Week 18 : Plan a trip in Bulgaria
Hello readers!
Today, I would like to talk about trip planning in Bulgaria. It may not be easy to find online information, get an idea of the best places to see and the timing to expect...
As I planned twice a 1 week trip in Bulgaria, I wanted to give you the example of what you could plan as well.
My advices:
/ Definitely, rent a car! It will be way cheaper than public transport. Keep in mind that the areas you want to visit may not be closed from the train station. Even if the taxi drive are quiet cheap, you don't want to pay 50€ every 2 days for a ride... Plus, it is way more convenient to take your rented car whenever you want instead of depending on the public transport squedules.
/ Be curious, enjoy every single moments and prefer going in the nature rather than cities! Bulgaria has A LOT to offer, believe me an take your hiking shoes to go straight to the mountains.
/ Try banitsa, this will become your new favourite food ;)
Trip 1: 9 days ; Sofia - Rila Monastery - Rila 7 lakes - Plovdiv - Shipka - Veliko Ternovo - Varna
For this trip, we where 3 (me, a friend and his girlfriend).
Accommodation: We booked in advance all the Airbnb and hostel in which we wanted to stay
Transport: We decided to travel by train, bus and taxi, as both are cheap in Bulgaria.
Day 1 (Saturday) : Sofia
/ Afternoon: Visit of Sofia
/ Evening: Ate in a nice and traditional restaurant
/ Night: Hotel in Sofia
My advice: We spent then the afternoon visiting Sofia by foot. Sofia is a quiet cultural city with nice spot to see. However, Half a day was enough to visit the main areas and understand the city. If you want to visit museums or are a party hard person, then you can take 2 days!
Day 2 (Sunday): Rila Mountains
/ This day, we wanted to go in the morning to Rila Monastery by bus. We missed the morning bus, so took a taxi to reach the place. We were 5 (Hekim and Ruhsar joined us on the meantime).
/ Night: Rila Monastery. You don't need to book it in advance! Just go there and search for the main office (next to the museum entrance into the monastery). You can ask for a room, around 20Lev /person.
My advice:
/ Nice to know: Rila Monastery close its doors at night around 9pm. Ask for the exact schedule when arriving, and try to be back on time :)
Day 3 (Monday): Rila Lacs
/ Morning: We took a bus that drope us in the nearest city. We than had to take a taxi for few km to arrive to Rila mountain, then take a telepheric (20 Lev pp) to reach the departure hiking way. If you have few days in front of you, you can hike without need to take the telepheric !
/ Afternoon: Hiking in Rila mountains (around 4 hours, taking our time).
/ Night: We slept in a Chalet up hill. It was a really nice place and the location is ideal.
My adivce:
/ Save some money by taking a dometory in the chalet as the duo rooms don't have anything special, and BRING YOUR OWN FOOD! The food is quiet expensive in the chalet, and not tasty at all (but if you are ok to eat a fishy taste chicken, then go for it ;) )
/ Nice to know: If the weather is clear, take some blankets from your room and go out at night to enjoy the stars show and the milky way.
Day 4 (Tuesday): From Rila lakes to Plovdiv
/ Morning: We took the telepheric to go down hill, then took a taxi to reach the nearest city. There, Ruhsar and Hekim tryied to hitchhike to Shipka. My 2 friends and me where struggling with finding the best way to reach Plovdiv, and finally decided to go there by taxi.
/ Afternoon: we arrived to our Airbnb and visited Plovdiv
/ Night: Airbnb
Day 5 (Wenesday): From Plovdiv to Shipka
/ Morning: Visit of Plovdiv
/ Afternoon: Train from Plovdiv to Kazanlak, then taxi (12Lev) from Kazanlak to Shipka
/ Night: Volunteer's house
Day 6 (Thursday): From Shipka to Veliko Ternovo
/ Morning and afternoon hiking to Bouzloudja (about 4 hours to go, and 2 hours to climb down).
/ Early evening: taxi to reach Kazanlak, then train from Kazanlak to Veliko Ternovo
/ Night: In a hotel in Veliko Ternovo
My advice: Take an Airbnb
Day 7 (Friday): From Veliko Ternovo to Varna
/ Morning and afternoon: Visit of Veliko Ternovo
/ Late afternoon: Bus from Veliko Ternovo to Varna
/ Night: In an Airbnb in Varna
Day 8 (Saturday): Varna
Day 9 (Sunday)
My friends lived the Airbnb around 6AM to reach Varna aireport, and I took a train to go back to Shipka. It took around 6 hours, but the trip was quiet nice!
Trip 2: 7 days; Sofia - Batchkovo Monastery - Shipka - Praskolo Waterfalls - Nessebar - Plovdiv
For this journey, we where 3: my parents and me.
This time, we rented a car and only booked the 1st night in Sofia in advance which was a way easier and cheaper! Here is the trip we made:
Day 1 (Friday): Sofia
My parents's plane arrived in the evening in Sofia, and I joined them directly in the Airbnb from Shipka to Sofia.
Day 2 (Saturday): Sofia
/ We planned 1 entire day to visit the capital. It was really nice to have to time to do everything and to catch up but as I said earlier, if you really want to see the country and give as much time as possible to the most interesting places, better to stay there half a day.
/ Night: in the Airbnb
Day 3 (Sunday): From Sofia to Batchkovo monastery
/ Morning: We drove to reach Batchkovo
/ Afternoon: Hike around Batchkovo, you will find an info board for that
/ Night: In the monastery. You don't need to book the night in advance, just ask the people there to find someone able to give you a room key :) We paid 20Lev per person.
My advice:
/ We brought some food from Sofia with us, and where really happy about that :). We couldn't find a cafeteria in the monastery and if you want to avoid to eat fries for 2 days from the fast restaurants around, definitly take some grosseries with you :)
/ About the parking, you will easily find a place to park in front of the monastery.
Day 4 (Monday): From Batchkovo to Shipka
/ Morning: Drive from Batchkovo to Shipka
/ Afternoon: Hike from Shipka city to Shipka monument (around 4 hours in total)
/ Night: Volunteer's house
Day 5 (Tuesday): Raisko Praskolo Waterfalls
/ Morning and afternoon: Hike to Raisko Praskalo Waterfalls.
We first drove to Kalofer, which is less than 1 hour from Shipka. We parked their, than walked a bit and found an info board which explained how to reach the waterfalls. The hike was really nice, we where surrounded by the mountains ! Infortunatly after few hours, it was raining a way too much and my parents and I decided to stop and to return back to the car. Count 6 hours in total for this hike to go and return back!
/ Night: Shipka volunteer's house
Day 6 (Wenesday): From Shipka to Nessebar
/ Morning: Drive from Shipka to Nessebar
/ Afternoon: walk around the beach and visit of Nessebar.
/ Night: Airbnb
My advice: We went to Nessebar right after the changing hour, so quiet everything was closed. The city look really nice, the weather was sunny and my parents don't like touristy place so they where quiet happy to visit an empty city. But if you guys want to walk around places with animation and opened shops and restaurants, better to go their in the summer season ;)
Day 7 (Thursday): Nessebar
/ Morning: Walk around the beach, enjoying the sea side
/ Afternoon: We rented bikes to visit the around of Nessebar. We went to Sunny Beach (looks like an horror movie when it is empty!) and enjoyed the beach.
/ Night: Airbnb
Day 8 (Friday): Going back home
/ Morning: My parents dropped me to Burgas as I wanted to visit the city with Markus and Hekim. There, my parents drove to Plovdiv, spent 2 hours their, then drove to Sofia to be ready to take their flight back to Paris on Saturday morning.
Here it is, do not hesitate to ask any questions on the comments!
Enjoy your trip,
Fanny
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