Jun-2011
Best route for one week in Bulgaria
Bulgaria, not very famous for tourism, has many cultural attractions. This country is rich in small towns to explore, filled with beautiful scenery, monasteries, mountains and pebble beaches bordering the Black Sea. The landscape is varied.
Visit Bulgaria rather during the summer, from June to September, when temperatures are ideal (in average 27 °).
The country is very safe and the locals are helpful (even if they do not speak much English). By cons, do not stay too long on the coast, the atmosphere is festive but the place is only for tourists and filled with all-in style resorts, so it’s very artificial. But the cities of Varna and Nesebar are really worth it!
A route in Bulgaria must stop in the cities of Plovdiv, Rila Monastery or the peninsula of Nesebar. To get a good idea of the country, it takes minimum a week. To choose the cities you want to visit, it all depends on your desires … depending on whether you rather hike or go to the beach, want to have party or calm, to do shopping, etc.. There is something for everyone!
the cities that you shouldn’t miss in Bulgaria
- *** Plovdiv : second largest city, the old city is beautiful and full of typically Bulgarian buildings. It is really worth a visit (but avoid high heels, streets are hard to walk on because of the cobblestone)! This is our favourite. One day is enough to go around.
- *** Rila (at + / – 2:30 Sofia by car): the monastery is impressive and hiking in the mountains of Rila is possible to see the 7 Lakes region (2 days and spend a night in the monastery or in the mountain refuge). Once there, it only takes one hour to visit the Rila Monastery.
- ** Varna: third largest city, with a pedestrianized city center, very cute. It is close to the seaside resort of Golden Sands, which is especially famous for its insane night life !
- ** Nesebar : tiny peninsula classified as a World Heritage by UNESCO, it has many old churches and is crowded with tourists during the day. Its’ not possible to sleep on the peninsula, take a hotel or hostel in Sunny Beach, a lively resort.
- * Sofia : the capital can be visited in one day. It is quick because everything you want to see is almost in the same place. It does not really represent Bulgaria.
- Veliko Tarnovo: this town was not on our itinerary but we’ve been advised to go there by all Backpackeurs that we met !
Our route in Bulgaria
Bucharest (Romania) – Varna - Nesebar - Plovdiv - Rila Monastery – Sofia
This is a beautiful tour to discover Bulgaria. We stayed only six days in June 2011, but this trip deserved much more time. If our schedule had allowed it, we would have plan to make a detour to Istanbul between Nesebar and Plovdiv.
We flew to Romania in Bucharest, it is then easy to get to the black sea coast. The Romanian capital has not left us a very memorable souvenir. We left after not even half a day on site for the next city of our trip, but it was enough.
After crossing the border and the huge arm of the Danube, through the town of Rousse, we arrived on the coast of the Black Sea and could start our trip through Bulgaria.
A question ? Other tips to add ?
Share your experience with other backpackers to enrich this article! Feel free to ask questions or leave comments below, we will answer with pleasure!
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Hello
merci pour ce bel article, on va faire le même type de trajet je pense
petite question, comment avez vous voyagé ? Train ? Bus ? merci beaucoup !
Salut Laura ! On a voyagé en bus, avec des bus locaux. Les trains sont vétustes, plus chers et mettent plus de temps que les bus. Tu trouveras toutes les infos sur les bus et des liens pour les horaires de bus sur notra page http://backpackersattitude.com/europe-de-lest/bulgarie/bulgarie-bons-plans-et-information-pratiques ! Bon voyage en Bulgarie alors