(TGA) - Travel - Not having posted before on the Travel Forum, I was overwhelmed with the detailed suggestions offered to jax11ard (especially by RF2) regarding a self-drive itinerary in Bulgaria.
My wife and I are planning a trip to Bulgaria, arriving in Sofia on Mon., October 4, mid-morning, and departing Wed., 13 October, 22:20, from Sofia. We plan to hire a car and, like jax11ard, are interested in countryside, culture and wildlife. If desirable, some time in Sofia (at the end or beginning) would be fine. We would not travel on Saturday.
Any help in suggesting an itinerary for us would be greatly appreciated.
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First, you have to know that the season in October can be tricky. From nice sunny 20-25 degC to rainy and/or foggy 10-15 degC or combination of both.
Use this road map (bgmaps.com) for the planning. When you arrive in Sofia, buy a paper road map as well so that you will have a general view of the trip.
It really doesn't matter whether you start or end with Sofia. The amount of days you will need depend on the number of attractions you will dicide to visit.
Day 1: Arrive in Sofia. Arrange the hotel and the car (and the GPS!) and you may visit the closest attractions for the rest of the day. A good list of attractions can be found here - …wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_attractions_in_S…
Day 2: Sofia. What you missed on Day 1.
Day 3: Leave south to the Rila monastery. Then further south to town of Melnik (winery centre and authentic arhitecture). Continue to Gotse Delchev, where you can spend the night. The remains of the Roman town of Nikopolis ad Nestum from late antiquity is situated close to it (www.nicopolisadnestum.com/index_en.php…).
Day 4: Leave for Dospat (dam lake) and Smolyan. Visit the tv tower on Snezhanka peak. There is a lift to a round shaped cafe on top of it from where the whole mountain can be see in all directions.
Day 5: Leave for Bachkovo monastery, Asenova krepost (medieval fortress with nice viee from top) and Plovdiv (the old town from late middle ages and the Roman amphitheater). Spend the night there.
"Lazy" Day 6: It is Saturday. :) If you don't want to travel, enjoy the city.
Day 7: Leave for Hisaria (a small town with lots of Roman remains), Kazanlak (biggest Thracian tomb found so far), village of Shipka (the Russian church), Shipka peak (accessible by car or on foot using the stairs), Etara (open air, operational ethnogrphic museum) and arrive at Velko Turnovo (capital of Bulgaria 12-14century). Spend the night there.
Day 8: Explore Veliko Turnovo and leave for Troyan (imagesfrombulgaria.com/v/…), Lovetch and Pleven (panorama-pleven.com/index.php…). Spend the night there.
Day 9: Leave for Belogradchik (belogradchik.biz/belogradchik/attractions.en…)
Day 10: Leave for Vidin (babavida.vidin.net/flash/babavidaEN.html). It is a medieval Bulgarian castle from X century that is preserved best. You may have a lunch in one of the restaurants located on river ships on the bank of the Danube. Leave for Magura cave (www.magura-cave.com/1024x768/eng/index.htm) and then to Sofia.
Day 11: In case you have missed some sites from Day 1 and 2, you can use the few hours until the flight at 22:20 ot just go to the adjacent Vitosha mountain for a walk among nature.
Along the roads, you will see numerous road signs-labels (white letters on brown background) which indicate tourist attractions. You can include some of them in your sites list as small detours from the main road.
Fuel at OMV, Shell, Petrol, Rompetrol, Lukoil. Don't use any other petrol stations even if you like the prices. Don't have too much cash with you. Obey the traffic rules and you will have a nice time.
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Thanks so much, RF2. Yes, we figured that the weather could be iffy in October, but its a very convenient time for us. I'll be able to go through your suggestions tomorrow, including the links, and would like to contact write again if we have any major questions.
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Hi I will contact you after our trip in June with any advice we can offer and our experiences.
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Thanks jax11ard. We look forward to hearing from you, and have a safe and enjoyable trip.
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