Burgas may not be Bulgaria‘s capital, but Eurovision Song Contest fans travelling to the Black Sea city in May 2027 will have several ways of getting there. The city has its own international airport, direct railway connections with Sofia and Plovdiv, long-distance buses and good road links to the rest of Bulgaria and neighbouring Turkey.
For international visitors, flying will generally be the simplest option. But those planning to combine Eurovision with a wider Bulgarian or Balkan trip may find that travelling by train or bus offers a more interesting way of reaching the contest.
By plane: Burgas has its own international airport
The most straightforward way to reach the Eurovision host city is to fly to Burgas Airport (BOJ). The airport is located just north of the city, near the Sarafovo district, and is the principal air gateway to Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast.
Burgas Airport is heavily seasonal, with its network expanding dramatically for the summer tourist season. In 2025, the airport handled 1.8 million passengers, with 51 airlines operating flights to 67 destinations. Its five largest international markets were Poland, the United Kingdom, Czechia, Germany, and Israel.
The 2026 summer programme is even more extensive. Fraport, which operates the airport, says passengers have access to more than 70 direct destinations. The programme includes major European cities such as London, Dublin, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk, Poznań, Berlin, and Rome.
For Eurovision visitors, the timing is particularly useful. Although May is still before the peak of the Black Sea holiday season, the airport’s seasonal network is already being built up from the beginning and middle of May.
The 2026 programme provides an indication of what could be possible in 2027. Ryanair, for example, restarted routes to Dublin, Kraków, Warsaw, and London in May, while flights to Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Kaunas, Gdańsk and Poznań returned in June. Wizz Air also resumed several routes in May and June, while easyJet’s summer programme included Manchester, Berlin, and London Gatwick.
There is even a direct Lille to Burgas service in the 2026 summer programme, operated by Volotea from 27 May. That route is scheduled to begin after the Eurovision week, however, so Belgian visitors should not assume that it will be available for the contest itself.
The exact network for May 2027 will only become clear as airlines publish their schedules. Eurovision should nevertheless be a particularly attractive event for airlines serving Burgas because it will generate international demand immediately before the main summer holiday season.
The airport itself has also just undergone a major upgrade. Its runway was fully reconstructed in a project costing more than €60 million, with the refurbished runway officially inaugurated in April 2026.
Once in Burgas, visitors are only a relatively short journey from the city centre. This makes flying directly to BOJ considerably more convenient than using Sofia Airport and continuing to the coast.
By train: a slower but scenic alternative
Burgas is connected to Bulgaria’s railway network and has a central railway station next to the South Bus Station. For travellers already visiting Bulgaria, the train can be an – adventurous – alternative to flying.
The principal route to Burgas runs through Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Yambol, and Karnobat before reaching the Black Sea.
There are direct trains from Sofia to Burgas, including daytime and overnight services. Current 2026 services illustrate the journey time: one daytime fast train is scheduled to take about seven hours, while the overnight service leaves Sofia at 22:50 and arrives in Burgas at 05:49. Other daytime services are faster, taking around six hours (or more).
The railway timetable also maintains services between Plovdiv and Burgas, making the city particularly easy to combine with a visit to Bulgaria’s second city. BDŽ‘s 2026 timetable includes the Plovdiv–Stara Zagora–Yambol–Burgas corridor, while the railway operator has also retained accelerated seasonal trains between Sofia and Bulgaria’s major Black Sea cities.
For a Eurovision trip, that opens up an attractive itinerary: fly into Sofia, spend a few days in the capital, continue by train to Plovdiv and then travel onwards to Burgas.
The train is unlikely to be the fastest option for someone simply trying to get from western Europe to Eurovision. But for visitors who enjoy slow travel, it provides a way to turn the journey itself into part of the holiday.
Trains in Bulgaria can be, let’s say, rustic. They surely were when Danny and I visited in 2017. But that’s a decade ago. Just go on YouTube for reviews and reportages.
By bus: particularly useful from neighbouring countries
Long-distance buses provide another practical way into Burgas. The city’s South Bus Station is immediately beside the railway station, making it easy to transfer between the two forms of public transport.
Domestic buses connect Burgas with Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and other Bulgarian cities. For some journeys, buses can be faster or more frequent than trains, particularly where the railway network is relatively slow.
The Varna–Burgas connection is a particularly useful example. The two major Bulgarian Black Sea cities are only around 130 kilometres apart, and bus travel is generally more straightforward than travelling between them by rail.
For visitors arriving from Turkey, buses are also worth considering.
From Istanbul: an attractive Eurovision combination
Burgas is approximately 330 kilometres from Istanbul, making Turkey’s largest city one of the most interesting international gateways to Eurovision 2027.
For travellers who want to combine Eurovision with Istanbul, an overland journey by bus can make considerable sense.
Rather than flying from Istanbul to Sofia and then travelling back eastwards to the Black Sea, visitors can travel north-west from Istanbul through European Turkey and across the Bulgarian border towards Burgas.
That also makes Burgas an interesting stop on a wider Balkan itinerary: Istanbul–Burgas–Plovdiv–Sofia, for example, would combine one of Europe’s largest cities with Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, historic Plovdiv and the capital.
There are international railway connections between Turkey and Bulgaria, but the train is not necessarily the simplest way to reach Burgas from Istanbul. For most travellers, the direct road route is likely to be more convenient.
By car: good for exploring the coast
Driving to Burgas is another option, particularly for visitors planning to explore more of Bulgaria rather than staying in the Eurovision host city.
The road distance from Sofia is around 360 kilometres, while Plovdiv is approximately 255 kilometres away. Istanbul is about 330 kilometres from Burgas.
From Sofia, the main road route heads east and south via Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Yambol before reaching Burgas.
A car becomes particularly useful once visitors start exploring beyond the city. Burgas is a convenient base for excursions along the southern Black Sea coast, including destinations such as Sozopol and Nessebar, as well as the Strandzha area south of the city.
For a trip centred entirely on Eurovision, however, renting a car is unlikely to be necessary. Burgas itself is relatively compact, and the railway and bus stations are centrally located. A car makes more sense for visitors who are turning Eurovision into a wider Bulgarian road trip.
By boat: not a practical way of arriving
Despite being a major port, Burgas is not currently a conventional international passenger-ferry destination.
There are no regular international ferry services comparable with those found at ports such as Bari, Barcelona or Piraeus (Athens) that would make travelling to Eurovision by sea a realistic alternative.
The port is important to the city’s economy, but principally for commercial traffic. Visitors can, however, take boats for excursions once they are in Burgas, including trips to St Anastasia Island.
In other words, fly, take the train, catch a bus or drive to Burgas, and save the boat for exploring the coast.
The easiest routes for Eurovision visitors
For international Eurovision fans, the best route will depend largely on where they are starting.
Flying directly to Burgas Airport will be the obvious choice where a suitable flight is available. The airport’s rapidly expanding seasonal network means that a large number of European cities are potentially within a single flight of Burgas, although the precise May 2027 timetable remains to be announced.
For travellers who want to see more of Bulgaria, Sofia–Plovdiv–Burgas by train is perhaps the most attractive option. It avoids domestic flights and connects three of the country’s most important cities.
Those coming from Turkey could consider Istanbul–Burgas by bus, while visitors already on Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coast can travel south from Varna by road.
And for those planning a longer Balkan adventure, driving allows Burgas to be combined with the coast, Strandzha, Plovdiv, Sofia and potentially Istanbul.
The most important thing for Eurovision visitors is that Burgas is not an isolated resort at the end of a transport network. It is a major Bulgarian port and transport centre with air, rail and road connections to the rest of the country and beyond.
That means the journey to Bulgaria’s first Eurovision host city can be part of the experience itself – whether that means stepping off a plane at the Black Sea, watching the Bulgarian countryside roll past a train window, crossing the Balkans by bus or arriving by road from Istanbul.