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Bulgaria trip planner

A quick travel guide to the best of Bulgaria

Hankering for that Olde Worlde Europe of donkey-drawn carts, cobblestone village streets, and cities with more baroque spires than soulless skyscrapers?

Forget high-priced Western Europe. Head to Bulgaria, where beer costs 75¢, three-course dinners $10, and rooms as little as $15.

Another plus: aside from some moldering Soviet-era hotels, the Cold War allowed most places to skip 50 years of tourism overdevelopment—Black Sea beach resorts excepted.

That's right, Bulgaria has fab beaches—not to mention glorious monasteries, trails through ancient forests, and colorful cities where Orthodox churches share space with Ottoman mosques and remains of 7,000-year-old Thracian settlements.

What to see in Bulgaria

Sofia is famous for being Europe's highest capital (1,799 feet)... and that’s about it. Still, you'll spend some time in this hub for flights, buses, and trains.

Luckily, there are plenty of modest churches and museums in the capital to keep you occupied before heading out to explore Southern Bulgaria, where ancient Thracian and Bulgar traditions mingle with Greek and Roman ruins and echoes of the Ottoman Empire.

Impossibly picturesque Veliko Târnovo snuggles into a gorge of the twisting Yantra River under ancient Tsarevets fortress.

Plovdiv's historic center is a maze of steep cobblestoned streets, gorgeous 18th and 19th century town homes, and a bevy of museums, churches, and mosques.

Have time for only one thing in Bulgaria? Make it medieval Rila Monastery, a rich repository of art, icons, and the ornate Holy Virgin church in a grandiose courtyard of stacked arcades.

Best Bulgarian experiences

Sip slivova rakiya (plum brandy) in a Black Sea resort.

The main resort town of Varna sports extensive ruins of Roman baths. Nesebâr is the cutest Black Sea village, a cobbled medieval hamlet on a rocky spur, but peninsular Sozopol has better beaches and lower prices.

Where to stay in Bulgaria

Booking engine Venere.com can slash Sofia hotel rates by up to half, including at regal Neo-classical four-star Maria Luisa (02-980-5577, marialuisa.bol.bg, from €65 online), and comfy three-star Hotel Lion overlooking the Vladaiska River (02-917-8400, www.hotel-lion.net, from €39 online).

Hotel Boris Palace offers 19th-century class and boutique hotel styling in Plovdiv's old town (032-266-379, www.borispalace.com, from €55 online), or go even cheaper with the utterly simple but just as central Plovdiv Guesthouse (032-622-432, www.plovdivguesthouse.com, from €30 online).

For the cheapest digs, ask any local tourist office or agency to book you a chastni kvartiri (rental room) for $15-$20.

Stay in monastic simplicity (no hot water, in bed by 8pm) at Rila Monastery for $15 (07054-2208, www.bulgarianmonastery.com).

Dining in Bulgaria

Bulgarian cuisine runs to grilled meats and stews such as gyuvech casserole and spicy kavarma.

The keys to inexpensive, ultra-traditional meals are hanche, mehana, taverna, and skara-bira—all simple, tavern-like purveyors of hearty local fare, roughly in order from most restaurant-like to pub-like.

Full meals—three courses and beer or wine—will set you back $10 to $15 tops—maybe $20 in Sofia.

Planning a trip to Bulgaria



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This article was last updated in April 2008. All information was accurate at the time.



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