Burgas to Sunny Beach: Bus, Taxi & Transfer 2026

The simplest way from Burgas to Sunny Beach is the direct intercity bus from the South bus station (Avtogara Yug): it runs roughly once an hour through the day, takes about an hour and ten minutes along the coast, costs around 3 euro, and stops at Nessebar on the way, so you can jump off at the UNESCO old town or stay on to the resort. If you arrive late, travel as a group, or have heavy suitcases, a taxi (about 40 minutes) or a pre-booked transfer is the easier call.

That’s the whole trip in one paragraph. The one thing that catches people out in July is that the coast bus fills up mid-route, so where you board matters more than when. Sort that out before you set off and the 35 km up the coast is genuinely easy.

The direct bus from the South station

Every intercity bus to the resorts leaves from Avtogara Yug, the South bus station, on Sector 3. It sits right by the railway station in central Burgas, a short walk or one city-bus hop from the sea garden and the port, so if you have come in by train or spent a night in Burgas itself, you are already next to it. This is the bit worth knowing in advance: there’s no separate “resort express” and no booth to queue at for a reservation. You turn up, find the bay for Nessebar and Sunny Beach, and get on the next departure.

Two companies share the route - M-BUS and DS Bus - and between them they run all day, every day, at roughly half-hourly to hourly intervals. Don’t wait for one particular brand; they alternate, and the next bus to pull in is your bus whichever livery it wears. The line runs up the coast through Sarafovo, Pomorie, Aheloy, Ravda, Nessebar old town and finally Sunny Beach, which is the terminus. That string of stops is the reason the full run takes about an hour and ten minutes rather than the 40 minutes a car would need: it’s a local service that pauses at every coastal town, not a motorway shuttle.

Timetable, fare and how you pay

The first bus out of Burgas South leaves around 06:10 and the last around 22:05, which covers almost any arrival short of a midnight flight. As a rough guide to the pattern, M-BUS departs at 06:10, 06:50, 08:50, 09:30, 11:30, 12:10, 14:10, 14:50, 16:50, 17:30, 19:30 and 20:20, with DS Bus filling the gaps at 07:30, 08:10, 10:10, 10:50, 12:50, 13:30, 15:30, 16:10, 18:10, 18:50, 20:50 and 22:05. Treat those as the shape of the day rather than gospel: the timetable shifts with the season, and the dispatcher at the South station (the number is posted at the bay) will give you the live times if you want to be sure before an early start.

The fare is the best part. Burgas to Sunny Beach comes to about 3 euro (6 leva), and Burgas to Nessebar a little more at around 4 euro - small money either way. You pay the driver in cash as you board, so keep coins and small notes handy; there is no online ticket and no reservation to fumble with. Through 2026 you’ll see prices in both euro and leva during the changeover, so a rough conversion in your head (a bit under two leva to the euro) saves confusion at the door. One honest caveat on the fare: operators don’t publish a tariff online, so treat 3 euro as the going rate rather than a fixed number, and just have a five-euro note ready.

Here is the practical catch nobody warns you about. In July and August the bus fills as it goes, and by the time it reaches Ravda or Nessebar it can be standing-room only, which is miserable with luggage. If you are travelling heavy, board at Burgas South itself, where the bus starts empty and you can claim a seat and stow a bag, rather than trying to squeeze on at a mid-route stop. Off-season this is a non-issue - you’ll often have the bus half to yourself.

Hopping off at Nessebar on the way

Because Nessebar is the last stop before Sunny Beach, the same bus doubles as your ride to one of the Black Sea’s best day trips. The UNESCO-listed old town sits on a little island reached by a causeway, packed with medieval churches and wooden houses, and it is worth building an hour or two into the journey. Ask the driver for Nessebar and you’ll be dropped near the causeway; the old town is a flat walk across it. Our guide to Nessebar covers what to see once you are there and how long to give it.

You do not have to choose between the two, either. Sunny Beach and Nessebar are close neighbours, and a frequent local shuttle - look for the orange DiEs-line buses that stop all along the resort’s main street - links them every few minutes for about 1 euro, taking 15 to 20 minutes. That means you can base yourself in Sunny Beach for the beach and nightlife and pop over to the old town for dinner, or stay somewhere quieter and come in for the day. Buy that local ticket from the driver too.

Taxi and private transfer

The bus is unbeatable on price, but it is not always the right tool. A taxi from central Burgas to Sunny Beach takes roughly 40 minutes and skips the coastal stops entirely, which is worth a lot at the end of a long travel day. Fares aren’t fixed, so agree a price or insist on the meter before you set off - as a rough sense of scale it lands in the region of 25 to 35 euro, but confirm rather than assume, and use a marked, metered cab or an app like TaxiMe rather than anyone touting for a flat “tourist” rate.

For a late arrival, a family with children, or four people splitting the cost, a pre-booked private transfer is often the sensible middle ground. You fix the price before you travel, a driver meets you, and you go straight to the door of your hotel with the bags in the boot - no standing on a full bus, no haggling. Split between a group it frequently works out close to the taxi fare while removing all the guesswork, and it’s the option I would choose arriving after dark with tired kids.

So which should you take?

• Daytime, light bags, watching the budget: the direct bus from Burgas South, every time. Around 3 euro and an easy hour.
• Want to see Nessebar on the way: the same bus - hop off at the old town, then finish the trip later, or use the 1-euro local shuttle between the two.
• Late arrival, lots of luggage, or a group: a taxi or a pre-booked transfer straight to the hotel.
• Planning to explore the wider coast (Sozopol, the Burgas lakes, day trips): consider a hire car, which frees you from the timetable entirely.

Getting back to Burgas

The trip reverses on the same route. Buses leave Sunny Beach’s main bus station back towards Burgas across the same daytime span, calling at Nessebar and the coastal towns again, with the last departure in the evening - so if you’re heading to a flight or an onward train, don’t leave it to the very last bus. Confirm the final departure with the driver or the resort station on the day, especially in the shoulder season when the timetable thins out. If you’re flying home from Burgas airport, remember it sits at Sarafovo on the near side of the city, so an airport-bound transfer or taxi from the resort is often quicker than doubling back through the bus station - our Burgas airport transfer guide runs through the options from the terminal.

Once you’ve your bearings, our guides to getting around Bulgaria and the wider Black Sea coast fill in the rest of the region, and it is worth sorting a data eSIM for Bulgaria before you travel so you can check live bus times and call a transfer the moment you need one.