Old Town Nesebar — Accommodation & Parking Guide

Old Nesebar is a peninsula about 850 m long and 350 m wide, joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. The town is more than 3,000 years old and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1983. If you are coming by car, you need to know two things: for most of the year you cannot drive into the Old Town freely, and you can only park in designated car parks. Below are the 2026 rules, the prices set by the municipal ordinance, and what to agree with your host if you are staying inside.

In Short (as of October 2026)

From 30 March to 15 November 2026 only cars with a pass may enter the Old Town. The entrances have camera-controlled barriers that read number plates.
Hotel and guesthouse guests may drive in only to check in and check out. The car must leave within one hour.
Municipal open-air car parks cost €1.50 per hour or €7.50 for 24 hours.
There is no parking on the streets of the Old Town. You may park only in the designated car parks.

Why Stay in the Old Town?

Staying inside means living within a UNESCO site: medieval churches, Revival-period houses and narrow cobbled lanes that run down to the sea. You are a short walk from the museum, the churches and the harbour before the day visitors arrive.

Types of Accommodation

The buildings in the reserve are small, so in the Old Town you will mostly find:

Guesthouses in restored old houses, with only a few rooms.
Apartments and studios in historic buildings, often with a kitchenette.
Small family hotels, some with a terrace and a sea view.

Prices change with the season, so compare them when you book. The municipality also charges a tourist tax per night. In 2026 it is €0.33 per night in 1- to 3-star and class "V" (В) places, €0.38 in 4-star and €0.61 in 5-star places.

Driving Into the Old Town

With Decision No. 625 of 12 March 2026 the Nesebar Municipal Council adopted the traffic plan for the 2026 summer season. For the Old Town it sets:

Restricted access from 30 March to 15 November. Only cars with a pass may enter.
Two checkpoints. Checkpoint 1 is on Kraybrezhna Street next to the "Sever – golyam" car park, and Checkpoint 2 is by "Portata" (the Gate). The barriers open automatically once the cameras read the number plate.
A speed limit of 20 km/h.
Deliveries to shops and restaurants from 07:30 to 12:00.
No parking on the streets. Park only in the designated car parks.

Under the municipality's Ordinance No. 1, driving in without a pass during this period carries a fine of €51.13 to €255.65. An annual pass costs €150 for traders and tenants of tourist businesses and is free for residents registered in the zone.

If You Are Staying in the Old Town

Tourists staying at accommodation in the Old Town get access only for the check-in itself. Contact the municipal call centre by phone or e-mail and show a booking or another document for the place where you will stay. The check-in must be finished within one hour, after which the car must leave the Old Town. The same applies when you check out. So:

When you book, ask your host where the car will stay for the whole visit. Many houses in the reserve have no parking of their own.
Send your number plate to your host in advance. The municipality takes the details at kpp@nesebar.bg. A 24-hour call centre on 0893 505 534 was announced by the municipality in May 2024; check that the number is still current.
Pack so that you can unload quickly, because you only have one hour.

Where to Park

For the 2026 season the municipality has designated these car parks in the Old and New Town:

Car park	Part of town	Who may use it
"Sever – golyam" (North, large)	Old Town, next to Checkpoint 1	Everyone. Tour coaches also stop here.
"Morska gara" (Sea Terminal)	Old Town	Everyone
"Sever – malak" (North, small) and Kraybrezhna Alley – South	Old Town	Old Town residents only
"Yahteno pristanishte" (Yacht Harbour)	At the start of the isthmus	Everyone, all year
"Vyaturna melnitsa" (Windmill)	New Town	Cars and coaches. Also the tow-away pound.
"Poshtata" (Post Office), "Kulturen tsentar" (underground), the underground and surface car parks at the Lyuben Karavelov school, three car parks in the Cherno More district	New Town	Everyone, all year

If the Old Town car parks are full, another option is the Yacht Harbour car park at the start of the isthmus, from where you can walk into the Old Town. In Sunny Beach the municipal car parks for 2026 are "Mlechen bar", "Stadiona – yug", "Kamelia", "Stadiona – tsentralen vhod", "Poliklinika" and "Tsentralna poshta".

Parking Prices in 2026

The prices are set by Article 138 of the municipality's Ordinance No. 11, in force from 1 January 2026:

Car in a municipal open-air car park: €1.50 per hour (for stays of up to 5 hours) or €7.50 for 24 hours.
Coach: €4.00 per hour or €20.00 for 24 hours.
Underground covered car park: €10.00 for 24 hours or €60.00 for a month.
Short-stay paid street zone: €1.00 per hour.

The paid street zones apply every day from 9:00 to 20:00 between 1 June and 30 September. From 1 October to 31 May they apply on weekdays from 8:00 to 17:00. In both periods you may park for up to 3 hours at a time. You pay with a ticket from the pay machine, placed behind the windscreen, by SMS to the number shown on the sign, or with the mobile app named on the sign. Electric cars park free in these zones.

Towing and the Car Pound

Wrongly parked cars are towed by municipal vehicles. The tow-away pound in Nesebar is the "Vyaturna melnitsa" (Windmill) car park in the New Town. The fees from 1 January 2026 are:

release of a towed car: €40.00;
release of a car before the tow truck has driven off: €20.00;
removal of a wheel clamp from a car: €20.00;
stay in the pound: €1.50 per hour.

Removing a clamp yourself carries a fine of €51.13 to €255.65. Parking, towing and passes are handled by the municipal unit for parking, towing and access control: Nesebar, 6 Struma Street, tel. 0554 42869.

Free Parking on Holidays

In recent years the municipality has made parking free over the main holidays. Over Christmas and New Year (24 December 2025 – 4 January 2026) the parking zones across the whole municipality were free. At Easter 2026 the "Severen golyam" car park, "Morska gara" and the Yacht Harbour car park were free. Before each holiday, check the announcements on nesebar.bg.

Getting Around Without a Car

The Old Town itself is easy to explore on foot. The DS Bus town buses (lines 1, 4 and 5) link Sunny Beach with Old Nesebar, and line 5 continues to Sveti Vlas. Fares from 1 July 2026 are €1.60 for Sunny Beach – Nesebar, €2.00 for Nesebar – Sveti Vlas and €4.50 for Nesebar – Burgas. In Burgas the buses arrive at the South bus station (Avtogara Yug). The timetable changes with the season, so check it on the operator's website.

When to Visit

July and August are the busiest months. For quieter streets, choose June or September. Remember, though, that restricted car access runs from late March to mid-November. The dates are set each year by a Municipal Council decision.

Sources

Checked in October 2026. Prices, dates and timetables change, so check the current decisions and the signs on site before you travel.