Arrival to Sofia airport and transfer to hotel. Welcome dinner and overnight.

After breakfast – panoramic tour around the Bulgarian capital. Sofia is an ancient city whose territory has been continuously inhabited for nearly 10,000 years and variously occupied by Thracians and Romans. Today Sofia is an important educational and cultural center and falls among the top tourist destinations on the Balkan Penisula due to its outstanding sights and surrounding natural beauties.
Sofia preserves many valuable monuments to its long and storied past. You will be exploring the city’s streets where you can see remnants of The Eastern Gate from the days when Sofia was Serdika and Sredets, dating from the 2nd-4th centuries CE. These remains are exhibited in the underpass connecting the Presidential Palace and The Ministerial Council, surrounded by shops selling traditional Bulgarian souvenirs and rosewater.
Next we will visit the most remarkable object in the outskirts of Sofia, in the foot of Vitosha Mounatin- Boyana Church .See the historically significant frescoes of the Byzantine building, and hear how they started the fashion for illustrating biblical figures with emotions and placing them alongside the local aristocracy. In the afternoon – free time to explore Sofia by your own. Dinner in a typical Bulgarian folk style restaurant: excellent cuisine, great selection of wines and folklore show. Overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast – departure to Arbanassi village, famous for its ancient, richly decorated churchesand magnificent architecture. It used to be a residence of the Bulgarian kings. Lunch at a local rural house, where hosts will cook delicious, homemade meals for you. In the afternoondeparture to Veliko Tarnovo. Visit to the historical hill Tsarevets with the Fortress, the Wax museum, the Patriarchal church and the Emperor Baldwin’s Tower. Walk along the old Trade Street – “Samovodska charshia”, where you will have opportunity to buy handmade souvenirs. Accommodation and overnight in hotel .

After breakfast – departure to Etara – a unique open-air museum, reproducing the way of life and occupation of the local people in 19th century. Set off to Kazanlak – the capital of the Rose valley and Thracian Kings. Visit the Historical Museum, which houses collection of bronze and gold treasures, as well the replica of Thracian Kazanlak Tomb, dating back to the 4th c. B.C. It is listed in the world natural and historical heritage of UNESCO. Departure to Skobelevo village where we will visit the Ethnographical Complex “Damascene”, which works also as a family-run rose oil distillery from more than 20 years. The hosts will show how the famous Bulgarian rose oil (used in the perfumery) is produced. In the late afternoon we will reach Plovdiv, the “City of the seven hills’’, the oldest city in Europe still existing today. It was called Philippopolis in the IV century B.C. in honor of King Philip II of Macedonia. Today Plovdiv is a cultural center of Bulgaria and selected as European Capital of Culture for 2019. Accommodation, dinner and overnight in Plovdiv.

After breakfast – Walking tour of the Old Town of Plovdiv impressive with the houses-museums of the Revival period like the Ethnographical museum; the Ancient Theater, the Fortress walls, the oldest church in the city – “St. St. Constantine and Helena”, etc. We will see the Muslim temple Dzhoumaya Mosque and the Roman Stadium on the main street of Plovdiv. Departure to Dorkovo village. The territory around this village is has one of the largest concentration of paleontological discoveries in all Europe. Visit of the local paleontological museum, where you will see a replica of a 4-metters high mastodon. Its fossils are dating to the Early Pliocene, more than 4 million years ago. Free time for lunch or rest near the picturesque Batak Lake. In the afternoon we will visit the unique carpet factory, producing giant carpets of more than 100 m2. The clients of this small family run factory are world celebrities as Queen Elizabeth II, Mick Jagger, along with castles and huge properties’ owners from North America and Europe. An attractive train trip in the mountain follows. The train is moving on narrow (70 cm) railway lines. You will pass through places, offering unique views of the Rhodopes Mountains. Accommodation, dinner and overnight in the unique atmosphere of the ancient houses of Leshten village – architectural reserves, where old houses from the beginning of the 19th c. are preserved.

After breakfast we’ll travel through the picturesque southern parts of Pirin Mountain to reach the most famous wine-growing regions in Bulgaria – the region of Struma River valley. Wine tasting in a family-run winery in Harsovo village. Then we descend to Melnik – the town of the sand pyramids ,a unique unforgettable plac Lunch in Melnik.
Arrival in Sandanski – is one of the biggest SPA resorts in the country. The mountain has about 100 peaks at an altitude more than 2000 m and is an UNESCO protected site! Sandanski is also the birthplace of the famous in ancient times Spartacus. Accommodation and overnight at a SPA hotel . Free time to enjoy the SPA facilities of the hotel or long along the city’s park and Pedestrian Street. Overnight.

Breakfast. Departure to Rila Monastery the biggest Bulgarian spiritual center since the Middle Ages till nowadays, included in UNESCO World Heritage List. It’s located in a picturesque mountain area, with a rich collection of icons and wall-paintings. Its museum keeps a real treasure: a wooden cross of just 81 cm height, carved with 104 religious scenes and 650 figures. Visit of the monastery and lunch at the nearby restaurant, famous for its dishes of mountain trout. In the afternoon – return to Sofia. Accommodation and overnight in hotel Best.

After breakfast – free time. Transfer to the airport and flight back home.