8 days · 7 nights
Medieval capitals, a Black Sea old town and the Rose Valley, travelled together with your own guide.
Choose your dates when you enquire
Ask about datesA round trip from Sofia for your own group of ten or more. You travel north to the old capital of Veliko Tarnovo, east to Varna and Nessebar on the Black Sea, then back across the country to Plovdiv and the Rose Valley before two nights in Sofia with a day at Rila Monastery.
The same person from your first question to the flight home, with a wedding or vow renewal planned alongside if you like.
How the days unfold. Your advisor tailors the pace, the hotels and the extras to you.
Sofia
Day 1 · Sofia
You are met at the airport, taken to your hotel and introduced to the guide who will travel with you. Take a first walk through the pedestrian centre at your own pace, then have dinner at the hotel.
Veliko Tarnovo
Day 2 · Veliko Tarnovo
Drive to the old Bulgarian capital and climb Tsarevets hill for the views, then wander Samovodska street among the craft workshops. In nearby Arbanassi an Orthodox choir sings in a seventeenth-century painted church, and the day ends with a regional dinner and wine tasting.
Varna
Day 3 · Varna
Stop at the Madara Rider, an eighth-century relief cut into the cliff, then share a home-cooked lunch in the village of Kyulevcha and learn to make banitsa pastry. In Varna the Archaeological Museum holds gold worked more than six thousand years ago, and the evening is free by the sea.
Nessebar and Plovdiv
Day 4 · Nessebar and Plovdiv
Walk the cobbled lanes of Nessebar, past churches from the thirteenth century, and step inside the church of St Stephen to see its murals and carved iconostasis. Drive on to Plovdiv for the Roman theatre and the richly decorated Hindliyan House, with dinner at the hotel.
Kazanlak and Plovdiv
Day 5 · Kazanlak and Plovdiv
Drive into the Rose Valley, where in May and June you may be able to pick a rose from the fields, and visit the Rose Museum. In Kazanlak you see a replica of the Thracian tomb and its painted dome, then return to Plovdiv for a free afternoon and dinner at a local restaurant.
Sofia
Day 6 · Sofia
Visit the Thracian temple at Starosel, then the museum in Panagyurishte with its replica of a famous gold treasure, and the painted Lekova House. In Sofia a walking tour takes in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral before dinner at the hotel.
Sofia and Rila
Day 7 · Sofia and Rila
See the National Historical Museum and the medieval wall paintings of Boyana Church, then drive into the mountains to Rila Monastery and its frescoes. Back in Sofia, a farewell dinner comes with folk songs and dances, and fire dancing on hot embers when the weather allows.
Sofia
Day 8 · Sofia
Breakfast at the hotel before your transfer to the airport for the flight home.
The hotels for each stop. Your advisor confirms them, or something just as good, for your dates.
Sofia · 3 nights
Your first night and the last two nights. Or similar
Veliko Tarnovo · 1 night
Or similar
Varna · 1 night
Or similar
Plovdiv · 2 nights
Or similar
Tell us when you would like to travel. Your advisor confirms dates and hotels, tailors the trip to the two of you, and stays with you until you are home.
Bulgaria
5 days · 4 nights
Sofia → Plovdiv → Bansko → Sofia
A short loop from Sofia for a group of ten or more travelling together, built around Bulgaria's food and its very old wine tradition. Taste wine at a Thracian temple, in the vineyards near Plovdiv and at a modern cellar near Rila Monastery, cook dinner in a Pirin mountain village, and finish with a folklore night back in Sofia.
Bulgaria
8 days · 7 nights
Varna → Plovdiv → Sofia → Veliko Tarnovo → Rousse → Varna
A loop of Bulgaria from Varna on the Black Sea for a group of ten or more travelling together, with a private guide and vehicle from day 2 to day 7. You see all seven of the country's cultural UNESCO sites, from the old town of Nessebar and Rila Monastery to the Thracian tombs and the Madara Rider, with nights in Plovdiv, Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and Rousse along the way.
Bulgaria
8 days · 7 nights
Varna or Burgas → Plovdiv → Sofia → Veliko Tarnovo → Varna or Burgas
Collect your car at Varna or Burgas and drive a loop of the country: south along the coast to Nessebar, through the Rose Valley to Plovdiv, on to Sofia, then over the Balkan Mountains to Veliko Tarnovo before a last night by the sea. Hotels, the car and a suggested route are arranged; the stops along the way are yours to choose.
A round trip from Sofia for your own group of ten or more. You travel north to the old capital of Veliko Tarnovo, east to Varna and Nessebar on the Black Sea, then back across the country to Plovdiv and the Rose Valley before two nights in Sofia with a day at Rila Monastery.
Every trip can be shaped around you before you book.
Arrive early or stay on at the end, in the same hotel or somewhere new.
Your travel expert books flights that fit the first and last day.
Choose a better room or a hotel with a view for the nights that count.
A honeymoon, an anniversary or a birthday, planned into the trip.
Other ways to see Bulgaria, closest in length first.
Private tour | 8 days | Varna or Burgas · Plovdiv · Veliko Tarnovo
Self-drive | 8 days | Varna or Burgas · Plovdiv · Veliko Tarnovo
Private tour | 8 days | Varna · Plovdiv · Rousse
Private tour | 5 days | Sofia · Plovdiv · Bansko
