City: Bulgaria
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The 10 Best Mountains in Bulgaria, Bulgaria
Coordinates: 42°45′N 25°30′E / 42.750°N 25.500°E / 42.750; 25.500
Restaurants in Bulgaria
1. Rila Mountains
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 83 reviews
Reviewed By didih123 - Strasbourg, France
Bulgaria is without a doubt one of my favorite places to visit and shoot photos in . The wide open places ,natural lakes ,beautiful mountains and endless landscapes keep me coming back over and over again ...Musala (Bulgarian: Мусала; from Arabic through Ottoman Turkish: Musalla, "near God" or "place for prayer" is the highest peak in the entire Balkan Peninsula, standing at 2,925 m (9,596 ft). The summit of the Rila mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, Musala is the highest peak between the Alps and the Caucasus and the highest in Eastern Europe bar the Caucasus. With a prominence of 2473 m, Musala is the 7th most prominent mountain peak in Europe (Wikipedia)
2. Rodope Mountains
3. Botev Peak
4. Todorini Kukli
5. Vitosha Mountain
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,208 reviews
Reviewed By Sharpehunter - Island of Malta, Malta
When you arrive in Sofia your attention is immediately drawn to the Mount Vitosha range which stands tall in the backdrop. Beautiful snow-capped mountains fringed by lush green mixed woodland and forest draws you in immediately. Easily accessible by car, buses and trams, you can even jump the various chairlifts to get higher up the range. My favourite starting point for any hike in Vitosha is Boyana Church. From here there is a myriad of routes to choose of varying difficulty all clearly marked. Take your pick from The Golden Bridges, Boyana Lake and Boyana Waterfall, or just choose a path that looks good, hit the trail and go with the flow. Advisable to wear good walking shoes, the terrain is very diverse and changeable and varies from easy-going paths to steep rocky (and slippy) climbs. Always take plenty of water, make sure you have some food. There are lots of mountain huts that serve great traditional Bulgarian food, beers, wines and soft drinks, but you have to get to them first. Fabulous days out, I still haven't done the actual Black Peak yet, but it's on the agenda.
6. Vihren
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 148 reviews
Reviewed By ceebeebee2017 - Derbyshire, United Kingdom
It is really difficult as a Brit to find out how to safely climb the mountain, the 2nd highest peak in Bulgaria, but where there's a will, you must find a way! You can drive up Pirin Rd out of Bansko, past the National Park centre where I saw a wild tortoise- yes, wild! Drive up and up and up the windy road, following the Vihren hut signs. When you drive through an enormous bus parking, go through it, sweeping round to the far left and continue up again, eventually past Banderista hut on your left. It is worth stopping here for 15mins- walk up the steps on the uphill side of the hut and visit the second oldest tree in Bulgaria- amazing! Then continue, after 10 mins reaching uneven track and Vihren hut, your starting point. There is not much parking there, maybe 20-25 vehicles, but you can turn round to park wherever you can find just below it. The hut here is lovely, with opportunity for refreshments throughout the day. The journey took 35 mins from Bansko. Then, follow the yellow signs to Vihren, following the blue and yellow symbols painted on rocks every few minutes. The way they are painted gives the direction of travel, and little cairns often mark changes in direction- clues I figured en route. Vihren means 'windy mountain' and even though it was 30 degrees in June, we needed an extra layer at the top. Also, at this time of year, the weather can be unpredictable so go prepared for rain and never attempt if thunderstorms are predicted incase you are hit by lightening. Check Accuweather Virhen website the day before. The route up took us just over 4 hrs from the hut; we are 60 yrs of age and I walk VERY slowly uphill, and yes, I drank my litre bladder dry on the way. The terrain is stepped most of the way over natural stones alongside a stream, crossing Boulder falls at times, and through scrub on narrow paths. If in doubt of the correct route, walk no further than 15 mins without seeing the coloured symbols ( some of them are a bit faded). We found there are a few well walked pathways leading up but if they are in the general direction, they are all painted with this symbol to help guide you. The main pathway is slightly wider. There are some larger, steeper slabs of rocks to haul yourself up, but nothing requiring wire ropes and nothing technical or higher than a very large Boulder. I read online accounts beforehand which say this peak is easy and suitable for children. I have lots of mountain walking experience, and I think children need to be 8 or above and confident on rocky, steeper terrain. The views are wonderful as you walk uphill. About 30 mins from the top, the convex slope becomes exposed and extremely rocky, so pick your path wisely and preferably follow a painted symbol path. This is a hard final slog. At the top, there is a tall cairn encased in metal. An amazing view of the Pirin and Rila mountains. By the way, a 1:50,000 Pirin mountains map can be bought from the tiny fronted bookshop about 5 doors up from the central Tourist Information. We followed the red route on the map clockwise from the hut, by far the easiest route. So retrace your steps back down to the hut unless you are a very experienced walker/ scrambler/ mountaineer, mad following it clockwise off the summit towards the Premkata col, requires climbing downhill using wired ropes and down large rocks with vertical drops if you slip! We were warned at the top against doing this by a very experienced Bulgarian, who said he viewed it as more dangerous than Koncheto ridge, which is at least horizontal. He advised only doing this stretch in an upwards direction, so you are pulling yourself up the wires. In the past I have found wearing half fingered mountain biking gloves gives good grip for this and protects hands against any protruding wires. Hope this helps you to confidently give this beautiful mountain a go! It's well worth the effort.
7. Strandja Mountain
8. Blue Mountains
9. Borovets Ski Resort
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,487 reviews
Reviewed By davidbP9097CZ - Newport, United Kingdom
Just spent the week in Borovets, we were blessed with the weather, it snowed heavily overnight on several occasions and we had a mix of sunny blue skies and moody clouds during the day, all of which was a great backdrop for skiing. Facilities seem to have been upgraded since last time we came three years ago, new six person chairlift, new hotel complexes and extended Alpin ski school. Being a relative novice at skiing I can’t comment on the comparative benefits of Borovets over any other resort but I found all the slopes great fun and as challenging as you want to make them with the option of green through to black and the ability to mix and match on the way down. At least three snow ploughs were out every night making the slopes pristine for the following day and snow cannons are also strategically placed in case a top up is needed. Great value for money resort, we would recommend.
