A country · 156 places · 22 regions
Bulgaria, all of it.
156 curated places across 22 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.
The 4 biggest regions — Sofia City, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas — read below as chapters, with 18 more waiting past them.
Chapter I · Sofia City · 26 places
Sofia City
A vast Neo-Byzantine cathedral crowned with gilded and green domes, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the Balkans. Built in the early 20th century, it commemorates soldiers who died for Bulgarian liberation.
via Wikimedia CommonsChapter II · Plovdiv · 16 places
Plovdiv
Plovdiv's Old Town occupies three of the city's distinctive syenite hills, where National Revival-period merchant houses from the 18th and 19th centuries line cobbled streets above the Roman forum. The overhanging timber-framed upper storeys, often painted in vivid blues, greens, and ochres, create a layered streetscape that has made Plovdiv one of the most photographed historic quarters in the Balkans. The Roman theatre, seating around 7,000 and still used for concerts, is directly integrated into the hillside fabric.
✦ April to October · $
Chapter III · Varna · 9 places
Varna
A medieval rock-hewn monastery carved into limestone cliffs near the Black Sea coast. Cells and chapels are cut into the vertical face.
via Wikimedia CommonsChapter IV · Burgas · 8 places
Burgas
Sozopol is a small town on a rocky peninsula south of Burgas, founded as the Greek colony of Apollonia Pontica in the 7th century BC and retaining a well-preserved old quarter of 19th-century timber-frame houses on the headland. Narrow cobbled lanes connect two beaches on opposite sides of the peninsula, and the Archaeological Museum holds finds from the colonial period including the anchor of a 5th-century BC vessel. The town's profile from the sea, with its dense wooden houses against the open water, is among the most distinctive on the Bulgarian coast.
✦ June to September · $
Regions of Bulgaria
Every place in Bulgaria
156 places, one country.
Varna
Black Sea Coast, Bulgaria
✦ June to September · $
Sozopol
Burgas, Bulgaria
✦ June to September · $
Plovdiv Old Town
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
✦ April to October · $
Belogradchik Rocks
Vidin, Bulgaria
✦ April to October · $
Balchik
Dobrich, Bulgaria
✦ May to September · $
Bachkovo Monastery
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
✦ April to October · $
Trigrad Gorge
Smolyan, Bulgaria
✦ May to October · $
Stob Pyramids
Kyustendil, Bulgaria
✦ April to October · $
Rila Lakes
Kyustendil, Bulgaria
✦ July to September · $
Koprivshtitsa
Sofia Oblast, Bulgaria
✦ May to October · $
Rila Mountain
Sofia Oblast, Bulgaria
✦ July to September, December to March · $
Nessebar Old Town
Burgas, Bulgaria
✦ May to October · $$
Zheravna
Sliven, Bulgaria
✦ May to October · $
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
Sofia City, Bulgaria
✦ Year-round · $
Rotunda of St. George, Sofia
Sofia City, Bulgaria
✦ Year-round · $
Church of Saint Sophia, Sofia
Sofia City, Bulgaria
✦ Year-round · $
Ancient Theatre of Plovdiv
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
✦ May to September · $
Asen's Fortress
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
✦ May to October · $
Tsarevets
Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
✦ May to October · $
Ruse
Ruse, Bulgaria
✦ May to September · $
Shipka Memorial Church
Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
✦ spring to autumn · $
Shipka Pass
Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
✦ May to October · $
Etar Architectural Ethnographic Complex
Gabrovo, Bulgaria
✦ May to September · $
Bozhentsi
Gabrovo, Bulgaria
✦ May to October · $