Tourists vacationing in Sozopol are unlikely to be able to fully engage in shopping in the city. However, there is a unique opportunity to go on a multi-day excursion to Istanbul and there to make up for lost time. A shopping tour to Istanbul will more than compensate for the lack of fashionable stores in Sozopol.
There are several shopping centers, a network of supermarkets and a market. The stores are mostly oriented towards souvenir trade. Many small stores belong to private individuals, so they have very polite sellers and have everything a tourist needs.
The main symbols of Bulgaria are rose and lavender, from which cosmetic and hygienic products are made: creams, soaps, shampoos, gels, body milk, lip glosses, rose oil in glass tubes.
Hostesses bring salt with spices — sharena salt or bilkov tea (i.e. herbal tea).
As a souvenir you can bring Bulgarian alcohol: wine, peach or mint liqueur, mastika — Bulgaria’s national pride — or rakia. Customs allow up to 2 liters of strong alcohol and up to 5 liters of low-alcohol beverages to be taken out of the country.
Wine and Bulgarian cosmetics are cheapest to buy at the wholesale market at the beginning of the isthmus from the New Town to the Old Town, on the left — a descent down, opposite the town hall with the clock. For souvenirs, it’s worth walking further along the street to the Old Town: near the amphitheater there are market rows. And, of course, the Old Town itself is full of shops and small stores. The central street of the Old Town — Apollonia — is lined entirely with shops. The farther you go, the cheaper the prices. Another street with souvenir shops — Ropotamo — is located in the New Town.
Sometimes you can buy local fruits right on the streets — people sell surplus from their own gardens. Often, local fruits are far tastier than those grown specifically for trade rather than for eating.
