Slânchev Bryag - called Sonnenstrand by the Germans and SUNNY BEACH by the Brits - is Bulgaria's largest, and least atmospheric, coastal resort. It's a vast, only partly shaded expanse of hotels interspersed with restaurants, snack bars and other places to spend money, and on (rare) rainy days its soullessness quickly becomes apparent. Its main drawback is sheer size: it's impossible to explore the resort's facilities without shuttling up and down the main strip by bus, and the anonymous gridiron-style layout of the place can be disorientating. While many of the resort's individual hotels (especially those favoured by Western package groups) have been tastefully refurbished, the general infrastructure - the roads, pavements and stretches of park - remain poorly cared for. Independent travellers would be better off staying in nearby Nesebâr, a perfectly handy base from which to make use of Sunny Beach's admittedly excellent eight-kilometre-long stretch of sand - which has received the coveted international Blue Flag award - and for taking advantage of some of the liveliest nightlife to be found on the Black Sea Coast.

Though Varna-Burgas buses pass through Sunny Beach, most people approach the resort from Burgas, from where there are bus services every twenty minutes. You'll be hard pushed to find accommodation in high season if you just turn up on spec, and it's best to make enquiries in advance: try the Zornitza (tel 0554/23022, fax 22593; US$9-18) or the Iglika (tel 0554/22759, fax 25806, inttrav@digicom.bg ; US$9-18). Otherwise, tourist offices in Burgas or Nesebâr should be able to help.