Plovdiv Travel Forum

Any one knows a nice place for easy hiking and also accessible by public transportation.
Must be close to Plovdiv or V.tarnavo that I planed to visit.
Thank you

From Plovdiv a nice day trip is to the town of Asenovgrad, accessible by frequent buses and trains from Plovdiv, and only half an hour away. On the south side of the town is the entrance to a narrow valley. Overlooking the valley is a fortress and a church, and there are various other small chapels dotted around the hillsides. A nice place for some easy walking.

You could also get a bus to Bachkovo monastery, which is an interesting place in itself, and I belive also has some nice hiking nearby, although I didn't have time to explore them when I visited.

There is good hiking further south in the Rhodope Mountains, but to make it worth going there you'd probably need to stay a couple of nights rather than just a day trip from Plovdiv.

From Veliko Tarnovo there is a nice short hike over a plateau to the Preobrazhenski (Transfiguration) Monastery. The walk is signposted as an "Eco Trail" from the Varosh district of Veliko Tarnovo itself.

Thank you,
and how to get to Bachkovo monastery from Plovdiv?

There are buses between Plovdiv and Bachkovo - not as many as go to Asenovgrad, but enough for a daytrip. Bachkovo is not the final destination, they are more likely to show up on a timetable as heading to Smolyan or Pamporovo.

Plovdiv has several bus stations. When I was last there a couple of years ago, the buses to Bachkovo left from the "Rhodope" station, on the opposite side of the train tracks from the city centre, near a large Billa supermarket.

Thank you.
I am taking notes.