{"id":449167,"date":"2026-05-19T09:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449167\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T09:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:43:14","slug":"eurovision-song-contest-2027-potential-host-cities-what-to-do-in-sofia-plovdiv-varna-and-burgas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449167\/","title":{"rendered":"Eurovision Song Contest 2027 potential host cities: What to do in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bulgarians might still be celebrating their Eurovision win<\/a> from the weekend \u2013 we\u2019re personally big fans of the bus stop displays showing Bangaranga<\/a> \u2013 but work has already begun on getting ready to host the 71st edition of the contest.<\/p>\n

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Aside from the capital, Sofia, three major cities are throwing their hats into the ring to succeed Vienna: Plovdiv, Burgas and Varna.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe capital and the opportunities Sofia offers are unquestionably leading,\u201d Minister of Culture Evtim Miloshev said on Bulgarian National Television<\/a>. \u201cBut what happened on Sunday, with the three big cities, Burgas, Plovdiv and Varna, making a serious and ambitious statement of interest, is a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, capitals have typically been the host of the competition, but with recent editions held in places like Rotterdam, Turin, Liverpool and Malm\u00f6, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising if Bulgaria chose to put the spotlight on another destination.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s our guide to the potential host cities, each of which is worth visiting well before Eurovision comes to town in 2027.<\/p>\n

Sofia<\/p>\n

Known as Serdica during antiquity, Sofia was once a major Roman city within the region. You can discover this history by visiting its numerous ruins, many of which you can see while passing through Serdica Metro Station.<\/p>\n

In more modern times, Sofia has become a real street art hub, with more than 100 huge murals alongside innumerable smaller pieces on practically every corner. Highlights include Bozko\u2019s modern interpretation of the St. George legend, and Inner Flame from 140 Ideas, which is an homage to the city\u2019s firefighters.<\/p>\n

As the city lies at the base of the Vitosha Mountain, it\u2019s also a great place to visit for skiers. In January and February, you can head here for night skiing under the floodlights.<\/p>\n

Plovdiv<\/p>\n

The oldest continuously occupied city in Europe, with evidence of settlements dating back to 6000 BC, Plovdiv is a must-visit for any history lover.<\/p>\n

The city was settled on and among seven hills, and at the top of one of these, Nebet Tepe, you can walk around the remains of the city walls and fortress. It\u2019s particularly popular at sunset<\/a>, and for good reason.<\/p>\n

My favourite sight, however, has to be the Roman theatre of Philippopolis. One of the best preserved ancient Roman theatres in the world, it\u2019s named for Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, who founded the city. Better still, it\u2019s still in use for its original purpose today, with room for up to 6,000 spectators.<\/p>\n

Varna<\/p>\n

Bulgaria\u2019s third largest city after Sofia and Plovdiv, Varna is located on the Bulgarian Riviera next to the Black Sea.<\/p>\n

A major seaside resort<\/a>, Bulgarians flock here in the summer to stretch out on its sandy shores.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the only reason to visit though, as Varna is also known for its archaeological history. There are some seriously impressive Roman ruins (are we sensing a theme here?), including the fourth largest baths in Europe.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most impressive site, however, is the Varna Necropolis, where the oldest processed gold in the world was discovered. Dating back to between 4600 BC and 4200 BC, you can see the treasures in the Varna Archaeological Museum.<\/p>\n

Burgas<\/p>\n

While Burgas is also found in the Bulgarian Riviera, the city is perhaps just as well known for its lakes as it is its beaches.<\/p>\n

Here, you\u2019ll find the country\u2019s largest lake \u2013 Lake Burgas \u2013 but you can also visit Lake Atanasovsko, whose waters have taken on a pink hue thanks to the algae that thrives here.<\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t be a Bulgarian city without a spot of history, and the UNESCO-listed Ancient City of Nessebar, which was originally a Thracian settlement, is just 30 kilometres outside of Burgas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bulgarians might still be celebrating their Eurovision win from the weekend \u2013 we\u2019re personally big fans of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[17667,146,90514,10570,85,46,125882],"class_list":["post-449167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-bulgaria","tag-entertainment","tag-eurovision-2026","tag-eurovision-song-contest","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sofia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}