Sofia Travel Forum

hello
what would you reccommend for a day out on tracking (softly) on Vitosha Mountain, to do, to see, and where could we have a nice late lunch during thatd ay?

One of the easiest routes is to take the cabin lift from Simeonovo to Hizha Aleko (Aleko mountain hut). This is the place which I recommend for eating: it has a middle-level somewhat pricey restaurant with grills, soups, cooked meals, etc. (not only sandwiches and packed food). From there you can hike around the mountain; most of the hikes there are quite relaxed. I am not a keen hiker, although I lived there, so I have only climbed the Cherni Vrah with some friends, but it was a demanding hike strting from the city outskirts. You can also start from Aleko, it's some 500m of altitude difference only. There is also a dirt road almost all the way to the mountain summit.

Other nice places are the Boyana area with a small beautiful waterfall and the Boyana Church that is an Unesco site.

Maps of Sofia and other cities (English language available):
www.bgmaps.com

Hope that helps
Venelin

Thank you very much dear VENELIN!
Where is BOYANA MONASTERY? On Vitosha Mountain? Far from Sofia? Could we get up on Vitosha Mountain by car?
How far from SOFIA is RILA MOnastery? Coould we see it in a day and be back in Sofia by 7pm?I am with my car.
Thank you agion for the info! BEST!

First, it's the Boyana Church, not monastery. It is a small church that contains the first so-called Orthodox Renaissance frescoes of the 13th century. I think it has a restrictive access regime, due to the need to keep constant humidity and temperature, but as far as I know you can visit it. It has a museum next to it which aalmost certainly contains copies of the frescoes inside.

http://www.boyanachurch.org/contacten.htm#

This address has contact details and public transportantion info. You might, however, want to get there by car, here is its location:

http://bgmaps.com/map.aspx?sid=76357d107589b7f201ec1f04ae764187&tip=1&initsearch=1

By car you can also reach many villages on the slopes of Vitosha, as well as the Dragalevtsi Monastery, close to the residential area with the same name.

You can certainly go to the Rila monastery too: it is a first-class tourist destination in Bulgaria. Due to its relative remotedness, almost complete lack of public transportation, and the Bulgarian overly secular attitudes, it is mostly tourists that go there, so the mountain road is not that packed. Use the maps website to calculate the route, it's 111km. I advice you to avoid Sundays, because the journey back will be very frustrating. The road from the South towards Sofia is literally packed with people returning for the beginning of the working week.

I don't know your travel plans, but as you have a car, I also wanted to recommend you the picturesque town of Koprivshtitsa to the east of Sofia. Just look for pictures of it and I believe you will like it. The place is a museum town of 19th century houses and is an important center of the Bulgarian National Revival. There are also nice and relaxed hikes in the nearby mountain.

Have a nice time in Bulgaria.

I just saw that I did not answer one of your major questions: Yes, you can get to the Rila Monastery in 1:30 hours at most. So you can spend a lot of time there and leave at around 4-5pm.