Kraymorie

Worth a detour

Kraymorie is the southernmost quarter of Burgas, out past the lakes on the Sozopol road: a small beach, a boat harbour, houses and not much else. What makes it worth the twenty-minute bus ride is what surrounds it — Poda and the Foros ruins on one side, the Rosenets woods and Chengene Skele on the other, and no crowd on any of them.

Story

Background

The quarter sits on the neck of land between the Mandra outflow and the sea, which is precisely the strip the Romans fortified and the birds still use. Bus 17 from Burgas South station runs out here and passes the Poda nature centre, which is the reason most visitors are on it.

The beach itself is modest: golden sand, shallow and clean, quieter than anything in the city and without much in the way of facilities. That suits people who want a swim without a sunbed contract. The small boat harbour along the shore is working rather than ornamental.

What the quarter really provides is a base for three walks. North-west, across the main road, are the excavated remains of the Roman fort on the Foros peninsula and the Poda reserve behind it. South, along the coast, the ground rises into the first wooded ridge of Strandzha and becomes Rosenets park, with the beach at its foot looking across to St Anastasia island. And beyond that is the fishing village at Chengene Skele. None of this is far, none of it costs anything except Poda, and taken together it is a better day than most people get out of a car.