Off-The-Beaten Track Bulgaria With Kids

On our way from Romania to Greece, we spent a week in Bulgaria. We really didn’t know much of anything about Bulgaria during the trip-planning stage and it turned out to be an interesting country with a very extensive and rich history. It probably wouldn’t make our top hits list thus far, but we saw some very neat things and enjoyed our time there.

Our first stop after leaving Romania was Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. Veliko Tarnovo was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which lasted from 1185 to 1396 (in the early 1400s, the Ottoman Empire conquered Bulgaria and it was part of Turkey until the later part of the 19^th century). The Tsars of Bulgaria during those two hundred years built an incredible fortress up on a hill in Veliko Tarnovo that is surrounded by a U-shaped bend in a river, and the remains of that fortress (described more below) are the main draw of the town today. It was a little bit of a chaotic town to visit with challenging parking and driving (for example, at one point we were waved into a construction site, then scolded for entering by someone else, then cheerfully waved through by another person), but it was an interesting place to check out. These are some of the things we did in Veliko Tarnovo:

• We visited Tsarevets Fortress, which was the citadel of the Second Bulgarian Empire. This is a pretty awesome fortress complex. It was an entire fortified hillside with many buildings, a royal palace (that used to have an enormous throne that was 10 meters by 30 meters!), and many churches including an important one on the very top of the hill. The Ottomans destroyed much of the fortress but the remains today are still very impressive, including a fortified causeway entrance, external walls, the church at top, and several big towers. It was a neat place to visit and we would have spent more time there if not for the hot sun and weather.

• We walked around the old historic town and visited Ulitsa General Gurko, which is the oldest street in the city and where the liberating Russian army (headed by General Gurko) rode through when helping Bulgaria win its independence from Turkey in 1878. It is a picturesque street on a steep hillside above the river that follows the bends of the river. It is best to visit the street in the late afternoon to watch the sunset turn the hillside golden.

• We spent the morning exploring Roman ruins at Nicopolis ad Istrum. This was awesome! It is about a twenty-minute drive from Veliko Tarnovo and seems to be visited by basically no one. We were the only car in the parking lot (and the few TripAdvisor reviews on the place confirm that this gem is hardly visited). Nicopolis ad Istrum was a large Roman city that was eventually abandoned after it was sacked a few times over the centuries. It is in pretty remarkable shape 1700 years later and you can just wander freely. The kids loved jumping along the road that was made of six-foot limestone slabs (with a Roman sewer system underneath) and just exploring. This was really a highlight of our time in Veliko Tarnovo!

On our drive from Veliko Tarnovo to our next destination, Plovdiv, we decided to make a few stops along the way to check out more sights in Bulgaria. These sites are totally off-the-beaten track for foreign tourists, but had decent numbers of Bulgarians enjoying them during the weekend (we drove on a Sunday). This is what we visited during our drive as we crossed the “Old Mountains” that run across the entire country of Bulgaria, from Serbia to the Black Sea:

• We visited Dryanovo Monastery and the nearby bat caves. The monasteries of Bulgaria seem to be the main tourist draw of the country, as there are beautifully painted ones in many picturesque places (and they served a very important historical role of secretly preserving the Bulgarian language, culture, and history during 500 years of Ottoman rule). This was a very beautiful monastery surrounded by sheer cliffs. A short walk (maybe a half mile or a bit more) and you reach some famous bat caves, which were huge caves with a nice path inside (with motion-sensor lights that turned on as you walked forward). We saw a few bats, but the cave itself was fun to visit because it was very large and used by prehistoric people. And the surrounding forest felt like a jungle. The kids loved the walk to the caves!

• We stopped at Shipka Pass as we crossed the mountains. This was an important site during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. A small contingent of 2,500 Russian soldiers plus 5,000 Bulgarian volunteers held back 40,000 Ottoman soldiers in a series of battles at the top of the mountain. These victories prevented the Ottomans from crossing the mountains into northern Bulgaria and attacking Russian supply chains, and allowed the Russian army to move south and eventually retake all of Bulgaria. It is an important site for Bulgarians where they celebrate Bulgaria, and it is commemorated by a large castle-like tower memorial with a huge Bulgarian flag. The kids loved it up here, as there were cannons and rocky outcroppings all around where they could play. To reach the top, we had to carry them up a lot of stairs, but it was worth it. There is a 360-degree view from the top too, and it was definitely worth checking out.

• After Shipka Pass, we stopped at Shipka Memorial Church, which is a beautiful Russian Orthodox church in the town below. It was unlike any church we have visited before. The kids enjoyed running around the grounds and we bought local honey to bring home with us!

Our next stop in Bulgaria was the city of Plovdiv, which is actually Europe’s longest continuously inhabited city! It has been a town since at least 5,000 B.C. when the Thracians lived there. (If, like us, you’ve never heard of the Thracians, they were pretty interesting—horse-riding warriors who were fierce fighters, heavy drinkers, and drug users, who were very feared by everyone else for a long time.) Plovdiv is the second biggest city in Bulgaria behind the capital Sofia, and we’d read it was a hip place—it was named the “European Capital of Culture for 2019.” Once we were able to orient ourselves, we had a very good time there (it turned out our AirBNB was on the scruffier side of town, so our first impressions weren’t great, but then we discovered the city and changed our minds!). These are some of the things we did in Plovdiv:

• We walked around and enjoyed coffees and craft beer at the Kapana, which is the hip and artsy district of the city that is largely pedestrian only, making it ideal to visit with kids, as they can run around freely there. Craft beer is in in a big way in Bulgaria and there were tons of delicious options in the Kapana district. There was also tons of street art and the kids loved discovering new fun art around every corner!

• We ate a lot of Turkish food in Plovdiv because it was part of Turkey for a long time and still has a sizable Turkish population, so the Turkish food was delicious. (From Plovdiv, we could have driven to Turkey in less than two hours!) But our favorite meal may have been a delicious burger and craft IPA at Skaptobara 2, which happens to be the top-reviewed TripAdvisor restaurant in the city.

• We visited the Roman ruins of the Ancient stadium, which was a large U-shaped stadium used for gladiator events and chariot races. These are smack in the middle of the city and are still being uncovered. The tunnel where gladiators walked through to enter the stadium is in incredible shape and we all enjoyed walking through it out into the arena area.

• We visited the Roman Amphitheater, which is one of the world’s best-preserved ancient theatres, and is considered the main draw of Plovdiv. The amphitheater was constructed in the 90s of the 1st century AD, and can host between 5000 and 7000 spectators. It is in spectacular shape and is still used to this day for concerts and performances.

• We walked around the old historic center—note, do not bring a stroller to this district as the cobblestone roads are so uneven and rough that they are impassable for a stroller (this happened to be the one day we did bring a stroller with us; go figure). The buildings are in the colorful “National Revival” style, which was in the late 1800s after Bulgaria regained independence. There is also a cool Roman archway leading into this district.

• We spent a morning at Tsar Simeon’s Gardens, which was a wonderful park with a great playground, open space to run, and water fountains for the water-loving kids like ours!

From Plovdiv, we drove south out of Bulgaria and into Greece. We didn’t visit the capital Sofia or the Rila Monasteries, which are probably the biggest tourist attraction of the country. But we were happy with what we saw in our slice of off-the-beaten track Bulgaria!