The Aladzha Monastery is the most famous mediaeval rock monastery along the bulgarian Black sed coast. It was mainly inhabited by monks during the 13th and 14th centuries AD. It’s located very close to the biggest resorts near Varna – Golden Sands, St.St. Constantine and Helena, and Sunny Day which makes it a really popular tourist attraction.

The halls of the monastery are carved on two levels in a rock almost 40 metres high. On the first level there is a monastery church, the monks quarters, a dining room and kitchen, a small burial church, a crypt and the maintenance rooms. The second level is a natural rock alcove, on the easter end of which the monastery chapel is built.

After the fall of the 2nd bulgarian Tsardom under Ottoman rule at the end of the 14th century the monastery slowly deteriorated until it eventually was abandoned in the period between the 16th and 19th centuries. A little less than a kilometre away to the west of the monastery a group of caves known under the name of “The Catacombs” were found. The artefacts found within them include ceramics, coins, graffiti, etc. It’s estimated that “The Catacombs” were inhabited during the early christian era (4th to 6th century AD). On a later stage the caves and the monastery formed parts of a bigger monk palace.

The Aladzha monastery in modern times serves as a museum and tourist attraction. In 1912 it was declared a national antiquity and in 1957 as an architectural monument of culture of national value.

A great escape from the fast paced atmosphere in the Varna centre, the Aladzha monastery offers an alternative experience to most museums as well as an easily accessible location with its own parking and public transport stations nearby. If you wish to visit the Aladzha monastery you can take advantage of My Rent a Car and visit the park by getting a car of your choosing anywhere from Varna Airport, Varna Centre, Golden Sands, St. St. Constantine and Helena, Sunny day or other points within Varna.

The Sea Garden, or formally the Seaside Park is Varna’s biggest, oldest and most famous park, also a proud owner of the title: ‘’Largest landscaped park in the Balkans’’.Its vast size makes it possible for visitors to enter it by foot, personal vehicles, rent-a-car, taxi etc. There are parking spaces for your rented car in Varna located at each entrance. There is a small seaside road where you can enjoy the breeze in a convertible or lowered windows with your rented vehicle provided by My Rent a Car. Situated along the coast of the Black Sea,the Sea Garden is a vital tourist attraction and a national monument. 

The individual mostly credited with having designed the garden’s modern look is Anton Novák from Czechia, who had specialised at the Schönbrunn and Belvedere palaces in. His fellow countryman Karel Škorpil invited Novak to work in Varna and arrived in 1985. 

During his tenure in Varna Novák managed to do a lot of changes to the Sea garden itself: he made tremendous rearrangements  to the garden and planted species of plants from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Over time the garden grew to an impressive size of 90,000 m² in 1905. A few fountains were added in the period 1912–1913, as well as partial electrification of the lighting. The central alley was enhanced with monuments of prominent Bulgarians by a special committee. The seaside casino was built in the 1930s and acquired its modern appearance after a partial restoration in 2020.

The 1930s saw the planting of species from the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic and France. The garden had a southern expansion to reach the house of the Italian consul which is nowadays the Varna Naval Museum. The park reached its current borders in the 1950s. The architect Georgi Popov designed the central entrance creating a walkway plaza and tall columns. 

The Pantheon of the Perished in the Fight Against Fascism was erected in 1961. An Alley of Cosmonauts was also created in the 1960s. The special guest that planted the inaugural plant was the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. He planted a silver fir on the 26th of May, 1961 in front of a large group of people. The Observatory and Planetarium opened gates in 1968 seven years after the Varna Zoo which opened doors in 1961. The dolphinarium was erected in 1984. Recently, the Exotic Zoo terrarium was added, and plans for expansion of the Natural History Museum and the Aquarium were announced. 

The site where today the Sea Garden stands was an open piece of land outside of the city walls. A small garden was created on the orders of the city’s Ottoman mayor in 1862 and after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, the then mayor Mihail Koloni proposed the creation of a city garden and a seaside park in 1881.

If you are a fan of history you should definitely visit the Retro Museum in Varna. It is a unique establishment for the Varna region and Bulgaria. It was opened on the 1st of May 2015. The exhibits cover a very specific era in Bulgarian history when the communist party was ruling the state in the period after World War II – 1944-1989. 

Various items can be seen including artifacts such as cosmetics, household items, cigarettes. 

There is a collection of wax figures of famous personalities during that period such as Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Bulgarian president Todor Zhivkov, singers and entertainers like Todor Kolev, Georgi Partsalec, Emil Dimitrov and others. An array of over 50 cars from the eastern block such as “Lada”, ”Volga”, “Moskvich”, “Wartburg”. “Trabant”, etc. The official car of the Politburo of the Communist Party, the “Chaika GAZ-13” is also on display as the crown jewel of luxury automobiles from that era. 

One of the best ways to combine shopping and sightseeing is by using our affordable rental vehicles.

The Museum is situated on the parking area level in the Grand mall Varna which has public transport all around and a multistory parking garage. And although you can’t really rent a car such as the ones described above you can easily rent a car in Varna through My Rent a Car with a pick up point from Varna Airport, Varna Centre, Golden Sands, St. St. Constantine and Helena, Sunny day or other points within Varna.