A JOURNEY TO THE MYSTERIOUS RILA MONASTERY
Updated September 16, 2026 Although I was born in Bulgaria, and now traveling the world, I discovered that looking to […]
BULGARIA
Location: Southeast Europe
Capital: Sofia
Area: 111 000 km2
Population: 7 200 000
Official language: Bulgarian
Other spoken languages: English (mainly the younger people), Russian (mainly the older people), and minorities languages.
Ethnic groups: Bulgarians, Turkish, Gypsies, Armenians, Jews, other (Russians, Serbians, Romanians, Karakachan Greeks, etc.)
Currency: LEV (1 USD = 1,58 LEV; 1 EUR = 1,956 LEV)
Basic facts: Bulgaria is a democratic republic, now part of European Union, but still outside Schengen zone.
Travel tips:
- Bulgaria is famous with its rose oil, sour milk and wine. But aside of this, there are many other reasons to visit Bulgaria.
- Bulgaria is a small country, but offers various geographical landscapes and zones, enable to be visited within one day.
- Bulgarian seaside offers excellent beaches and sea relax at the Black Sea coast.
- Bulgarian mountains are some of the highest mountains in Europe, outside of the Alps.
- Bulgaria has 4000 years history, offering a lot of historic remains.
- For those who are interesting in on land traveling from Europe to Asia or from Asia to Europe, Bulgaria is exactly on their way, and is part of “Orient express”
10 best destinations and routes in Bulgaria:
Plovdiv: One of the most ancient cities in the world, famous with its history, rich culture and art life.
Bansko and Pirin: An small traditional town-resort in the foot of the most beautiful Bulgarian mountain.
Gabrovo-Tarnovo: A route north of Balkan (Stara planina) mountain, full of history and traditional culture. Tarnovo is the old capital of Bulgaria.
Rose valley: A valley south of Balkan (Stara planina) mountain, home of the famous Bulgarian rose.
Nesebar and Sozopol: Two famous Black sea coast towns, ancient Greek colonies, now architectural reservations, turned into sea resorts.
Rodopi- Beglika and Trigrad: A route in some of the most beautiful mountain forests in Europe, presenting woods, lakes, valleys, meadows, deep canyons and caves.
South Black sea coast: A route south of Sozopol, leading to the border with Turkey, presenting beautiful beaches, river lagunas and forests and exotic resorts.
Sofia and Vitosha: The capital of Bulgaria, located in the foot of a high beautiful mountain.
Rila mountain: The highest mountain in Southeast Europe, full of alpine peaks, glacier lakes and beautiful forests.
Vratza-Belogradchik: A mountain area in the Northwest part of Bulgaria, famous with its canyons, rocky phenomenons, caves and high mountains.