Redesigned

Cycling Bulgaria: Sofia to the Rhodope Mountains

Day 1 Arrival in Sofia

Arrive in Sofia and make your way to the hotel. Enjoy exploring this newly-prosperous city of old-world elegance and richly-layered history. Vintage trams clatter along cobbled streets and past trendy cafes, overlooked by great churches, galleries and monuments. We will meet in the early evening for a trip briefing and welcome dinner in a traditional Bulgarian restaurant.

Eurostars City Hotel
Dinner

Day 2 Sofia - Tetevan - Chiflik spas

Today, we transfer around 1h45m from Sofia to the start of our ride in the village of Teteven, famous for its beautiful views to the Balkan Mountains. Here in the northern foothills, we slowly wind upwards to the resort village of Ribaritsa, following the Vit river upstream. We reach the highest point for the day, the Bogoi pass, on a challenging ascent to the summit through idyllic countryside. It's a great way to warm up for the journey ahead. We then enjoy a glorious descent, followed by lunch in a small spa resort set amidst the pine trees. We highly recommend taking to the warm waters to relax your legs before dinner this evening!

Feya Hotel
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 50km
+900m
-800m

Day 3 Chiflik - Koprivshtitsa

After breakfast, a short transfer takes us to the highest pass in the Balkan Mountains; the Beklemeto Pass at 1500 m (we have already climbed considerably, so you do not have to pedal this entire elevation!). This is the ancient Roman Via Trayana (the Road of Trajan), and some of the Roman remains can still be seen. We make a short ascent to the zenith before commencing a scenic route down into South Bulgaria. Lunch will be a picnic next to the river, as our route heads into the south foothills of the Balkan Mountains and enters the gorgeous forests of the Sredna Gora Mountains. Our accommodation is in the beautifully-preserved historic town of Koprivshtitsa, full of characteristic architecture and ambience of the 19th century. We will meet up for dinner in an authentic local restaurant.

Gozbarov Guesthouse
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 63km
+700m
-1300m

Day 4 Koprivshtitsa - Plovdiv

After breakfast, we will visit a famous local 'house museum' to learn more about Koprivshitsa’s illustrious history and culture. We then saddle up and pedal through rolling terrain among the vast meadows that sprawl across this land. A long descent into Strelcha town passes the ''Crooked Beech Tree” and some interesting rock formations once used by the ancient Thracians for their sacred rituals. On the way, we visit an ancient Thracian cult temple from the 5th century BCE and have lunch at a local winery. From here on, the road rolls calmly all the way to our final riding destination, the village of Kaloyanovo(famous for its home made ice cream). Here, we will get in the van and travel for 20 minutes to the town of Plovdiv. Known as “The City of the Seven Hills," it is one of the world's oldest cities, and has a fascinating history of Thracian, Greek, Roman and Ottoman rule. Plovdiv is among the few cities with two ancient theatres; remains of the medieval walls and towers; Ottoman baths and mosques; and a well-preserved old quarter from the National Revival period with beautiful houses, churches and narrow paved streets. We will do a late afternoon walk in the old town and have dinner in the city center.

Doubletree by Hilton Hotel
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 75km
+300m
-900m

Day 5 Plovdiv - Trigrad

An amazing day awaits us! We transfer up to the Pamporovo Ski Resort in the Rhodope (Rodopi) Mountains, stopping on the way to visit Bachkovo Monastery, the country's second largest, with its unique 17th century interiors. We jump on our bikes at Pamporovo and ride down to the village of Shiroka Laka with its many authentic Rhodopean houses. This was a restricted frontier region during the Cold War, so the villages became like time capsules. These two-storey homes feature a small cellar with a hiding place and thick white walls to conceal the courtyard from the outsiders. We will have lunch in this quaint town, then continue our ride upstream along the Trigrad River and the stunning marble rock gorge it has created over time. Once we reach the famous Rodopi village of Trigrad, we can enter the thrilling Devil’s Throat Cave, which features a 40 m high underground waterfall. We will spend the night at a cozy family hotel and feast on local Rodopi specialties at dinner.

Zdravets Guest House
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 52km
+600m
-900m

Day 6 Trigrad - Dospat

This morning, wake up and take in the pristine mountain scenery, then start a descent back through the 300m high walls of the Trigrad Gorge before a gradual incline takes us up into and through Bulgaria's longest gorge, Buinovo. Known by locals as The Wolf's Leap, the 10 km-long gorge narrows to just a few metres at some points. You'll spot entrances to many caves along the way, and we'll stop to visit the beautiful 5-story tall Yagodina cave filled with fascinating formations. The terrain opens up once more to pastures and coniferous forests as we pedal to Dospat town and its dam, which dates to the 1960s and created a huge reservoir. The last section follows a quiet and scenic road very close to the lake shore, leading us to our picturesque waterfront hotel.

Hotel Panorama
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 64km
+900m
-1000m

Day 7 Dospat - Velingrad

This morning, we will ride through ancient woodlands and open meadows, passing three more Soviet-era dams along the way, to finish in charming Velingrad, the spa capital of Bulgaria that sits in a serene valley. The thermal waters here have been an attraction since pre-Christian times, as Roman clay pipes found in the region attest. Choose from dozens of hot and an ice-cold karst spring as you recover and reflect on a great ride. Wander through the quiet tree-lined streets of the town and take in this relaxing milieu. Later, we will gather for our sumptuous farewell dinner. Na zdrave!

Vella Hills Park Hotel & Spa
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 70km
+700m
-900m

Day 8 Velingrad - Departure from Sofia

This morning, transfer 2.5 hours back to Sofia for your departure flight or further exploration of the city.

Breakfast

Disclaimer: The adventure cycling tours we operate often go beyond the beaten track, and the countries where we ride are not always predictable. Due to these reasons, it is occasionally necessary to reroute or update itineraries. Our guarantee is that we will not change a trip unless for safety or to improve it. Our listed hotels are always accurate at the time of writing, but should we have to change any hotel, it will always be for a similar or better one.