{"id":26495,"date":"2023-12-17T06:49:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T06:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mormonmediareviews.com\/?p=26495"},"modified":"2023-12-17T06:49:02","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T06:49:02","slug":"europes-grumpiest-country-thats-still-loved-by-tourists-for-beaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mormonmediareviews.com\/world-news\/europes-grumpiest-country-thats-still-loved-by-tourists-for-beaches\/","title":{"rendered":"Europes grumpiest country that\u2019s still loved by tourists for beaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Balkan state has been named Europe\u2019s \u201cgrumpiest country\u201d but that doesn\u2019t seem to have made it any less popular with tourists.<\/p>\n

Bulgaria, in southeast Europe, borders countries including Greece and Romania and is to the west of the Black Sea.<\/p>\n

It scored among the lowest in Europe for Eurostat\u2019s average rating of overall life satisfaction at 5.6 out of 10.<\/p>\n

But this hasn\u2019t stopped the country being much-loved among tourists, with the capital Sofia being a popular city-break spot.<\/p>\n

Sofia is a historic city on the Iskar River with ruins dating back to Roman times. There are lots of churches and mosques to explore as well as museums, galleries, museums and cafes.<\/p>\n

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The country is home to many UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the ancient city of Nessebar, Boyana Church, the Madara Rider and Thracian tombs.<\/p>\n

There are lots of timber-framed heritage villages and historic towns to explore, each with a mix of Ottoman mosques, Orthodox Churches and Roman ruins.<\/p>\n

Bulgaria is part of the Balkans, a mountain region which stretch across the south border and across the middle of the country.<\/p>\n

They are popular among skiers, hikers, climbers, cyclists and horse riders. There is even the chance tro spot bears, wolves and lynx on the trails.<\/p>\n

On the coast, there are many beaches to enjoy such as Balchik, Silistar, Kaliakra, Kavatsite, Irakli and Veleka. Many of them are sandy and have rocky headlands.<\/p>\n

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Traditional food that visitors must try are shopska salad (tomato, cucumber and feta), kavarma (a spicy, goulash-style pork stew), gyuvech (meat, pepper and aubergine) and banitsa (a circular cheesy pastry).<\/p>\n

On average, the country has highs in the summer of 28C and lows of 16C and highs of 3C in the winter and lows of -4C.<\/p>\n

There are flights to Bulgaria from Manchester, Birmingham, London and Liverpool. Flights to Sofia, Varna and Bourgas are around three-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n

Among other countries in Europe with low life satisfaction ratings are Montenegro, Germany and Greece.<\/p>\n

Those on the other end of the spectrum, with a high life satisfaction rating, include Switzerland, Austria and Finland.<\/p>\n