I must mention that our vacation in Golden Sands was beyond our expectations. It’s a dreamy destination for a cheap, fun, spoiling, and awesome vacation (we have been to Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey in the past, and we think that the Golden Sands has the most value for money for a vacation).
We took a flight to Varna and from the airport we took a taxi that cost about 25 euro to the HVD Viva Club Hotel. The ride took about 40 minutes. There is also an option to take a bus from the airport but it’s a longer ride and we had landed in the afternoon so we wanted to be at the hotel as soon as possible in order to enjoy the rest of the day.
We arrived at the all-inclusive hotel around 6:30 pm. We got a room on the 4th floor with a sea view. We arranged our stuff and went down for dinner. The hotel cost us 140 euro per night, all-inclusive. A cheap price for a hotel at the end of August- start of September.
Golden Sands main season is from May – September.
Tips before traveling to Varna
SIM card
I personally recommend using an ESIM, which is an electronic SIM, and recommend Airalo. I was very satisfied with their user experience (simple tutorial videos for operating the SIM card) and everything worked without any special problems. I wrote more about them in an extended post on the subject of taking a SIM card abroad and also about other options such as buying a local SIM card.
Blog followers have a 15% discount code for the Airalo company to purchase an ESIM – to redeem the discount, click on this link. The discount code is already included in the link. See it at checkout.
The biggest drawback at the moment is that some devices do not support an electronic SIM. How can you know if your device supports the electronic card? Very simple: go to this link and you can see. Link to which devices support ESIM.
Car rental in Varna
I think this is the most convenient and fun way to travel. Car prices are low and the roads are easy to drive.
You can search for a car in the search engine Papam Papam. Personally, I really like to search through them because they save me time (instead of going to several websites) and they also have the option of filtering out non-recommended rental companies.
Attractions in Varna
You can get ideas for other cool things you can do on the various attraction sites and even order through them (sometimes at a discounted price). The first attractions site is tiqets the second is Get your guide and Viator.
Where to stay in Varna
You can search for places to stay in Varna via Booking.
Things to do in Golden Sands
Stay at an all-inclusive hotel
We stayed at the HVD Viva Club Hotel. A high-standards hotel with amazing food. Great pool, good service, the entertainment staff put a lot of effort into activities and shows. The hotel has a private, all-inclusive beach too. I wrote a detailed post about the hotel. Click here to read more about the hotel.
Walk along the promenade
Wow, this promenade is so much fun. It has everything. Restaurants, bars, clubs, stalls, coffee shops, beaches, and loads of attractions for adults and kids.
You can walk for hours along the promenade and find many things to do there. There are great stalls with souvenirs, bags, things for the sea and pool, clothes, and more.
Because the promenade is very long, there is a train that you can jump on to and ride on it back and forth along the promenade (the train costs 4 leva).
Sit in an awesome bar
There are so many bars along the promenade and in the Golden Sands area in general. You can hop from bar to bar all day long. All the bars are high in quality and each one is designed in a cool and unique way.
Bars that we really liked:
Megapark Dolphin– A lively bar from the morning till the night which has a pool and foam parties. There is happy hour on drinks 1+1 and you can order a hookah in different flavors.
Cocktail bar Paris– it’s a bar that’s located in a mini copy of the Eifel tower. There’s a view from it to the promenade and in the evening it’s really nice to sit there and have a cocktail or glass of wine.
Cuba Bar- located on the beach and there are different sitting options. To sit on the swing near the bar, or regular tables, or a cushion seat on the beach. During the sunset it’s a perfect place for a cocktail.
Play mini golf
Mini golf is one of my favorite attractions. Not because I’m good at it, but because it’s a fun game, funny (especially if you don’t know how to play) and it’s a great way to pass time with friends.
The mini golf in Golden Sands is on the promenade and it’s good. It has 18 different stations and it’s shaded. So there’s not a problem to play there on a hot day. When we arrived at around 2pm we were the only ones there. We played for about 75 minutes.
The game for an adult costs 10 leva, and for a child (under the age 12) 5 leva.
Drink coffee with a yummy cake
One of our favorite things to do during a vacation is to drink a good coffee with a yummy cake in the middle day. There are many coffee shops along the promenade.
We really loved Cafe Wiener. It’s a high-standards cafe with amazing cakes. They also have gelatos. We ordered 2 cappuccinos with a carrot cake. The coffee was good and the cake was really tasty. You could feel the taste of the carrot and the nuts in each bite.
Go out to a club
There are many clubs along the promenade and also in the hotels area. We went to one club- Bonkers Club. This club was less fit for us, but if you are in your early 20’s I guess you would have more fun. The club’s price includes free alcohol from the bar.
We also saw a commercial for another club-Arrogance Club. Which seemed to have higher standards. But we didn’t have the chance to try it. According to the commercial this club has 5 different halls and each hall has a different music style.
Get a massage
Because there isn’t a perfect vacation without a massage (at least for me :)). I got a massage at the beach first. I love to be at the beach and to have the option to get a relaxing and quick massage. I chose the 20-minutes back treatment. I can’t say it was like a spa massage but it was good enough and definitely worth 20 leva.
The second time I got a massage, it was in the hotel that we were staying in Viva club.
Their spa is not the best in terms of decoration and atmosphere, but the massage itself was very good and the price was 70 leva for 50 minutes which was cheap for a 4-stars hotel.
Work out at the gym
Yes I know, not many of you will think that it’s something you should do on a vacation, but we did. We love to work out at the gym, especially in a gym like the one we found in the promenade area.
It’s a fitness club with a view to the sea. If you are a gym lover, you will love to work out there. The equipment is new and the view is beautiful. The entrance costs 6 leva and there’s a bathroom and a dressing room.
Go to the beach
There are so many beaches along the promenade. Organized beaches with tanning beds and sunshades- we only went to the private beach of our hotel because it was all-inclusive. But when we wandered around, we saw many other beautiful beaches to visit.
More posts I wrote on that
A recommended all-inclusive hotel in Golden Sands, Varna
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