The stone forest is just a few miles west of Varna. There’s a number of theories as to how it was formed (it is not a petrified forest), but the prevailing theory, and the one that makes the most sense to me, is that the area used to be a huge cave that eroded around the stalactites and stalagmites of the cave. The whole area around the immediate area is sand, but surrounding that is forest.

More photos in my Stone Forest, Bulgaria Flickr set.

While exploring Varna, we decided to drive north a bit and see the “famous” Golden Sands…. Turns out it’s basically a resort. The beach is probably nice though. A bit further north we found a very nice cliff overlook of the beach. On the way back, we stumbled across the Aladzha Monastery. It’s a 13-14th century monastery carved directly into the side of a mountain face.

More pictures in my Aladzha Monastery Flickr set.

After Sofia we headed to Varna, which is on the Black Sea coast. We were a bit early for the town and the weather was dreary (drizzling rain, grey clouds and not much sun). It looked like it had potential to be a really nice town in the summer, but at the time of our visit, it wasn’t great. Many things were closed for renovations as well. Maybe some other time I’ll go back nearer summer. I got some good pictures none-the-less, though they tend to reflect the mood and weather we saw.

More photos in my Varna, Bulgaria Flickr Set.