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  If you want to escape the heat in an alternative way, take the chance to boost your adrenaline by bungee jumping, paragliding and rock-climbing.

  A good place to start bungee jumping is with club Vertikalen Svyat . The club offers a wide selection of jumping spots, including the bridges at Bunovo, Klisura, Rozino, Dolno Kamartsi, Koprivshtitsa, Vitinya, and at the Devetashka Peshtera and Prohodna Peshtera caves. Prices are between 25 and 50 leva, with the most expensive being from the Vitinya bridge, which at 115m is the highest bridge in Bulgaria.

  The club offers various discounts. For example, if you would like to take the plunge with a second jump on the same day, the discount is 50 per cent. Students get 10 per cent discounts. If you are a part of an organised group of five or more people, 20 per cent is cut from the entire price.

  Jazz represents a merging of different people and cultures. The phenomenon spread across America and Europe merging with traditional music creating the basis for blues and ragtime from which jazz evolved. And now, the music genre that originated in the plantation fields of deep southern America, is a form of music celebrated globally. Bansko in Bulgaria is no exception; the town celebrates its culture and people with jazz at the annual International Jazz Festival held at the beginning of August (7th - 15th).

  At present Bansko is probably better know as a good value ski destination and for its booming property market with investors pouring into the area, however they will have to get in line this August as the International Jazz Festival in Bansko is one of the biggest and most prestigious musical events in Bulgaria, and is growing in popularity each year.

  You can hear spring before you can see it. The love songs of birds lend life to the plane tree forest before the first buds have appeared. The trees’ knotted branches and spotted trunks look ancient and wise. Nakedness befits them. As does their imposing size. These sycamores are older than 300 years, spreading on 11 hectares near the village of Gorna Breznitsa, a short detour from the main road from Sofia to our destination – Sandanski.
My initial, though short-lived, response to Sandanski is one of disappointment. My expectations trick me. Somehow I’ve layered my childhood impressions of the unique architecture of nearby Melnik upon memories of quaint spa towns and postcard images of Mediterranean towns in neighbouring Greece. The result was a fiction of a tranquil, optimistic, picturesque little town nestled at the foot of Pirin mountain, a restful respite that befits a spa capital.

  In reality, Sandanski is rather large. Development of the town clearly picked up during the second half of the 20th century. Large apartment buildings – greyish concrete oversized matchboxes that are a product of communist utilitarian architecture – scar the city’s outer edges. More recently, a new surge of development is transforming the town’s landscape, with hotels and holiday villages springing up seemingly overnight. Last year, the local registry reported a record-breaking number of 4120 sale transactions accounting for 126.7 million leva. This amount is based on the official tax evaluation, though estate agents claim the market value is about triple that amount. Foreigners show the greatest interest, especially Russians, Greeks, Irish and Macedonians. So there must be something drawing people here, other than the whispers of red-light tourism that tainted the city’s reputation in recent years. The secret, we learn, is in the region’s natural uniqueness.
Located at 220 to 240m above sea level, Sandanski is the warmest Bulgarian town year-round. There are more than 2450 hours of sunlight annually. The air is exceptionally clean with a low relative humidity of 66 per cent, and an average temperature of about 15°C. There are more than 80 mineral water springs, with temperatures that range from 42 to 81°C. This confluence of conditions explains why the first settlement around the springs took place 2000 years BCE.

  Every Bulgarian has heard of Perperikon. This incredible historical monument is located in the Eastern Rhodopes, known as a cradle of megalithic culture. The region is a unique combination of historical monuments from antiquity to nowadays, unique nature phenomena, immense lakes, pictorial rivers. Bulgarian scholars have announced that they shall try to defend the hypothesis that the rock sanctuaries in the Eastern Rhodopes are more ancient than the Egyptian pyramids. Revealing the mysteries of this mountain region becomes more and more attractive for tourists. And the Thracian miracle Perperikon is still a free tourist attraction.

  The project named “The Road of Gods, the Road of Gold, and the Way of People” is financed by a program of PHARE, namely “Development of the Bulgarian Cultural Tourism”. The project amounts to 131 690 Euros. It is managed in partnership of the municipalities of Kardzhali and Ardino. The goal of this project is to contribute to the development of Eastern Rhodopes as a tourist destination, through making and promoting tourist products based on the archeological and nature wealth of the region, as well as on the regeneration of the old trade roads. The project includes Perperikon, Diavolski Most (Devil’s Bridge), the museum in Ardino, a route through the old road of camels, the river valley of Arda, various attractions of Kardzhali dam lake, etc. The destination is being advertised on the national and international market, through full range of printed advertising materials, a video clip and a film, a CD, and a website.

  Holiday estates’ market in Bulgaria has just started developing. According to some estimates, prices are expected to go down because of surplus offering. However, foreign investors think that our country’s market of Holiday estates will continue developing in the following several years. They say that the recently discussed over saturation of market is not likely to take place.

  Bulgaria is compared to Spain in terms of real estates market development, as a tourist destination, and in terms of its turning into a golf destination.

  Holiday estates market in Bulgaria has just started opening towards the other European countries. Our country meets all requirements for tourism development, such as favorable nature and experienced professionals. In spite of that, the sector has some basic problems that are to be overcome: improvement of infrastructure, bureaucracy, etc. The country and businessmen have to constantly take into consideration the tourist’ demands, since the market is constantly changing – say contractors.

   The first extreme sports settlement is under construction in Sopot. It is located in proximity of the first station of the “Nezabravka” ski-lift, only three kilometers away from the exit leading from Sopot to Sofia. Here the first rope city for adults is already complete. At some 100 meters from the city an artificial wall for climbing is being constructed, from whose tower one could come down through a rope line of the “trolley” type. The finish line of the first professional mountain-bike track is just nearby. The track descends for 1380 meters starting almost from the very ridge of Stara Planina.

  At the moment mountain-board equipment is being delivered, the equipment being the same as the one for skate-board, only that the board is actually customized for mountain terrain.

  In case you need adrenaline, don’t hesitate and head for Sopot. A major center of the paraplanerism for several years, soon the city promises to become one of places most visited by extreme emotions.

   “Sveti Kirik and Julita” island – one of the most beautiful places of the whole Black Sea – will soon attract major investor interest and become a tourist attraction. The Municipal Director Lyubomir Panteleev has approved the new status and has sent his official opinion to the Ministry of Defense. From two years on, the local Municipality has been negotiating for the island with the military, since the naval station based there is not active. “In our opinion, a territorial organization project for the whole area is to be prepared firstly, following an international tender” said the Mayor of the Black Sea Municipality Veska Karamanova.

  The project will be offered for public discussion. The locals will decide which project is most appropriate for the territory and the town. After that, the Municipality will search for a major investor for the construction of a tourist complex. This will be done through tenders.

  The Council of Ministers has requested the legal opinion of the Municipal Administration, in order for the property – which is a public state property - to be delivered and managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Urban Planning.

  Not later than one month from the date of the estate submission, the Minister of Regional Development is to announce an international competition for the development of volumetric-structural surveys. This is to be done in compliance with the Law on Public Orders, and in coordination with the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Culture, and the Management of Sozopol Municipality. Then, the borders of the military base are to be determined, as well as its statute by under the Sea Spaces Law.

   New ski projects are launched in Samokov region, while “Super Borovets” awaits its start. Hristo Kovachki is the new big investor in the region. Companies close to TIM Ltd also intend to invest in the region.

  Samokov and Borovets are quieter, in comparison to Bansko, where new ski, golf and spa projects for hundreds of million BGN are presented every single day. There are no huge billboards, advertising the next luxurious apartment complex and signs “Great Deals: Land Plots for Sale”. There are no long lines of tracks and piles of construction materials cannot be seen in Samokov. In fact the region looks calmer, compared to Bansko, regarding the investment activity.

  However this is soon about to be changed, as things around the “Super Borovets” started moving last month. The majority part of “Rila- Samokov 2004” will most probably be bought by the British investment fund “Equest”. The movements around “Super Borovets” project, made other investors force their projects in the region.

  Samokov Municipal got serious funding by deals with land plots and is now preparing for reconstruction and construction of new infrastructure. Hristo Kovachki is one of the biggest investors in the region (with several projects for ski zones). Several other companies are also eyeing the site, among which are companies from the TIM group, (mainly for summer tourism).

 Bulgarian State Agency for Tourism says that the number of tourists visiting spa resorts will increase by 75 per cent in the next three or four years. Investors have been working on spa tourism projects for a long time, Kapital daily reported. There are spa centre and hotel construction projects in, among other places, the well-known destinations Sandanski, Kyustendil and Apriltsi.

  The Bulgarian golf courses, together with the golf villa complexes and the vacation villages, built next to the golf properties have recently been in the very spotlight of all property investors in Bulgaria.

  At this point the region of Bansko and Razlog is the leading destination for the largest number of golf projects in Bulgaria. So far there are 7 golf projects planned for this particular mountain area. Some of the projects have already been put in implementation, while the others are still developing. Six of the golf courses are planned to be constructed in the municipality of Razlog, the seventh is in Bansko ski resort.

  "Pirin Golf Holidays Club”, the first vacation complex in Bulgaria is in process of construction now, on a total area of 1400 decares in Betolovoto site. Investor and executor of the project is the Bulgarian company “Balkanstroy”, owned by Kaloyanovi brothers and Yordan Kanazirev. The golf course is designed by Ian Woosman and its construction is almost completed. The terrain of the golf course is spread on 900 decares and has 18 holes. Near the golf course residential buildings and hotel complex with 700 apartments will be built. The complex should be finished by next year, but will partly start operating this summer. 130 Million BGN will be invested in the project.

  The residential site will offer five-star accommodation with a modern spa centre, swimming pools, tennis courts, volleyball playgrounds and horseback riding fields.

  The second project of Balkanstroy is “Pirin Golf and Country Club”, and is also estimated to cost 130 million BGN. It will be situated in the Tsarnako-Betlovoto site. The company received a first-class investment certificate for this project. The construction works on the complex are to begin soon. The project will be spread on 1000 decares, 780 decares of it will be taken by the golf course. Residential buildings, hotel part and sports & recreation centre will be situated close by. It is planned to be completed after 3 or 4 years.

  The third project of BalkanStroy developed in cooperation with Razlog Municipality – Kulinoto Ski & Golf in the Kulinoto site will offer both golf and ski facilities and sport opportunities. The planned investment will be 240 million BGN. Except for the golf course, the company will also construct a ski centre with 59 km of ski slopes and 20 km long lift system. Hotels and residential buildings with capacity of around 3000 beds will be situated nearby. For the last years the sites nearby Razlog attracted many domestic and foreign investors. The price of square meter of land reached 100 EUR. Several huge vacation complexes are currently being developed and more than 1000 decares in the regions, close to the golf courses are already sold.