More about the city

Country: Bulgaria
Golden Sands is one of the oldest seaside resorts in Bulgaria. It's located at the Black Sea coast 18 km north to the city of Varna and near the Golden Sands Natural Park. The resort offers magnificent beaches, crystal clear waters, a unique natural environment, spa complexes and plenty of sun all year round. If you're dreaming of an unforgettable holiday experience with wonderful recreational facilities, entertainment, health and sports activities, Golden Sands has it all.
History
The resort's construction began in the distant 1956. The project was assigned to a team of more than 25 architects and the concept was for it to become a preferred family friendly holiday spot and one of the most renowned spa resorts in the country. The construction of its largest hotel complexes and restaurants took almost 10 years. Most of the amusement parks and facilities were built further away from the beach, while the beach front was reserved for some of the most luxurious hotels at the time. The construction was officially completed in 1966, when a large-scale program to turn Bulgaria into a popular summer holiday destination was launched. The resort saw a real peak in its development at the end of the 20th century, when it was almost entirely renovated and modernized.
Geography
The Golden Sands resort is situated on the Northern part of the Black Sea coastline, near the Golden Sands Natural Park—at its 13.2 square kilometers the tiniest of all 11 natural parks in the country. The park's deciduous forest surrounds the resort and is the reason for the clean air in the area. Most parts of the park are preserved in their natural state with no human intervention. The proximity to the sea and the mild climate influenced the formation of the characteristic flora and fauna in the park, making it very different from the other national parks. The beach is about 4 km long, at certain points reaching a width of more than 100 m, and it captivates with its light-gold colored quartz sand. The water is calm, clear and of low salinity, and the weather conditions allow sunbathing from early June to early October. The seabed is sandy, free of rocks or abrupt changes in slope. The area has a mild, moderate continental climate. During the summer the average air temperature is 27.3°C and that of the sea water—24.1°C. The Golden Sands resort lies 462 km east of the capital Sofia, 393 km northeast of Plovdiv, 150 km north of Burgas and 111 km north of Sunny Beach.
Infrastructure
Every year the resort management invests more than 2 million leva of its own funds in the improvement and modernization of the overground and underground infrastructure, restoring alleys and sidewalks, maintaining the green areas and the rich flora and fauna of the Golden Sands Natural Park. The resort's clean environment and ecodesign meet the highest European requirements. As an unpolluted resort Golden Sands has also been awarded the internationally recognized Blue Flag label. Inspections of the key microbiological, physical and chemical properties of the air, seawater and sand are carried out on monthly basis. The means of transport in the resort, available to tourists, include pedicab rickshaws, bicycles and mini-trains.
Development
Golden Sands is a modern resort with 60 years of history and traditions—a destination equal to European holiday locations of the highest caliber. Because of its natural beauty, wonderful climate, delightful nature park, fine golden sands, azure sea and beneficial hot springs, it has long been known as the gem of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. With a total capacity of around 30 000 tourists, the resort offers more than 70 hotels of various categories and 3 villa complexes, all of which provide professionally managed high quality tourist services. During the winter months, the resort is a preferred destination for congress tourism and business meetings. In high season it is alive with cultural events like international children's festivals and folk, jazz and brass band concerts. In September, the resort hosts the one of a kind annual National Gathering of Twins. There are many attractions in the Golden Sands area too—the Aladzha Monastery, the rock phenomenon "Pobiti Kamani", the forest reserve "Baltata", the Botanical Garden and the Architectural Park Complex "The Palace" in Balchik. Just some 60 km away lies the stunning Bolata Beach, which was ranked 16th in the list of most beautiful beaches in Europe for 2019.