulgaria, with the remainder going to Slovenia and Spain.