After the Varna Marathon: Balchik

The Route: Varna → Balchik → Varna → Varna Airport (VAR) Logistics: Intercity bus from Varna Central Bus Station, about 50 km each way, plus the city bus 409 to the airport. One night in Balchik. Marathon Month: May Duration: 1 night

Varna Central Bus Station ──(intercity bus, about 50 km)──> Balchik
                                                                │
Varna Airport (VAR) ◄──(bus 409 from the centre)── Varna ◄─────┘
                                                (intercity bus)

The Varna Marathon finishes in the centre of the city on a Sunday in mid-May. Balchik is the easiest overnight escape from it: a small town on the coast about 50 km to the north, with one attraction that justifies the trip. The Palace and Botanical Garden were built for Queen Marie of Romania. Italian architects designed the palace, and construction ran from 1924 to 1936. Jules Jeannys, a Swiss botanist, designed the garden in 1926, and it later passed to Sofia University as a botanical garden.

May in Balchik: the cactus collection, the chapels and the stonework do not depend on the season. Published opening hours run 08:00 to 20:00 in summer and 09:00 to 17:00 in winter, and the municipal page does not say which applies in May. Assume the shorter hours and check on the day. Extra summer coach departures from Varna started on 15 June in the most recent published notice, so May service is the regular timetable and may be thinner.

Take the intercity bus from Varna Central Bus Station. The station's luggage room is open until 19:00, which helps if you check out of your Varna hotel on Monday morning and want to travel light. The operator publishes timetables at autogaravn.com. Journey time depends on the service, and seasonal changes are common, so check the day's departures before you leave the hotel.

Night one: Balchik

The palace and the garden are separate tickets, each €10 for an adult (about £8.50). The palace is a short visit. The garden is the main event, and it holds small chapels, courtyards, fountains and a large cactus collection, in buildings that mix Byzantine, Moorish and Transylvanian styles. From above, the red-tiled roofs and the white tower step down to a narrow strip of sand and a seafront road, with the headland of the port beyond. Ask the ticket office which paths are step-free before committing to the upper garden, since the grounds climb from the shore. Allow two to three hours and sit often.

A walk on the seafront road below the palace is the easier recovery option. It runs beside the water and gives a long view of the bay.

Where to stay: choose a room close to the water in the lower town and not one on the hill, so that the walk to dinner and back is short. Book a refundable room, since the town is small and May availability is not predictable. Operators vary in what they offer, so ask about luggage storage for the day you check out.

Where to eat: Balchik is a fishing and resort town, and the menus lean towards fish. Pick a restaurant on the seafront and order the catch of the day. Reserve for a group.

Getting home

Take the intercity bus back to Varna. Keep an eye on the last return departure, because a missed coach in a small town means a taxi. From central Varna, bus 409 runs to Varna Airport (VAR), with the airport quoting a journey of under 20 minutes and a bus about every 15 minutes. Check the timetable for your flight time, and allow extra if you are travelling with bags after a night away.