Best of Bulgaria

Join the trip in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, and check-in to our hotel. Sofia has a long history which can be seen by the onion-domed churches, Ottoman mosques, Roman ruins and old Soviet monuments. However, it is largely modern and youthful with a wealth of museums, art galleries, cafes and restaurants.

Depending on your flight times or if you're extending your stay by a night then you may like to visit the Archaeological Museum where there are Thracian, Roman and medieval artefacts on display in a former mosque dating from 1496. Or perhaps the Museum of Socialist Art where you'll find many of the items removed from around the country when the Soviet era came to an end such as unwanted statues of Lenin, the red star from Sofia's Party House and footage from old propaganda films. There are also the ancient ruins of Serdica, which were discovered during the building of a new metro station. Now partially excavated are a small section of eight streets, an early Christian church and a bathhouse from this old Roman city.

This evening you'll have your first chance to sample Bulgarian cuisine. Food in Bulgaria tends to be made from fresh local produce and dinner usually starts with a salad such as shopska salata consisting of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and white cheese. Other specialities include kebapche, small and spicy minced meat rolls, and surmi, stuffed cabbage or vine leafs. Both red and white wines are popular, as is the local brandy rakia and the aniseed spirit mastika.

Our Explore Leader will take us on walking tour of Sophia this morning where we will go into the Neo-Byzantine Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which was built to commemorate the 200,000 Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria's independence. Inside Saint Nedelya Church we can view the colourful murals and intricately carved wooden iconostasis, which is the wall separating the nave from the sanctuary of church that's decorated with religious scenes and icons. There's been a church on this spot since medieval times and it's viewed as being the very centre of the city with the ancient crossroads of Serdica sitting beneath it. We then drive to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Rila Monastery, set in a strikingly beautiful mountain valley; it is a hugely important religious and cultural centre for the Bulgarian people. Remaining in wonderful condition it has the most stunning brightly coloured frescoes and distinctive striped brickwork. Originally founded in the 10th century the monastery served to preserve Bulgarian culture during the 400 years of Ottoman rule and was a hiding place for the Bulgarian revolutionaries. Today the magnificent church and its museum house a priceless collection of frescoes, gilded iconostasis and religious art and artefacts.

Following our visit we will drive to Bansko, which sits at 927 metres above sea level in the foothills of the Pirin Mountains. It has a pretty old town centre with winding cobbled streets and stone clad buildings with red terracotta tiled roofs. There are a variety of restaurants, bars and shops here.

We start today by driving the short distance to the mountain village of Dobarsko. We'll walk to the UNESCO-Listed Church of Saint Theodore Tyron and Theodore Stratelates to admire the incredible frescoes and icons. In the old churchyard we meet the 'grannies of Dobar' who will show us their traditional customs such as the round dance 'horo' and sing us folk songs. We'll have the chance to taste banitsa cheese pastry as well as homemade cheese.

This afternoon we head back to Bansko to board our train on the Rhodope Narrow Gauge Railway. Our journey takes us through the mountains and the highest valley in the country and the Chepinska River Gorge. After spending a couple of hours on board viewing the striking mountain vistas we'll get off at Avramovo Railway Station, which at 1,267 metres above sea level is the highest in the Balkans. From here we re-board our bus and go to visit Velingrad, the spa capital of Bulgaria. We have time to look around the pretty town with its wide tree lined streets, red-roofed houses, glistening lakes, and Kleptuza, which is the biggest Karst spring in Bulgaria.

Late this afternoon we drive to Plovdiv where we spend the next two nights. Plovdiv is an ancient city built on seven hills, and it is in fact Europe's oldest continuously inhabited city. Its old town's winding cobbled lanes are crammed with colourful mansion houses that have been turned into museums, galleries, shops and restaurants. It will be Europe's capital of Culture in 2019.

Our Explore Leader will take us on a tour of the highlights of Plovdiv. The most famous of which is probably the well preserved Roman Amphitheatre of Philipoppol, which is still used for concerts and theatrical performances. The rows of marble seats are set on a hillside with views over the city sprawling below it. In the old town we'll visit the Ethnographic Museum housed in an 1847 merchant's house and stroll among the National Revival-era colourful houses, as well as going into the Church of Saint Constantine and Helena.

This afternoon we drive out of the city to visit the Bachkovo Monastery, founded in 1083. This large monastic complex is nestled in a remote valley and surrounded by forested mountains. Most of the buildings date from the 17th century and we can view an extensive collection of brightly coloured frescoes and one of the most-cherished icons of the Virgin Mary. After our visit we will return to Plovdiv for a free evening.

Our first stop today is in Stara Zagora to view a 4th century AD Roman villa with well-preserved colourful mosaics. Whilst in Stara Zagora we'll also visit the Neolithic Dwellings Museum where on display are the remains of an 8,000 year-old Stone Age house, as well jewellery, household items and tools.

Next we drive deep into the mountains to Shipka Memorial Church. Its tall bell tower, golden domes and intricately decorated red and white exterior stand out somewhat from the remote surrounding tree covered hills. The church is dedicated to the Russian soldiers who gave their lives in the Battles of Shipka Pass during the Russo-Turkish War from 1877-78 in a bid to free Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire. The names of the fallen soldiers are inscribed on walls of the church's crypt and its bells are cast from battlefield cartridges and are extremely heavy, weighing up to 12 tons.

Following on our visit we drive on to Kazanlak in the heart of the Rose Valley where we spend the next two nights.

The flower laden fragrant fields (normally in bloom in May) of the Rose Valley sit between the Middle Forest Mountain and the Balkan Mountains, and the rosa damascene variety has been cultivated here for centuries. The rose blossoms are used in the production of rose oil and nearly a ton is made here every year, which is around 70% of the world's overall production. Rose oil is used in many different ways from antiseptics to aphrodisiacs and laxatives to beauty products. We'll visit a rose oil distillery to learn more about this process.

Next we visit the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, which was discovered in 1944 and dates back to the Hellenistic period. This ancient burial ground is UNESCO-Listed due to the impressive murals which show images of the ritual funeral feast, traditional dress and fanciful horses. In keeping with Thracian culture the burial site consists of three rooms - the main round burial chamber which would have been the owners final resting place, an antechamber where their chariot, horses and slaves would have been kept for use in the afterlife and a corridor between the two which served as storage for other items needed in the spirit world.

We drive to the northern edge of the Bulgarka Nature Park to visit the Etar Open Air Museum. Here there are around 50 old buildings that showcase Bulgarian customs and craftsmanship, the best known is probably the watermill which dates back to 1780. As well as being historical important, the park is very pretty with lots of running water, cobbled streets and colourful wooden buildings nestled within a leafy valley.

We return to Kazanlak for a free evening.

This morning we leave the mountains behind and set off for the Black Sea coast. Our first stop is in Burgas where we'll take a short walk along the central street and in the Sea Garden. This area used to be a swamp sandwiched between the seafront and the city, but in 1910 the architect Georgi Duhtev created a landscape garden filled with hundreds of plants from all over the world.

We drive to the UNESCO-Listed ancient city of Nessebar. Situated on a rocky peninsula it was originally a Thracian settlement before becoming a Greek colony. Most of the remains are from the Hellenistic period including the Temple of Apollo, acropolis and section of the old city walls. There are also the ruins of a Byzantine fortress and colourful 19th century wooden houses. After time exploring the town and in the Archaeological Museum we depart for the seaside resort of Varna. Perhaps this evening you'd like to take a stroll through the largest landscaped park in the Balkans, where there are a variety of sculptures along with an immaculate and wonderfully colourful selection of flowers.

We leave the Black Sea behind us early this morning as we depart on what will be our longest travelling day. Our first stop is in Arbanasi Village where we will visit the Nativity Church. In five chambers of this old church there are impressive frescoes dating between 1632 and 1649. There are scenes from both the old and new testaments that show the wheel of life and images of the damned and lost souls in hell being rescued by Jesus.

Next we drive to one of Bulgaria's oldest towns, Veliko Tarnovo. It exudes medieval history with its fortified walls, cobbled ramshackle lanes and the mighty Tsarevets Fortress, which was formerly the city citadel. We will walk up to this fort, which was once home to the tsars, to some of the ruins of over 400 houses, more than a dozen churches and the royal palace. We will also visit the handicraft market, Samovodska Charshiya, which has changed little over the past two centuries.

This evening we arrive back in Sofia and check-in to our hotel for the final night.

Our trip ends after breakfast at our hotel in Sofia.