Seven kilometres beyond Staro Oryahovo, the highway veers eastwards, passing vineyards whose grapes are made into Dimyat wine at BYALA , a small town facing Cape Atanas. There are plenty of private rooms here, and a sprinkling of largely Bulgarian tourists, but it's something of a backwater nevertheless, and you're not likely to want to stay for long. South of this, the last wooded foothills of the Balkan range descend to meet a six-kilometre-long beach backed by the Luna, Prostor and Slântse campsites, where buses will halt on request before entering the small resort of OBZOR . Known to the Greeks as Heliopolis, or City of the Sun, the town's heyday came in the Roman period, when, under the name of Navlohos, it became a fortified trading settlement. The broken columns of the Temple of Jupiter can still be seen in the large park to the left of Obzor's main square, but its principal asset nowadays is the aforementioned beach to the north. Much more animated than Byala, Obzor is popular with Bulgarians and East Europeans, and is well served with family-run cafés and restaurants. Private rooms are usually available from a kvartirno byuro on the main street, but this may be closed outside the peak season.

Heading south, the road turns inland once more, ascending the ridge of a mountain that slopes down to Nos Emine , Bulgaria's stormiest cape. On the way you'll pass through Banya , a pleasant highland village presiding over a carpet of vineyards. From here a slow climb through dense forest leads to the Lovno Hanche , a popular roadside restaurant , after which the main road descends for a magnificent view of Nesebâr, the southern coastline and the distant Strandzha massif.