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Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Mon 01 Jul, 2013 12:13 pm
by srforum112
I'm travelling to Eastern Europe in a couple of months. Was planning to walk Mount Blanc, but have decided to walk this on the next trip...

Instead I'll be spending a few weeks in Bulgaria. This country has a number of mountain ranges and a good network of trails and mountain huts.
I'm keen to do some alpine walking, to seven lakes and climbing to the summit of some of the higher mountains in the SW region. I'm thinking of hiring a guide, as I'll probably be walking alone and don't speak the language.

I have a few questions;

Has anyone done any walking in the mountains of Bulgaria?
Did you complete the walks with a tour or guide, or self-guided?
Where did you walk and would you recommend the walk?
Was it easy to get to the walks using public transport?
How was your experience?

Thanks
Sonja

Re: Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Mon 01 Jul, 2013 12:17 pm
by Hallu
Never been there, but you could try this book : http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Bulgarias ... e+bulgaria . Be careful though, this is bear country.

Re: Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Tue 29 Oct, 2013 9:38 pm
by gang-gang
srforum112 wrote:I'm travelling to Eastern Europe in a couple of months.
Has anyone done any walking in the mountains of Bulgaria?
Did you complete the walks with a tour or guide, or self-guided?
Where did you walk and would you recommend the walk?
Was it easy to get to the walks using public transport?
How was your experience?


Probably a bit late now, but my wife and I walked the Pirin Wine Trail and in the Rila Mountains this June 2013. June is a bit early as there was still a lot of snow, but the mountains are superb. We trekked on our own and stayed in mountain huts (tip: get a few phrase written down in Bulgarian for I'd like dinner, breakfast, lunch etc, as the hut managers don't speak English, but are very friendly) - very cheap to stay and easy to get to and from trailheads by bus - and the trails are all well marked. Get a copy of the Cicerone Guide to trekking in Bulgaria for more tips and a list of posible guidng companies if you want to go that way, and try and get a topographic map. I'min the process of writing up these walks for my website, and will post the link to it once I have done so. I'd definitely recommend it, but then again the Tour du Mont Blanc is also magnificent.

Re: Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Tue 26 Nov, 2013 8:39 pm
by srforum112
Hi Gang-gang.
I completed a short two day walk in the Rila mountains and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am keen to go back and do more walking in the Rila and Pirin mountains. Bulgaria is very cheap and really interesting country. If/when you've finished you blog I'd like to read it, what's your website address/name.
Thinking of maybe walking Mont Blanc in September next year, will see.
Thanks Sonja

Re: Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Sun 01 Dec, 2013 1:38 pm
by gang-gang
Hi Sonja,

I have just written up the Bulgarian sections of our trip on my Photodiary of a Nomad website. Go to Balkans and Beyond and click the page you want on the index. There are 3 pages for Bulgaria - The Pirin Wine Trail, Rila Monastery and The Seven Lakes Circuit. I agree with you - it has great walking and must be one of the cheapest countries in Europe to travel in.

If you are interested in the Tour du Mont Blanc, go to Tour du Mont Blanc - that should whet your appetite to go there.

Re: Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Fri 07 Feb, 2014 4:33 pm
by Onestepmore
Your website is great!

Re: Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Fri 07 Feb, 2014 5:55 pm
by stepbystep
Onestepmore wrote:Your website is great!


Agreed. Thanks for the link.

Re: Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Mon 10 Feb, 2014 8:44 pm
by diantsvetkov
Hey there.

I am actually from Bulgaria and I can pretty much give you all the information you need on hiking in my beautiful country. The best mountain to go hiking in here is definitely the Pirin mountain. All of the hiking paths in the mountain are really well marked and there are tours starting from 4 hours up to about 11 hours.

Here's a picture of the last place I visited in September Image called Sinanitsa. It's really spectacular to see. There are tons of people from the UK that come to Bulgaria for hiking trips all the times and if you're by yourself and looking for companionship there's no shortage of such. Ask away if there's anything else I can help out

Re: Hiking in Bulgaria

PostPosted: Mon 10 Feb, 2014 8:50 pm
by diantsvetkov
Oh a couple of more advises. If you're going to go to the Pirin mountain, take the bus from Sofia(the capital where you'd probably land with the plane) to Blagoevgrad or directly to Bansko if possible. After that find a taxi but negotiate the price with the driver before him taking you to the hut you've picked. I personally like the Banderitsa hut most but there's a wide choice as you can see from the link. The taxi drivers are the people who are going to rip you off any chance they get here in Bulgaria, so be weary of that. The trip from Bansko to the Hut should cost no more than 20 leva(BGN - bulgarian national currency) which is about 10 euros if that helps you out better.

The price per person per night in the Hut is about 10 leva or 5 euro if I recall and you will surely enjoy the prices of the meals too. You can get a proper dinner for about 6 leva or 3 euro. Someone above me mentioned that Bulgaria is one of the cheapest countries to go hiking in and it's true as the huts are just extremely cheap and that's the reason why UK people come here. I imagine that the hikes you could do in the french Alps would also be amazing, but the price is nowhere near.