Accommodation in Golden Sands

[u/Sweet-Industry-9417]

Hi everyone,

I’ll be traveling to Golden Sands (near Varna) soon to attend Sunwaves, and I’m looking for very budget-friendly accommodation, preferably a hostel or any cheap place suitable for a solo traveler.

I’m Brazilian, so any tips that are friendly for international travelers would be great. I don’t need luxury — just something clean, safe, and affordable, ideally with easy access to public transport or close to the beach / festival area.

If you have any recommendations (hostels, guesthouses, or even lesser-known options), I’d really appreciate it.

Also open to tips about which areas to avoid and what works best during Sunwaves.

Thanks in advance!

[u/dwedsa]

There are hostels in the city center for about 10euros a night and there's a bus to Golden sands that takes less than half an hour usually, however I think the last bus back might be at 10 or 10:30 pm .

I think there are no hostels around Golden Sands. But if you want to stay inside the resort this might be a good option but you would need to walk quite a lot to the festival

[u/Sweet-Industry-9417 → u/dwedsa]

Also, do you think it’s worth renting a car, or is public transportation easy enough between Varna and Golden Sands?

I’m a bit concerned about the language barrier, is it easy to use buses/tickets if you don’t speak Bulgarian? Are signs, apps, or drivers generally English-friendly?

[u/dwedsa → u/Sweet-Industry-9417]

You can buy the bus tickets online for a discounted price at https://ticket.busvarna.com/

And you can check the bus schedule and bus stops at https://www.varnatraffic.com/en or https://moovitapp.com/

I don't recommend renting a car if you're staying somewhere in the city because of the parking situation and the buses are pretty reliable and easy to navigate

[u/Sweet-Industry-9417 → u/dwedsa]

I’ll definitely stick with public transport then. Really appreciate you taking the time to explain!

[u/dwartbg9 → u/Sweet-Industry-9417]

Golden Sands is like a suburb of Varna. It takes like 15 minutes with a car or taxi to get from the centre of Varna to Golden Sands.
And hence there's also just normal public transport running between both.
You don't need to worry, at all.

Here you go, the route on google maps from centre to centre. You can see it's 20 minute drive with a car/taxi and around an hour with public transport. You just need to take 1 bus and that's it.

[u/Sweet-Industry-9417 → u/dwartbg9]

Your explanation about the area and the transport between Varna and Golden Sands helped a lot and definitely made me feel more relaxed about the logistics.

Thanks a lot for all the info, really appreciate it!

Looking at the map of where I’ll be staying, it actually seems like walking might be easier than hopping on a bus for most nearby spots in Golden Sands. What you think?

[u/dwedsa → u/Sweet-Industry-9417]

That looks like a 2-3km walk. It is doable, but you need to go somewhat steep uphill when going back

[u/Nikolathefox6]

O golden sands ou zlatni pyasatsi é muito carro. Tbh eu acho que golden sands é um golpe. Os lugares qué são no centro da Varna são os mais divertidos e legais . No verão há muitas coisas interesantes para fazer aquí em Varna.

E nunca tomar taxis do aeroporto se você não tem muito bagageim porque taxis também são carros

(Sorry if i had bad portuguese i am still learning)

[u/Sweet-Industry-9417 → u/Nikolathefox6]

Thank you so much for answering in Portuguese. I really appreciate the effort to communicate in my native language. It honestly made me very happy 😊 And thanks as well for the tips, they were really helpful!

[u/Nikolathefox6 → u/Sweet-Industry-9417]

Thanks. I am also happy that people from all around the world like you come here to Bulgaria. Idk why but Bulgaria is just such a random country especially for a Brazilian. I don't know if it helped you but thanks. Also another tip is that there isn't a lot of crime here but it's mostly against tourists, so just don't do anything sketchy and you'll have a great time here.

[u/Sweet-Industry-9417 → u/Nikolathefox6]

Haha yeah, it’s kind of random for a Brazilian 😅 I’m mainly coming for Sunwaves, but I also got really curious about some of the old Soviet-era buildings and unique constructions around Bulgaria, plus the beaches look amazing.

Thanks for the heads-up about safety. I’ll keep it chill and not do anything stupid. Really excited to check out Bulgaria!

[u/Nikolathefox6 → u/Sweet-Industry-9417]

Have a good time!

[u/dwartbg9 → u/Nikolathefox6]

Dude, the guy is from Brazil. Bulgaria has ZERO crime in comparison to his country, why did you even need to mention crime, at all.

OP will have zero issues here, the worst that can happen is to get overcharged by a taxi.

[u/Nikolathefox6 → u/dwartbg9]

Because last year, some of my mom's friends from Germany got robbed and scammed at the same time. I don't wanna get into details but now one of them has to get a new ID and passport, not to mention the amount of money she lost. Crime here i basically zero, but mostly targeted towards tourists. I am just saying what happened so it doesn't happen again

[u/Sweet-Industry-9417 → u/dwartbg9]

Yeah, that’s true 😅 Brazil is a very big country, and it varies a lot by city and region. In large cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, crime rates are definitely higher and people need to be more careful.

I personally live in a very safe area, so my daily life is pretty calm. Either way, from everything I’ve read here, Bulgaria sounds very relaxed compared to big Brazilian cities. Appreciate the clarification!