Tour Bulgaria – Discover North-Western Bulgaria

Description

TOUR BULGARIA – DISCOVER NORTH-WESTERN BULGARIA

DATE: September 1 – 4

Brief itinerary:

Day 1 – September 1 – Sofia – Belogradchick – Magura Cave – Vidin

Day 2 – September 2 – Vidin, Zajchar (Serbia) – Vidin  

Day 3 – September 3 – Vidin – the Chiprovtsi monastery – Vratsa

Day 4 – September 4 – Vratsa – Sofia

Day 1 – September 1– Sofia – Belogradchik – The Magura Cave – Vidin

In the morning departure to Belogradchick. Once on spot visit the Belogradchik fortress and admire its marvellous shapes formed by the nature. Take a jeep and have one and a half hour drive around the spendid rock formations. Your driver will tell you many of the legends that the locals have been telling for centuries. After the jeep tour departure to the Magura cave – long 2,5 km and 15 million years old. Cave paintings dating from the Epipaleolitic, late Neolitic, Eneolitic and Early Bronze Age decorate some of the cave’s walls. The paintings have been estimated to be made between 10.000 and 8.000 years ago. The drawings represent important events of the society that had occupied the Magura cave: religious ceremonies, hunting scenes and depictions of deities which are unique on Balkan Peninsula. The Fertility Danceand the Hunting Ceremonyrank among the most noteworthy paintings.

Continue to Vidin. Accommodation. Overnight.

B Accommodation in Vidin in hotel Ana Christina *** (two nights)

Day 2 – September 2 – Vidin, Zajchar (Serbia) – Vidin 

In the morning departure to the Serbian border. After crossing it continue to the town of Zajchar. Three Roman Emperors were born in the city of Zaječar: Galerius (r. 293–311), Maximinus (r. 305–312) and Licinius (r. 308–324). Visit the Roman complex (UNESCO) Felix Romuliana. The site consists of fortifications, the palace in the north-western part of the complex, basilicas, temples, hot baths, memorial complex, and a tetrapylon. The site offers a unique testimony of the Roman building tradition marked by the ideology of the period of the Second Tetrachy. The group of buildings is also unique in its intertwining of ceremonial and memorial functions. The relation between two spatial ensembles in this site is stressed by the tetrapylon which is placed on the crossroads between the worldly fortification and palace on the one side and the other-worldly mausoleums and consecration monuments on the other. Return to Vidin. Overnight.

B Accommodation in Vidin in hotel Ana Christina ***

Day 3 – September 3 – Vidin – the Chiprovtsi monastery – Vratsa

After breakfast visit the Baba Vida fortress. Departure to the village of Tchiprovtsi famous with its carpet crafting. Some of the halls of the Buckingham Palace have been covered with carpets from Tchiprovtsi. The craft was added in the non-material heritage of UNESCO. Visit the Historical museum in teh town where you will get acquainted with the culture of the local people. Visit the Tchiprovtsi monastery. Continue to Vratsa. Visit the regional historical museum where on display you will admire the Valtchitrun Thracian silver treasure – the biggest treasure that has been discovered so far consisting of 165 vessels with total weight of 12,5 kgs including 108 phiales, 55 jugs and 3 goblets. The objects are silver with golden gilt on some of them with total weight of more than 20 kg. The treasure is an invaluable source of information for the life of the Thracians, due to the variety of motifs in the richly decorated objects. It is dated back to the 5th-4th centuries BC. In the evening – time at leisure.

B Accommodation in Vratsa in hotel Hemus ***

Day 4 – September 4 – Vratsa – Sofia

In the morning departure to Southern Bulgaria. Pass by one of the most visited monasteries in Northern Bulgaria – the Cherepish monastery. Here was written one of the most famous book by the Patriarch of the Bulgarian literature Ivan Vazov – “Dyado Iotso gleda” (Дядо Йоцо гледа). Still can be visited the tiny room where the poet lived and work. Continue to the Iskar gorge on the way to Sofia. Drive through the picturesque road along the Iskar Gorge.

Arrive in Sofia in the early afternoon. Drop off in your hotel. End of service.