booked my flights also with Balkan thought it was a bit steep at first at £268 a flight each but after comparing with other travel agents i thought i had got a bargain

read this , and thought I'd have a look at next years flight prices, Glasgow - Bourgas. £242 each for returns next June with Thomas Cook. Thats about £30-£40 less than their early prices for this year.

Hi,
Glad you had a good time sounds as if you did not want to come home. I still have to wait till end of august its not fair. going to the pliska GS.

Cornish lad

just looked at the thomas cook one and they are coming up now at £342.00

just booked hotel nympha golden sands £1288 for the 3 of us A/I june 2010

Hi lal...

We will be staying at The Nympha for a fortnight from Wed 2nd - Wed 16th June 2010. Maybe those dates are same as yours...? or overlap...? Would be great to meet up.with you.

regards, Jim

Hi Folks.

Well the countdown to next year has already started and for the fourth year we are going down the D.I.Y route, have just paid the deposit on a villa in the Vineyards for next june this will be a change from either S/B St Vlas or Ravda. Will be booking the flights sometime in the next month but just to keep us in the Bulgarian frame of mind nipping out to Plovdiv in october for 5 days to see the people who have become like a part of an extended family for us .

Hi all,
When is the best time to book for 2010. Is it cheaper to book before the end of the year or wait until later on in 2010. I still have not been this year yet, only days to go before GS greets me

Cornish lad

Wotcher Cornishlad,

When we booked for this year back in July 2008 the Balkan online prices were very inviting, not to say tempting too. A few months later as the credit crunch really grabbed us by the short-ones the prices for The Nympha in 2009 really shot up...not sure about thier other hotels though. It would've cost us at least another £250 if we'd waited till say Sept 2008 to book for June 2009.

This year on returning from GS I took the plunge to book up for June 2010 at Nympha asap and with a deposit of only £90 each it was not too much of a strain. Our balance dont have to be paid till March 10th 2010 now either.

When you get back from this year check the offers and then decide. My travel agent eventually charged me Balkan's current 2010 On-line Price to get my business...she was crying when she agreed to it...ah, bless. There are deals out there.

regards, Jim

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the reply. I have paid £1,400 for 2 weeks at the pliska for 4 adults and that was with a £100 saving. Still very good value for B&B. I prefer B&B as we can then choose when to eat and at a reasonable cost. We also book with balkan holidays and have done for the last 3 visits to GS. Can you get B&B at the nympha, sounds like a good hotel from reading your previous posts. How did your hols go?.

Regards,
cornish lad

As far as I am aware Nympha is on a A/I basis only. As it is only a 3+* hotel the comforts are not as high as some others but the cleandiness, service, food and drinks etc are all excellent.. You can get B/B at Imperial 4* and Riviera 5* which are all part of the same complex though.

That cost is higher as both those hotels offer a much higher standard of accomodation and more benefits...tennis,sauna, wellness/fitness etc etc etc. The Pliska was one of my short listed hotels a few years ago but we ended up at the Helios Spa and Resort 4* A/I instead.

The Nympha offers a private right-on-beach location with all your parasols/sunbeds included....thats worth a good few bob if you enjoy truly golden sands. You can also use the outdoor pool at Imperial and Riviera f-o-c if you so wish and many of their services are also available to the guests. Sorry if this sounds like a brochure style report but Nympha has a lovely location and is a hotel with plenty of charm which more than makes up for the sad lack of modernisation.

We do eat out though on a few occasions just to make the holiday more rounded. All Inclusive may have its draw backs cost wise for some but getting your all you food, and especially drinks, on tap everyday if required is a real joy. We take very little extra spending dosh and prefer our money to go on excursions to see more of the area and people.

regards Jim

Hi Jim,
Good info. I think I will see what hotel does the best deal, I always say that the hotel is for breakfast/sleeping only as you I like to go and explore what Bulgaria has to offer. I have mentioned in other posts that I befriended a taxi driver from previous visits and he takes me and my wife on days out to places where there is no holiday makers for approx 140 lev, well worth it for a full day out. On one trip we went to Nessebar and different towns and villages on the way, quite an eye opener on how the bulgarians really live.

Regards,
cornish lad (Roger)

staying at the Nympha 18 june for 2 weeks

Flights are booked for July 2010, 9 nights from Luton, 4 adults, 1 under 2, £560 for all of us, very nice....flying to Bourgas

Hi Monaco,
I have just booked GS for £700 online. The pliska hotel B&B for two adults 14 nights, thats with the online discount and 5% from balkan holidays excellent value and cheaper than this year. Here we go again counting down the days lol.

cornish lad

Well done....lets hope the £ sorts it'self out before we travel next year. It usually picks up quite dramaticlly just as the season starts in early May.

Dropped as in free fall over the last few weeks...only 1.56 euro to the £ in my local Intercash exchange thingy today. T'was 1.14 euro's to the £ only a very short time ago. This relates to our £/Levs exchange being hit hard too.

regards Jim

Hi Jim,
Fingers crossed the exchange rate improves. This year I was getting 2.15 lev in the hotel, and was suprised to see the the same rate in the kiosks which are normally a better rate. which hotel are you going to?

cornish lad

We will be returing in June to The Nympha in GS again next year.

The rate 2.15 lev your Hotel (Pliska..?) was offering late this year was much better than in early June this year when we were there. 2.00 Lev was the norm although 2.07 could be found in some hotels too.

By far the bestest rate was at the Radethingy Bank, which is just past The Admiral Hotel now, and offered everyone 2.25 Lev.

However, my Nationwide Flex Account did give me a superb 2.27 from the atm within The Riviera Beach Complex where The Nympha is situated.

moral....use a nw flex card in a secure atm first, or the Banks, before a hotel desk...and never ever a street vendor.

regards Jim

Just booked my flight to Varna for next June.

I looked at Wizz Air from Luton, which gave a good headline price but, by the time that you upgraded from their 15kg luggage allowance, etc., it was as cheap, if not cheaper, to book with Bulgaria Air at £136 return.

Baldur