The main attraction in Nessebar is the pretty old town, connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus and full of Byzantine churches in varying states of decay. In summer the crowds can be a little overbearing, but the cobbled streets are sufficiently charming to make a visit worth your while.

Basking on the Black Sea coast is Varna, Bulgaria’s cosmopolitan third city. It’s a pleasant place to explore, with charming Baroque architecture and some interesting Roman remains, and it’s also easy to take a day trip out to one of the nearby beach resorts.

Founded by Catherine the Great in 1794, the sunny port of Odesa has a rich and storied history as a cosmopolitan playground for Russian high society, reflected in the city’s gloriously faded neoclassical architecture. Famous sights include the Potemkin Steps, so called after featuring in the classic 1925 film ‘Battleship Potemkin’.

Sochi’s sub-tropical climate and spectacular setting, where the Caucasus mountains meet the Black Sea coast, mean that this has long been a popular summer beach destination, which made it all the more surprising when the city was chosen as the venue for the Winter Olympics in 2014!

The balmy Black Sea port of Batumi is Georgia’s most popular beach resort, and a great introduction to this intriguing country. Significant investment over the last few years has resulted in a glut of eye-catching new buildings, along with a delightfully spruced-up seafront boulevard.

The bustling Black Sea port of Trabzon has a few interesting sights of its own, such as the Aya Sofya mosque (originally a church, like its namesake in Istanbul), but if you’re here it’s probably to visit the remarkable Sumela Monastery, which clings to a sheer mountainside just south of the city.

Samsun occupies an important place in modern Turkish history, since it was here that Kemal Ataturk stepped ashore in 1919 and launched the Turkish War of Independence. The city is a little short on sights, but nearby attractions include Amasya, birthplace of the Greek geographer Strabo.