Varvara — the bohemian village on the cliffs
A small village in Tsarevo municipality, between Tsarevo and Ahtopol, about 76 km south of Burgas. A rocky shore with sheltered coves, a tiny fishing harbour and sunsets that have been drawing artists and musicians here for decades. Its land lies entirely within Strandzha Nature Park.
The artists' village
Varvara is one of the smallest settlements on the southern Black Sea coast — 6–7 km southeast of Tsarevo and only 3–4 km north of Ahtopol. The village sits on a high rocky shore in the eastern foothills of Papiya peak, and its land lies entirely within Strandzha Nature Park — the largest protected area in Bulgaria.
With around 250 permanent residents, Varvara has long been known as the bohemian village of the southern coast — artists, writers and musicians have been gathering here since the 1970s and 1980s. There are no big hotels: guests stay in family guesthouses, and evenings are spent in small fish taverns and on the rocks above the sea, where the sunsets are among the most beautiful on the Black Sea coast. The village's symbol is the "Iron Tree" — a metal sculpture left over from the filming of the 1980 movie "The Great Night Swim".
On 18th-century maps the place is marked as Vardarach, and today's name comes from the St. Barbara chapel, around which the village grew up in the mid-19th century. Until 1913 the population was predominantly Greek; after the Balkan Wars, Bulgarian refugees from Eastern Thrace settled here. For a long time the villagers lived off fishing, farming and charcoal-burning. A curious fact: a cove on Nelson Island in Antarctica is named after Varvara.
Coves, reefs and diving
The coast at Varvara is rocky — steep cliffs, sheltered coves, underwater reefs and caves. That is why the village has long been one of the coast's favourite spots for scuba diving, snorkelling and spearfishing, and beginner divers often train in the rock pools of the "Dardanelite" north of the village.
Varvara's beach is a small, quiet sandy strip of about 400 metres, a 10–15 minute walk from the main road. The tiny fishing harbour, whose boats are hauled up rail slipways on the shore, is one of the most photogenic corners of the village, and local fishermen offer boat trips along the rocks.
Between Varvara and Ahtopol, in a pine wood a step from the sea, lies the Delfin campsite — with pitches for tents and caravans and with bungalows. In the first week of September the village celebrates its traditional two-day fair with nestinari fire-dancing, and in August the northern beach hosts a boutique music festival.
How to get there
By car from Burgas you follow the coastal road through Sozopol, Primorsko and Tsarevo — about 76 km, or roughly an hour and 20 minutes. Varvara sits right on the Tsarevo – Ahtopol road, so the buses from Burgas to Ahtopol pass through the village — check the current timetables at the South Bus Station.
The nearest towns are Tsarevo (6–7 km) and Ahtopol (3–4 km) — both minutes away by car. If you are after wild nature, Sinemorets and the mouth of the Veleka River are about 10 km to the south.
Spend a day in Varvara
Morning — a swim in one of the coves or at the small beach, lunch in a fish tavern, afternoon — the rock pools of the "Dardanelite" or a boat trip, evening — sunset from the cliffs.