Aksakovo municipality: Stone Forest edge, villages and plateau

Aksakovo (Аксаково) is the municipality wrapped around Varna’s north-western edge: a young town of about 6,900 people, 21 villages mostly on the Frangen plateau, the Stone Forest in one corner and Varna Airport partly on its land. If you searched for “Aksakovo Bulgaria”, most visitors know it only from the road to the Stone Forest or the airport bus. The municipality’s own tourism portal points to more: a 19th-century monastery with a spring, old village churches, a small fishing museum, birdwatching woods and a winery near the sea (Visit Aksakovo). None of it is a big-ticket sight, but it makes an easy half day from Varna.

Where is Aksakovo?

The municipality covers 460.5 km² in the north-east of Varna Province. Varna lies to the south, Beloslav and Devnya to the south-west, Suvorovo to the west, Valchi Dol to the north-west, and Dobrich Province and the Black Sea to the north and north-east. Most of it is the Frangen plateau, flat-topped with steep edges; its highest point, Komanlaka (356 m), rises 1.6 km west of the village of Vaglen. The Batova river drains the east towards the sea (Wikipedia (BG)).

Aksakovo town sits on a gentle slope at the foot of the plateau, tilted towards Varna Lake, about 10 km north-west of central Varna. Until 1934 it was called Adzhemler; it was renamed after the Russian public figure Ivan Aksakov and became a town only in 2004 (Wikipedia (BG)). Neighbouring Ignatievo, named after the Russian diplomat Nikolay Ignatiev, became the municipality’s second town in 2011 (Wikipedia (BG)).

The Stone Forest, in one paragraph

The best-known sight is the Stone Forest (Pobiti Kamani), in the south-western corner on the land of Slanchevo. The municipality describes limestone columns scattered over about 70 km² in 14 groups, protected since 1937, with the Centre-South group the most visited; more than ten theories try to explain how they formed (Aksakovo Municipality). For hours, tickets and directions see our page on the Stone Forest (Pobiti Kamani). Slanchevo itself has an Ascension church consecrated in 1899, and local history holds that one of the crusader detachments of 1444 camped on its land (Wikipedia (BG)).

Churches and a monastery with a spring

• St Marina monastery near Botevo is the most atmospheric stop. It grew up in the mid-19th century around a spring believed to heal; in 1844 a chapel and two bathhouses were built. The monastery was abandoned after 1944 and has since been restored, with rooms for pilgrims, and the traditional fair on Marinden has been revived (Visit Aksakovo). The 2025 municipal calendar lists a St Marina folk festival in Botevo on 17 July (Visit Aksakovo).
• Holy Trinity, Ignatievo was built in 1890 entirely from villagers’ donations; archimandrite Iliya Dikov served here in 1902 and is buried in the yard. The portal calls it one of the most beautiful churches in the municipality and says it is open every day from 10:00 to 12:00 (Visit Aksakovo).
• Dormition church, Aksakovo (29 Veliko Dimitrov St) was built by settlers from Aegean Thrace; its oldest icons are on an iconostasis of 1900, with altar carving from Oreshak in the Troyan school (Visit Aksakovo).
• St Nicholas, Lyuben Karavelovo dates from 1880; half-ruined for years, it was restored and reconsecrated in April 2009 (Visit Aksakovo).

Plateau villages, woods and birds

The Batova area is a forest that shelters species from Bulgaria’s Red Book, with several rest huts; every year it hosts folk singing and dancing gatherings, and the municipality calls it a favourite of ornithologists (Visit Aksakovo). It lies inside the Batova Natura 2000 site, 38,149.5 ha covering the Batova valley and most of the Frangen plateau down to the coast between Albena and Golden Sands. 184 bird species have been recorded, and the Via Pontica flyway carries north-eastern Bulgaria’s densest stream of migrating storks and pelicans over the valley (Wikipedia (BG)). Spring and autumn migration are the times to bring binoculars.

Kichevo, at 250–333 m on the plateau, takes its name from the bushy (“kichesti”) poplars around its seven fountains. Its localities Beklemeto, Kolokocha and Gyul Punar have gazebos where walkers stop, and the village feast is on St George’s Day, 6 May (Wikipedia (BG)). The municipality also mentions large reservoirs near Lyuben Karavelovo, Zasmyano, Botevo, Krumovo and Osenovo, part of Golden Sands Nature Park, and 4 km of beach on its short stretch of coast (Aksakovo Municipality).

A fishing museum and a winery

In General Kantardzhievo, about 30 km north-east of Varna among vineyards, the community centre opened the Interactive museum “Fisheries and Blue Growth” in March 2024. Two halls with 13 interactive points cover Black Sea fishing, protected areas and the EU blue-growth strategy, with a virtual narrator; it is open Monday to Friday, 9:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:00 (museum site). A smaller interactive information table is in the community centre in Botevo (Visit Aksakovo). The village also has views to Kranevo and the sea on clear days (Wikipedia (BG)).

Varna Winery, about 2 km from the coast, has made wine since 2008 from varieties such as Chardonnay, Varnenski Misket and Pinot Noir; tastings and tours need booking a day in advance (Visit Aksakovo).

Local events

Village fairs fill the calendar: Kichevo on 6 May, Dobrogled on 15 May, General Kantardzhievo on 2 June (or the next Saturday), Botevo’s St Marina festival in July, and the Aksakovo town day at the end of August (Visit Aksakovo; Wikipedia (BG); Wikipedia (BG)). Dates move a little each year, so check the municipal calendar.

How do you get there from Varna?

• Bus 409: the city line starts in Aksakovo town and runs via Varna Airport, the bus station and the Cathedral to St Constantine and Golden Sands. On the Varna Traffic timetable a bus takes about 11 minutes from Aksakovo to the airport and roughly half an hour to the Cathedral. The municipality’s timetable for the full Aksakovo–Varna–Golden Sands route is marked as running daily from 15 May to 30 October (Aksakovo Municipality). Arriving by air? See our Varna Airport guide.
• Suburban buses connect Varna with most villages; the municipality posts the approved timetables as downloads on the same transport page.
• Car: by road (OSRM) from central Varna, Aksakovo is about 10.5 km, Ignatievo 14.5 km, Kichevo about 12 km, General Kantardzhievo 25 km and the St Marina monastery near Botevo about 37 km (around 40 minutes).

A simple loop: Stone Forest in the morning, lunch in Aksakovo or Ignatievo, then up onto the plateau to Kichevo or out to Botevo’s monastery and back to Varna.