The final stretch of road from the inland to the south coast of Bulgaria runs along a short highway into Bourgas, and most holidaymakers are eager to swing the wheel to the right and continue their journey on to the resorts.

But pause a while, if you will, and take in some of the attractions of Bourgas, the country’s fourth-largest city. There is a mild stigma in perceptions of Bourgas, that it is a highly industrialised, somewhat despoiled place, the less alluring cousin of boomtown Varna to the north.

On the cultural front, the city boasts an art gallery and a museum well worth visiting, and for those with a taste for folklore, the calendar includes a number of music festivals on this theme. The city itself has a wide range of restaurants, pubs and taverns, as well as a wide range of accommodation, from hotels to private lodgings.

Bourgas is, of course, a starting point for the resort complexes of Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach), Dyuni (Dunes), Eleni and towns and villages along the southern Black Sea coast.

Among the best-known is Sozopol, 34km south of Bourgas on a slender rocky peninsula. During summer, there are regular bus services between Bourgas and Sozopol.
The best beach in the area is at Dyuni, an upscale resort village complex six km south of Sozopol.

Past Dyuni, the coast road passes by the Arkoutino swamp, a 62ha area of floating water lilies, irises and liana vines. A few km further south is the Ropotamo River nature reserve, where private operators run river cruises that make for a pleasant and relaxing day out.

The hamlet of Chernomorets is worth a visit. Nestled in an inlet between the Akra and Talaskra capes, the rocky coastline provides secluded spots for swimming and fishing. About 60km south of Bourgas is Lozenets. The village has changed slightly in the past four years in which I have holidayed there regularly, with the loss of a bungalow complex to be replaced by holiday flatlets. Nonetheless, it boasts a long stretch of beach that is never too crowded, a pleasant centre of town with good quality, affordable restaurants, new beachside bars and a number of private rooms for hire in the town, provided that a guest is willing to stay for a number of nights.

Seventy-two km south of Bourgas is Tsarevo, located on two small peninsulas around a scenic inlet, worth a day trip in its direction for a drive around the small villages and beautiful vistas and forests of the Strandja Mountain, while 87km south of Sozopol is Ahtopol, which in recent years has seen the building of some new small-scale hotels and is becoming increasingly popular among foreign buyers of seaside village properties.