Burgas is the working heart of Bulgaria's southern Black Sea coast, a port city that has never quite decided whether it is industrial or seaside, and the answer is a little of both. The long Sea Garden, laid out in the late nineteenth century, runs along the cliff above the beach and is lined with statues, flowerbeds and cafes, and the pier at the end juts out into the bay like an invitation. The old railway station, with its fine early twentieth-century frontage, is a reminder of the city's role as a trading hub.
What sets Burgas apart is its lakes. Several shallow lagoons and salt pans lie right on the edge of the city, among them the Atanasovsko lake, whose pink salt pans glow in summer, and Vaya, the largest natural lake in Bulgaria. They lie on the Via Pontica, one of the main bird migration routes between Europe and Africa, and in spring and autumn tens of thousands of storks, pelicans, cranes and raptors pass through. If you ride out to the lakes in the early morning, you may see flamingos and avocets feeding in the shallows beside the road, a rather wonderful contrast to the chemical works in the background.
The best rides head along the coast. Heading north on the old road toward Pomorie, whose salt works and wine cellars are old traditions, you reach Nessebar, an ancient town on a rocky peninsula joined to the mainland by a narrow causeway. Its old town, with Byzantine churches and weathered wooden houses, is a World Heritage site, and it has been inhabited for more than three thousand years. South lies Sozopol, an equally old Greek colony, with narrow lanes of wooden houses above the water. The coastal roads are flat and curving, and can be busy with holidaymakers in July and August. Spring and autumn, with fewer people and mild weather, are better.
Fuel is easy in a city of nearly two hundred thousand, and the station network along the coast is dense. In Bulgaria, motorists and motorcyclists need an electronic vignette for the main roads, which is easy to buy online or at petrol stations, so check this before leaving. For food, look for fresh fried sprats, mussels, shopska salad and a glass of cold local white wine or rakia, and finish with a coffee in the shade.