8-Day Bulgaria Cultural Tour from Sofia to Koprivshtitsa via Plovdiv

Arrival at Sofia airport and transfer to Sofia City Center. 

• Take a short sightseeing tour of Sofia. The city was found 7000 years ago. 

• Explore the main attractions of the city including the Alexander Nevski Cathedral and the Crypt, National Theatre, St. Sofia church, Sofia’s oldest building the 4th-century St. George Rotonda.

Overnight in Sofia. 

• Drive to the Rila Monastery, the biggest and most important symbol of the Bulgarian Orthodox church. The Monastery was found in the 10th-century and rebuilt in the 13th and 14th centuries. It is one of Europe’s oldest and has been included in UNESCO’S list in 1983. Behind the 20-meter-wall lies impressive monastery buildings, a church and a chapel with valuable murals. 

• Move to Melnik, Bulgaria's smallest town famous for its unique red wine and the natural sandstone pyramids. Close to Melnik lie the picturesque Rozhen Monastery dating from the 13th-century (the only Bulgarian monastery that remained unharmed during the Turkish yoke). 

Overnight stay in Melnik.

• Drive through the picturesque Rhodope mountains, believed to be the birthplace of the legendary Orpheus and territory where the ancient Thracian tribes celebrated their religious cults.

• Visit the Yagodina cave, which is considered one of Bulgaria's longest ones (with more than 10,000m mapped so far). It is one of the most beautiful in Europe with its outstanding stalactites, stalagmites, columns, ponds and cave pearls.

Spend the night in the town of Trigrad in the heart of the Rhodope Mountains. 

• Continue the picturesque drive through the Rhodope mountains. 

• Reach Plovdiv, the second biggest city in Bulgaria.

• Visit Chudnite Mostove, a natural arch formed by the forces of nature in the mountain's solid rock. 

Overnight in Plovdiv.

• Take a sightseeing tour of Plovdiv, one of the oldest cities in Europe on a par with Troy and Mikena. It is considered to be a settlement about 8,000 years ago. Plovdiv had been the capital of Ancient Thrace and a big trade center in the Middle Ages.

• Explore the historic quarter of the city with beautifully decorated houses, ancient fortress walls, Roman forum and stadium, and magnificent churches.

• See the Roman Theatre, Hindlians house, St. Konstantine and Helena Church. 

Overnight stay in Plovdiv.

• After breakfast, depart to Veliko Turnovo. 

• Head towards Shipka and visit the memorial “Birth of Christ”, the Russian church. The mountain's dramatic background makes the gilt of the domes and the multi-coloured decoration of the church façade and attracts people’s attention from a long distance. 

• Stop at the Etara, an open-air Ethnographic museum that shows the everyday life of local people centuries ago. 

• Go back to Veliko Turnovo.

Overnight stay in Veliko Turnovo.  

• Sightsee the highlights of Veliko Tarnovo including the Medieval Capital of Bulgaria where the rich and glorious past of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom will be felt. 

• Visit Tsarevets Hill, which has been lowered the Patriarch church “Holy Ascending of God” and St. Peter and Paul church. 

• Explore the village of Arbanassi, situated a few kilometres from Veliko Turnovo.

• Head to Koprivshtitsa, a small town situated in a picturesque valley among the mountains in the central part of Bulgaria. This town has now turned into a museum portraying the Revival Period's unique atmosphere in Bulgaria.

Overnight in Koprivshtitsa.

Transfer to Sofia for departure.