Gold ornaments more than six thousand years old await passengers a few streets from the terminal. The necropolis uncovered on the outskirts of Varna has yielded one of the oldest collections of worked gold known in the world, and this treasure gives the measure of the call: on this shore of the Black Sea, every era has left its layer, Thracian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian. History here begins before writing, and it is told on foot.

From the pier to the centre in a few minutes

The terminal is almost next door to the heart of the city, a rare privilege on the Black Sea. You leave the port area, walk along the first rows of trees, and about fifteen minutes on foot are enough to reach the Sea Garden or the shopping streets. The centre can then be explored without transportation: squares, early 20th-century façades and terraces follow one another in a compact area that is pleasant to wander. A few landmarks help you get your bearings: the city ranks among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, and its opera house, university and festivals make it today the maritime capital of Bulgaria.

The gold of Varna

The Archaeological Museum deserves the first visit. In its display cases shine the jewellery, sceptres and appliqués from the Chalcolithic necropolis, crafted between 4600 and 4200 BCE, long before the pyramids of Egypt. Around this collection, the rooms trace the past of ancient Odessos: Greek ceramics, Roman steles, medieval icons. You come out with the pleasant dizziness of someone who has just travelled very far back in time.

The baths and the cathedral

A few streets away, the Roman baths raise their brick arches in the middle of a quiet neighbourhood. Built in the 2nd century, they were among the largest in the Empire and remain the largest in the Balkans; panels help you picture the hot rooms, the pools and the comings and goings of the bathers of old. You can wander freely among the sections of wall, which in places reach the height of a multi-storey building. The contrast is striking with the Cathedral of the Dormition, completed in the 1880s, whose golden domes and painted interiors blend Byzantine and Russian influences. Between the two, the pedestrian Knyaz Boris I Boulevard lines up cafés, bookshops and boutiques: it's the favourite stroll of the city's residents, at any time of day.

The Sea Garden

Facing the open sea stretches the Sea Garden, Varna's oldest and largest park, about 85 hectares of shady paths perched above the beaches. Here you'll come across the Naval Museum and its historic equipment, an old-fashioned aquarium, well-kept flower beds and kiosks where chess players put the world to rights. Beneath the plane and chestnut trees, you hear the surf on one side and the fountains on the other; the shade makes summer afternoons very bearable. Stairs lead down to the sand: in summer, the beach cabins and terraces give this big seaside city the air of a resort, five minutes from the museums.

Port of call at a glance

At the end of the day, many cruise passengers come back through the park's paths, ice cream cone in hand, to watch the light fade over the bay. Varna leaves a double memory: the gleam of gold older than legends and the gentleness of a stroll above the Black Sea. You return on board thinking that the oldest ports of call are sometimes the ones that feel most alive.