Why this ride
549 km from Varna to Varna, about 8 h 44 of riding. It goes by way of Ancient City of Nessebar, Madara Rider, back through Madara Rider and back through Ancient City of Nessebar. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Varna day out · Madara Rider
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 549 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 44
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Varna
Varna is Bulgaria's summer capital, a big, confident Black Sea city of three hundred thousand with a long beach, a grand seaside garden and a surprisingly deep past. In 1972, workers digging near the shore found a cemetery that has since become famous, the Varna Necropolis, which contained some of the oldest worked gold ever found, made around 4500 BC, long before the pharaohs. The treasures, which include tiny gold ornaments buried with the dead, are in the city's archaeological museum, and they show that a sophisticated society lived here thousands of years before Rome or Athens.
Read the complete Varna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Varna is where the day begins. Next is Ancient City of Nessebar.
2. Ancient City of Nessebar
Nessebar sits on a small rocky peninsula that sticks out into the Black Sea, joined to the mainland by a narrow causeway, and the whole of the old town is an open-air museum. Greek colonists from Megara founded it in the sixth century BC, calling it Mesembria, and it passed through Thracian, Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian and Ottoman hands. Its position, with a good harbour and a defensible rock, made it a valued port for two and a half thousand years. UNESCO listed the old town in 1983.
Read the complete Ancient City of Nessebar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ancient City of Nessebar comes up 50 km in. Next is Ancient City of Nessebar.
3. Ancient City of Nessebar
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient City of Nessebar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
99 km in you reach Ancient City of Nessebar. Next is Madara Rider.
4. Madara Rider
Above the village of Madara, on a vertical cliff about a hundred metres up, a horseman is carved into the rock, thrusting a spear at a lion that lies under his horse, while a dog runs behind. The Madara Rider is the only relief of its kind in Europe, made in the early eighth century by the first Bulgarian state, probably to celebrate a victory by Khan Tervel, and it is a rare relic of the pre-Christian era of the country. UNESCO listed it in 1979. Beside it are Greek inscriptions recording the deeds of Bulgarian khans, among the oldest written documents in the country.
Read the complete Madara Rider write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Madara Rider, about halfway.
5. Madara Rider
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Madara Rider write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Madara Rider sits at 199 km, about halfway. Next is back through Madara Rider.
6. back through Madara Rider
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Madara Rider write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Madara Rider comes up 248 km in. Next is back through Ancient City of Nessebar.
7. back through Ancient City of Nessebar
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient City of Nessebar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
298 km in you reach back through Ancient City of Nessebar. Next is back through Ancient City of Nessebar.
8. back through Ancient City of Nessebar
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient City of Nessebar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ancient City of Nessebar, late in the day. Next is Varna.
9. Varna
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Varna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 549 km.
Leg by leg
Varna to Ancient City of Nessebar
Varna → Ancient City of Nessebar is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ancient City of Nessebar to Madara Rider
Ancient City of Nessebar → Madara Rider is 115 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Madara Rider to back through Ancient City of Nessebar
back through Madara Rider → back through Ancient City of Nessebar is 115 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Ancient City of Nessebar to Varna
back through Ancient City of Nessebar → Varna is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Black Sea Cape Route · 130 km
- Burgas day out · Madara Rider · 328 km
- Ancient City of Nessebar and Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari · 517 km