This tour suggestion is oriented towards riders who had dedicated enough time to explore Bulgaria’s deep secrets. In these 6 days, you will ride on beautiful scenic roads and mountain passages, meet unknown cultures and civilizations, learn lots of new stuff, feel and get to know Bulgaria and its people. Our highly educated in history and archaeology will do their best to share as much as they can for the ancient civilizations and peoples that lived in these lands. During this amazing journey, you will visit plenty of archaeological and historical sights. After this journey, you can proudly say “I have been to Bulgaria”.
Itinerary:
Day 1
We will start our tour on one of the most popular scenic moto roads in Bulgaria. It is right next to the Central Balkan mountain. It will give you the pleasure of new asphalt and beautiful views. After a couple of hours, we will reach our first stop, where you will have a guided visit of the ancient “Diocletianopolis”. The town is still an active SPA resort with well preserved Roman remains, where we might have our lunch. Another point of interest will be a Thracian tomb from the IV century BC. It is a good introduction to this ancient civilization, which you will need because during the trip we will visit many places related to them.
Our final destination for the day is to reach one of the oldest cities in Europe – Plovdiv. It is one of the oldest constantly inhabited cities in Europe-more than 8000 years of human evolution. We will park the bikes in front of the hotel where we will overnight. It is located in the historic part of the city. We will change clothes and start exploring this amazing place. We will visit monuments from The Romans, the medieval Bulgarians, the Byzantines, and the Ottomans. It is not a chance that the city was elected for Cultural capital of Europe. The evening we can spend in the area called “The trap”. It is full of small restaurants, craft breweries, and clubs. Very vivid and very artistic.
The overnight is scheduled to be in the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2019.
Riding time for the day approximately 4 hours / ~220 km.
Day 2
After breakfast, we will head towards one of the biggest and most mystic Thracian sights. It is a city, built around one of the most famous ancient oracles of Dionis. The place has archaeological layers from the Late Bronze Age to the late Medieval period. Later on the day, we will have another stop at the Thracian sanctuary from the same ancient period. On the way to our final destination for the day, we will ride through the East part of the Rhodope mountains. The region is very interesting and contains the biggest population of Bulgarians, who have accepted Islam during the Ottoman period. We will overnight in a town close to the Turkish border, full of stories from the “Cold War” and the best-preserved Roman villa in this part of Europe.
Riding time for the day approximately 5 hours / ~260 km.
Day 3
In the morning you will have a guided visit to the Roman villa. After that, we will visit the “Deaf stones” – a mysterious place with no explained functions (there are some theories) left by the Thracians. It is situated in a mountain forest and will be one of the top mystical places that you have visited. After lunch, our journey will lead us to the South part of our Black sea coast. Our final stop will be in Nessebar, where we will overnight. The town is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List and was one of the most important and busiest trade ports in the Hellenistic period (4th Century BC).
Riding time for the day approximately 6.5 hours / ~300 km.
Day 4
Our journey will continue up to the North part of our coast. First, we will cross the Central Balkan Mountain. Then we will reach our Black sea capital – Varna. It is the biggest city on the Bulgarian coast and the most important trade and military port. Our main priorities will be to visit two of the most interesting museums in Bulgaria. One is holding a collection from the Communistic period and the other the oldest gold treasure in the world. This treasure is related to a civilization that is one of the big mysteries of our lands. We will overnight in the city.
Riding time for the day approximately 2 hours / 150 km.
Day 5
After breakfast, we will start our ride in the North-East part of Bulgaria. After a very short ride, we will stop to enjoy the beauty of nature and see the so-called “Stone Forest”. During this day we will see some very interesting places of worship related to completely different cultures. One of them is related to the Old Bulgarians. It is a huge carving high in the rocks. It is astonishing and definitely deserves to be part of the UNESCO list. Other is a Thracian royal tomb, part UNESCO World Heritage list too. The tomb is part of a huge burial complex, situated next to the ancient city of Hellis. On the other sight of the IV century BC, fortifications have situated a sanctuary related to a very interesting and rare Islamic society – the Alians. We will visit their Demir Baba Teke. After this full of beautiful sites and knowledge ride we will head North to the Danube river where we will overnight in the “Small Vienna”- Ruse.
Riding time for the day approximately 4 hours / ~230km.
Day 6
In the morning, we will start our journey South. We will visit Krushuna waterfalls and the “Devetaki” cave (one of the most beautiful caves in Bulgaria full of stories from the “Cold War” to Holywood productions). We will have our lunch break in Lovech, where is an interesting 19th Century covered bridge and another Medieval fortress. The bridge is built by a very interesting Bulgarian architect, who without education in engineering had built lots of bridges and buildings which are still standing and even still used. From there we will enter one of the most beautiful and less known parts of the Central Balkan Mountain. We will overnight in a small town in the area.
Riding time for the day approximately 5 hours / ~240km.
Day 7
In the morning we will ride to one of the most spectacular and out of the light of the fame monastery – Glozen monastery. Standing at the top of the mountain since the middle ages it still active and few monks are living there. Before we reach back to Sofia we will stop at the birthplace of our last Communistic leader and learn the strange history of our transition period and the present political elite. We will visit his house, where there is a museum dedicated to him. When we return to Sofia you will return, if you have rented the bikes. We can transfer you to the Sofia airport. Overnight in Sofia is not included. If you need such put it in the comments during booking.
Riding time for the day approximately 4 hours / ~120km.
