Bulgaria · Travel journal
Bulgaria
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Long-form articles, history, and the real decisions you make before buying a ticket. All free.
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If you want to keep going.
Bulgaria · 17 June 2026
Seven Lakes of Rila: Bulgaria's most photographed trek
Seven glacial lakes stacked at 2,100-2,500 m altitude. How to do the classic half-day route from Sofia and why this is Bulgaria's benchmark trek.
Bulgaria · 3 June 2026
Bansko: the cheapest ski resort in Europe that's no longer secret
75 km of pistes in Pirin, daily pass at €42, a Bulgarian Renaissance town underneath. Why Bansko has gone from hidden to fixed-point on the European ski map.
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Bulgaria · 27 May 2026
Nessebar: the UNESCO peninsula with Europe's highest church-per-square-metre ratio
40 medieval churches on an 850-metre peninsula. How to visit Nessebar without falling into the tourist trap of Sunny Beach right next door.
7 min
Bulgaria · 20 May 2026
Bulgarian Black Sea coast: Varna, Burgas and the beaches that aren't Sunny Beach
378 km of coast with medieval Sozopol, UNESCO Nessebar, cape Kaliakra, virgin southern beaches and the overcrowded trap in the middle. Honest guide to the Bulgarian Black Sea.
7 min
Bulgaria · 13 May 2026
Veliko Tarnovo: the medieval capital that rivalled Byzantium
Tsarevets, Trapezitsa, old town, Arbanasi. The three-hilled city that was the Second Bulgarian Empire's head (1185-1396) and is now the country's most evocative.
7 min
Bulgaria · 6 May 2026
Rila Monastery: where Bulgaria survived for five centuries
Bulgaria's most important monastery and the Orthodox Balkans' key site. How to get there from Sofia, what to look at in the frescoes, and why Rila is more than a day trip.
7 min
Bulgaria · 29 April 2026
Plovdiv: Europe's oldest continuously inhabited city
Eight thousand uninterrupted years of occupation. Roman theatre, Revival old town, bohemian Kapana: why Plovdiv is the Bulgarian city that rewards the cultured traveller most.
8 min
Bulgaria · 26 April 2026
Bulgaria's history: thirteen centuries of Thrace, Byzantium and two empires
From Orpheus's Thracians to post-communism. Bulgaria had two medieval empires, invented Cyrillic and spent five centuries under the Ottomans. Essential context.
8 min
Bulgaria · 22 April 2026
Sofia in 2 days: what to see in Europe's oldest capital
Two-day itinerary for Sofia: Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Boyana, St George Rotunda, the Women's Market and Vitosha at the back. The Bulgarian capital, honestly.
7 min
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