Bulgaria will surprise pleasantly every first-time visitor with the variety of its beautiful landscapes, with the favourable for a round-the-year recreation climate, with its diverse relief, with the richness of healing mineral waters, with its good facilities and infrastructure, with its thirteen century old cultural and historic heritage, with its preserved traditions, customs and folklore, delicious cuisine, hospitable population, security and safety, which Bulgaria guarantees to its visitors.
On this tour we will visit the largest and most beautiful cities in Bulgaria – the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia, the medieval town - Veliko Tarnovo, the pearl of the Black Sea coast – Varna, and the second oldest city in Europe – Plovdiv. We will also visit the most famous and important monasteries in Bulgaria – Rila monastery and Bachkovo monastery and four sites in UNESCO Heritage List – the beautiful town of Nessebar, the Thracian tomb in Kazanlak, the Madara Horseman and Boyana church.
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Тематика: Оглядова, Культурно-історичнаМова: Chinese, English, Русский
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Тривалість: 5 ночей / 6 днівПроводиться: з 01.04.2018 до 31.10.2019, щодня
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Завершення туру: Plovdiv, Sofia
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План перебування: Sofia - 1 день / 1 ніч
Veliko Turnovo, Arbanassi - 1 день / 1 ніч
Varna - 1 день / 1 ніч
Nessebar - 1 день / 1 ніч
Kazanlak, Plovdiv - 1 день / 1 ніч
Plovdiv, Sofia - 1 день
Включає:
проживання, трансфер, харчування, екскурсії
Arriving in Sofia. Meet&Greet. Half-day city tour of Sofia. Join our short break tour and discover why Sofia makes the perfect combination - the wisdom of the past and the verve of the present. You will see part of the city walls, churches and streets from the antiquity side by side with edifices built during the Byzantine period. We will visit the Ruins of Serdica, St. George Rotunda (4th c. AD), Russian Church of St. Nicolay, the Parliament Square, St. Sofia Church (6th c. AD) and St. Alexander Nevsky Memorial Cathedral (1912). The beautiful building of the University, the National Art Gallery, the National Theatre, numerous monuments and open spaces in the city will make the tour a pleasant one. Dinner and overnight in Sofia Hotel Ramada 4*. (D)
Morning departure from Sofia to Veliko Turnovo. Sightseeing tour of Veliko Turnovo – the ex-Royal capital. This tour will bring you in touch with the medieval capital of Bulgaria – the town of Veliko Turnovo, which is situated amphitheatrically on 4 hills - Tsarevets, Trapezitsa, Momina Krepost and Sveta Gora, the ridges of which were indeed the deeply inclined steep banks of the Yantra river meanders. We will visit the most attractive of all hills - Tsarevets with its solid fortress walls, royal palaces, patriarchal church and Baudouin's Tower, reminding of the Latin Emperor Baudouin of Flanders who was captured by Tsar Kaloyan. Down by the river Yantra in Assen’s quarter, where the craftsman lived, one can visit three Medieval churches – The Church of St. Dimitrious, The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Pavel and The Church of the Holy Forty Mortyrs. One should not leave Veliko Turnovo without taking a walk along Samovodene market with its original workshops from the period of the National Revival. Lunch in the museum village of Arbanassi, situated only 5 km. from Veliko Turnovo. The architecture of the houses in Arbanassi is unique, they resemble minor fortresses on the outside with high, solid walls and heavy gates, iron grids and secret hiding-places, but which are spacious and comfortable, richly decorated and furnished on the inside. The oldest of Arbanassi's five churches is The Birth of Christ (1637 - 1649), dug into the ground without a belfry and with hidden cupolas, but hiding a genuine art gallery with over 3,500 stunningly realistic figures and Biblical scenes, painted by unknown artists throughout the ages. Dinner and overnight in Hotel Meridian Bolyarski 4* - Veliko Turnovo. (B, L, D)
Departure to Varna. On the way visit the Madara horseman - a spectacular figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east Bulgaria. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Bulgarian Empire before Bulgaria’s conversion to Christianity in the 9th century. The inscriptions beside the sculpture tell of events that occurred between AD 705 and 801. En route visit one of the most incredible natural phenomena in Bulgaria - the natural stone pillars, known as “The stone forest” – Pobiti kamuni. The program ends with an inspection of Aladzha Monastery - a mysterious rock monastery that existed in the XII - XIV century. Followed by panoramic night tour of Varna and a dinner with a tasting of Bulgarian wines in a cozy wine cellar. Overnight in Aqua hotel 4* - Varna. (B, L, D)
Morning Sightseeing tour of Varna – the pearl of Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Founded in 6th c. BC the town was called Odessos and one can still marvel at the remains preserved from the times of the Romans and Byzantine. Ancient, medieval, renaissance and modern cultures mingle and coexist throughout the city. Magnificent examples of the different periods art and culture are the Roman Thermal Baths and the early Christian Basilica from the 4th c. Some of the city's sights of interest are: the Roman fortress wall and Round Tower, Cathedral of the Assumption, Old Clock Tower in the City Gardens, residential quarters and others. Departure to Nessebar. Visit the unique museum town of Nessebar. Lunch and sightseeing tour of Nessebar. Situated on a small peninsula one of the oldest towns in Europe still exudes the spirit of different ages and peoples – Thracians, Hellenes, Romans, Slavs, Byzantines and Bulgarians. Nessebar's greatest wealth are its many churches: the Old Bishop's Residence in an early Byzantine style (4th-5th c.), the New Bishops Residence (St. Stefan), containing valuable 12-th century murals, the Christ Pantocrator and Aliturgetos churches (13-th -14th c.). Nessebar's National Revival houses with stone foundations and broad wooden eaves, overhanging narrow cobbled lanes leading right into the sea, are also remarkably beautiful. Dinner and overnight in Hotel Festa Panorama 4* - Nessebar. (B, L, D)
En route visit Kazanlak, situated in the middle of the Valley of Roses. Visit Iskra Museum of History in Kazanluk where some of the unique Thracian golden treasures discovered in the region are on display, The Museum of Roses and the 4th c. BC Thracian Tomb (replica) included in UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage List, famous for its beautiful and extremely valuable murals. Lunch in Kazanlak. Continue to Plovdiv and sightseeing tour of the Old Town of Plovdiv. An ancient crossroads between East and West and Bulgaria's second largest city today, Plovdiv has preserved unique treasures from its 24 centuries long history. Evmolpia - the city of the ancient Thracians, Philippopolis (372 B.C.) - the city of Philip II of Macedon, the Roman Trimontium - the city on three hills, and Old Plovdiv - a picturesque architectural National Revival period ensemble fashioned by the generous talent, heart and mind of the Bulgarian masters. The Old Town of Plovdiv is one of the most remarkable places in Bulgaria with its steep cobble-stoned streets, unique houses and romantic atmosphere. See 4th century BC Thracian wall paintings, the Roman amphitheater, Byzantine and medieval fortifications and 15th century Ottoman mosques. Visit the Bachkovo monastery One of the oldest monasteries in the Bulgarian lands, it rises in the picturesque Chaya river valley, 29 km south of Plovdiv. Founded in 1083, Bachkovo Monastery is chiefly known for its original architecture, rich collections of old icons, jewelry, coins and church plate. The library preserves many valuable incunabula and old manuscripts. Its most remarkable feature, however, are the paintings that are seen everywhere - in the church and ossuary, where the figure of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander is discernible among the 11th and 14th century murals, in the refectory (1601), in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin main church (1604), and in the Holy Trinity and St. Nicholas church (1840), which contain some of the first murals painted by the celebrated National Revival artist Zahari Zograph. Dinner and overnight in Hotel Ramada Trimontium 4* - Plovdiv. (B, L, D)
Morning departure for Rila monastery. Visit and lunch at Rila monastery – the most significant and impressive monument of Bulgarian National Revival period. Having survived the times with the self-confidence of the most zealous guard of the Bulgarian spirit and language, it still fascinates present-day visitor with the pure and harmonious line of the buildings' exquisite colonnades, arches and vaults, spacious rooms richly decorated with murals and fretwork. The monastery's most treasured historic and artistic monuments include the 14th century Hrelyo Tower, the five-domed Birth of the Blessed Virgin Church and the original monastery kitchen from the 19th century. The monastery also houses a rich museum collection of valuable old manuscripts and documents, charters and icons, an ethnographic exhibition of fabrics, jewelry, carpets and wrought iron objects, and a library containing more than 16,000 books. Lunch at a restaurant nearby the monastery with fresh trout caught in the river. Departure for Sofia. En route visit the Boyana church included in UNESCO list of World Heritage with astonishing 13th c. AD frescoes, one of the most complete and perfectly preserved monuments of east European Medieval art. Farewell dinner at folk-style restaurant at the foot of Vitosha Mountain with program and Nestinary dances. Overnight in Sofia Hotel Ramada 4*. (B, L, D)
Booking is available min for 2 pax. The direction of the program and the sequence of excursions and walks (day of the tour, departure time) can be changed. This tour program is not an official program and can not serve as a basis for reclamation. It is possible to make changes to the tour program and the sequence of its carrying out.