Varna: Inside the lesser-known Bulgarian Black Sea city that is a holiday hit

At the southern end of the beach, the swathe of sand abruptly gives way to large rocks and jagged stones. The sea, a shifting canvas of emerald and cobalt, is untroubled by the change in terrain, continuing to push and pull with abandon.

Not wishing to tap dance across the sharper edges of the weathered coastline ahead of me, I retreated 10 paces away to a no-frills beach bar. I ordered a Kamenitza beer, droplets of condensation quickly forming as it encountered the summer heat; at only £2.17 a half-litre, I ordered two more. As the setting sun lingered on the back of my neck, I drank quickly, sinking my feet into the speckled shore and ignoring the familiar ping from my phone, of messages from those at home. It was starting to feel, here in Varna, that I was on holiday.

I’d come to this Bulgarian beachside amid a renewed wave of protests against mass tourism in Europe, with concerns about overtourism spilling into the streets most notably in Barcelona, Mallorca and Tenerife. I craved somewhere new, and, like many, wanted a summer break without a break to my bank. With the launch of new flight routes from London to the Black Sea city – Wizz Air now fly three times a week from Gatwick, from £26.99 – and the promise of a warm escape in a country that is frequently listed among the cheapest places to visit in Europe, I’d gone to Varna to see if it could be a new holiday hotspot for Brits.

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It would be wrong to call Varna an undiscovered gem (even if, on a straw poll, in a south London pub, 90 per cent of people failed to recognise it, let alone have it in their travel plans). Those seeking the health-giving qualities of the water made their way to the city’s ‘sea baths’ at the end of the 19th century; in 1921, Varna was officially labelled a seaside resort.

Now, it attracts around 2 million tourists a year, popular with Romanian, Polish and German holidaymakers. When I stopped for lunch one day, I found myself chatting with a Romanian chap in his mid-twenties, who told me he visits every year from his home in Craiova.

“There is fun on the sea breeze,” he said, between mouthfuls of grilled local fish. “Relaxation, yes, but it’s an easy…