The Town of Balchik and Botanic Park

As a person lived in Bulgaria for a long time, I had the opportunity to travel much around the country. When Bulgaria is mentioned in our country, we remember its sea tourism, casinos and ski centers which had been popular recently. But these are not the ones which should be explored in Bulgaria. The town of Balchik is also among them.

Tenha Juvah Palace

Balchik was a part of Romanian soil between 1913 and 1940. It became Bulgaria’s after that. And the story dates back to the years when Balchik was located between Romanian borders. The Romanian queen of that period got to build a modest palace and guesthouses in 1924 on these soils that she loves. After her husband’s death, she lived in this palace until her own death. After her husband’s death, the queen fell in love with a Muslim fisherman and got to add Islamic motives and a minaret to her palace. To listen to this part of the story is enough for stargazing. I’ll return to the story of Queen Marie later but now we leave the palace and begin to tour the botanic garden.

Balchik Botanic Park

After Tenha Juvah Palace, I begin to tour the botanic park. The Botanic Park was established by Queen Marie in 1955 but many plants, especially cactuses, and trees have been brought afterwards. The Botanic Park is also a place in which the flowers and plants are grown and documented by Sofia University for scientific purposes. In the park, the plants in many forms and colors are being grown.

Botanic Park is built on a pretty large field. In the park, there are waterfall, stone bridges, guest houses and a rose garden in which you can see 34 different types of rose. One of the gust houses is turned into a wine house. If you want, you can taste these wines made in Bulgaria. And if you want to buy, their prices are also very reasonable.

Botanic Park Entrance Fee:12 Levas

Winter season: 08:30 – 17:00 Summer season: 08:00 – 20:00

Palace Entrance Fee: 6 Levas

Visiting Hours: 09:00 – 17:00

Who is Queen Marie?

I told about the story of Queen Marie. But who is that woman? You may be heard her name for the first time now just like me. Marie was born on 29th October 1875 in Edinburg. Her father is the duke of Edinburg and her mother is Marie Aleksandrovna, the daughter of the tsar of Russia. She missed the oppotunity to be the Queen of England by refusing the proposal of her cousin George and she married the Romanian dauphin Ferdinand at the age of 17 and became the Queen of Romania. She was a nurse along with her 3 daughters during World War I and won the hearts of people. It is being said that she passed away on 18^th July 1938 due to cirrhosis.

According to another rumour, the Queen Marie died while trying to stop a fight between her children. According to her will, her heart was buried to the Stella Maris Chapel in Balchik after her death. But after the area was captured by Bulgaria in 1940, the heart of the queen initially was brought to Bran Castle, then to National History Museum in which the body of the queen is, and recently, in a silver container due to her family’s request, to the Pelisor Palace in which the queen passed away.

You can go to the coast after visiting the palace and Botanic Park. You can find a sunbed during summer. You can also swim here if you want. If you keep walking on the coast, you can pass the fishing boats and arrive to Balchik town center.

Accomodation in Balchik

Since there are many tourists coming to the town, especially during summer, the local people rent their houses’ rooms for the guests. Many people prefer that. It is an income opportunity for the local people and also a nice opportunity for tourists to learn something about the local people’s life conditions and their cultures. It is actually some kind of Airbnb event. The prices vary between 15 and 20 Levas. If I were you, I would prefer that kind of accomodation instead of trav

Where is Balchik?

Balchik Town is in the north-east part of Bulgaria, close to the Romania border. The town is only 48 km away from Varna.

How Can I Go To Balchik?

The visitors of Balchik generally comes from the city of Varna. Therefore, I’ll inform you about how you can travel to Balchik from Varna without a car. There is a bus station in Varna. The buses departing from this bus station mostly go to big cities such as Sofia and Plovdiv. The minibuses going to Balchik do not depart from this bus station. You can go to Balchik by the minibuses which departs from somewhere that I may call “pocket bus station” located in the avenue across the bus station. If you will take a taxi, you can tell the driver ‘’Chasta Avtogara Mladost’’. The minibuses to Burgas also departs from here.

If you want to know, the ticket price is 6 Levas. (1 Dollar= 1,85 Leva)

We have learned how to go to Balchik. Let’s see what makes Balchik so special and what are the places to visit.