This was a hard-work holiday, but so worth it. It was far more varied than we'd expected. Each mountain was very different, from bare-rock splendour to a weather and military station with a kiosk serving tea! Blazing sun to hail and thunder, beech woods to alpine meadows and pastures, village hotel with live local music and dancing to sightseeing in the capital city,culture to wildflowers, glacial lakes with romantic legends to ski resorts, weird rock formations tomonastery buildings and, best of all, the incredibly varied scenery and views, oh, the views!
A great walking holiday in unspoilt Bulgaria This was an excellent trip in a relatively unspoilt and bucolic part of the world. The Rodopi mountains in southern Bulgaria, near the Greek border, make for relatively gentle but sublime walking. We ambled along easy trails through deep gorges, natural forest and woodland, and, best of all, high alpine meadows, with carpets of wild flowers.
The hotel in Yagodina was excellent - clean, with plenty of hot water after a day out. The food, even as a vegetarian, was varied, using a lot of local produce, and generally excellent. At the hotel, local beers were cheap, about £1.25 a bottle, though the wines were less so - think UK supermarket prices. It even had fairly good wifi!
Bulgaria: The Realm of the Brown Bear A wonderful week in the magnificent Rodopi Mountains. Excellent walks, lots of flora and fauna with very good photographic opportunities. Led by such a great guide who gave us insights into the local culture and taught us so much about the bears that roam this fascinating wild corner of Europe.