What is the climate like on the southern coast — and how quickly can I reach a ski resort?

Bulgaria has five climate zones; the coast around Burgas belongs to the maritime Black Sea zone with a Mediterranean touch: hot, dry summers, mild winters and around 2,200 hours of sunshine a year — the sea warms up to 27 °C in August. Winter is never far away either: from Burgas it is about 304 km to Pamporovo in the Rhodopes (roughly 3.5 hours by car), about 359 km to Borovets in the Rila Mountains (around 3 hours 45 minutes) and about 391 km to Bansko in the Pirin (a good 4 hours). Beach summers and ski weekends combine easily — more on the destinations in our guide.