Sv Cyril & Methodius Cathedral

Black Sea Coast

　　Completed in 1907, the city’s main church boasts an especially fine, intricately carved iconostasis and colourful murals. It was closed in 2016 to undergo renovation to repair the church's damaged foundation, but is expected to reopen in 2017. ...

Ethnographic Museum

Black Sea Coast

　　Regional folk costumes, jewellery and furniture are on show at this museum, as well as displays covering the local weaving and fishing industries. Everything is labelled in Bulgarian. ...

Natural History Museum

Black Sea Coast

　　Old-fashioned but informative displays on local flora, fauna and geology are on view here. Exhibits of rocks, seashells, butterflies and beetles occupy the ground floor, while upstairs there’s a collection of stuffed birds and animals. ...

Archaeological Museum

Black Sea Coast

　　This small museum houses a diverting collection of local finds including Neolithic flint tools, a wooden canoe from the 5th century BC, Greek statuary and the remarkably well-preserved wooden coffin of a Thracian chieftain. It's all well laid out and signposted in English. ...

Maritime Park

Black Sea Coast

　　Stretching lazily along the Black Sea coast and filled with manicured flower beds, fountains, busts of Bulgarian worthies, abstract sculptures and cafes, this park is the pride of Burgas. There are spectacular views over the sea from the terraces, and steps lead down from here toward the beach. ...

St Anastasia Island

Black Sea Coast

　　This small volcanic island makes for a fun day of exploring. The island, which has served as a religious retreat, a prison and pirate bait (according to legend, a golden treasure is buried in its sands), is today dominated by a lighthouse and a monastery, where visitors can sample various...

Poda Conservation Centre

Black Sea Coast

　　Four lakes surrounding Burgas (Pomoriysko, Atanasovsko, Mandrensko and Burgasko) comprise 9500 hectares and represent the largest wetland system in Bulgaria. The area is home to some 260 bird species, nearly 70% of the country’s total. This conservation centre, about 8km south of Burgas, was established in 1998 to protect the...

Church of Sveti Dimitâr

Veliko Târnovo

　　Across the river, enclosed by a high wall, is Târnovo’s oldest church, the beautifully proportioned Church of Sveti Dimitâr. Built in the so-called Târnovo style, it was named after St Dimitrios, patron saint of Thessaloniki (Greece). During its 1185 consecration, Tsars Asen and Petâr proclaimed an uprising against Byzantine rule,...

Museum of National Revival & Constituent Assembly

Veliko Târnovo

　　Within a former Turkish town hall built in 1872, this is where Bulgaria’s first National Assembly was held to write the country’s first constitution in 1879. The ground floor charts administrative and daily life in Veliko Târnovo from the 15th to 19th centuries, using costumes, books and photos, building up...

Forty Martyrs Church

Veliko Târnovo

　　The Forty Martyrs Church, in the old Asenova quarter, was built in 1230 to celebrate Tsar Asen II’s victory over the Byzantines. It was used as a royal mausoleum and then as a mosque by the Turks, before its reuse as a church after Bulgaria's liberation in 1878. ...

Ulitsa General Gurko

Veliko Târnovo

　　The oldest street in Veliko Târnovo, ul Gurko is a must-stroll with arresting views towards the Yantra River and Asen Monument. Its charmingly crumbling period houses – which appear to be haphazardly piled on one another – provide a million photo opportunities and conversations that start with 'Imagine living here…'...

Asenevtsi Monument

Veliko Târnovo

　　In the shape of a sky-piercing sword and dominating Veliko Târnovo's river views, this 1985 monument celebrates medieval Bulgarian might. The horsemen flanking its central column are Asenevtsi brothers Asen, Petar and Kaloyan and Asen's son Ivan, under whom Bulgaria flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. The surrounding greenery...

Samovodska Charshiya

Veliko Târnovo

　　During its 19th-century heyday, this lane hosted dozens of vendors from local villages, who carefully laid fruit and vegetables, butter and cheeses onto small carpets on the cobbled ground. Inns, blacksmiths and craft shops helped Samovodska Charshiya grow into Veliko Târnovo's biggest market square in the 1880s. Today it retains...

Sarafkina Kâshta

Veliko Târnovo

　　Built for a wealthy banker in 1861, this National Revival–style house-museum spans five storeys. Within, 19th-century earrings, bracelets and other delicate silverware are on display, alongside antique ceramics, woodcarvings and traditional costumes and jewellery. 　　Sarafkina Kâshta offers insights into the wigged world of Veliko Târnovo's 19th-century society women, a ball-frequenting,...

Tsarevets Fortress

Veliko Târnovo

　　The inescapable symbol of Veliko Târnovo, this reconstructed fortress dominates the skyline and is one of Bulgaria’s most beloved monuments. The former seat of the medieval tsars, it hosts the remains of more than 400 houses, 18 churches, the royal palace, an execution rock and more. Watch your step: there...

Sveti Nikolai Church

Varna

　　The pretty Sveti Nikolai Church, right in the city centre, is worth a visit for its saintly murals. It’s always busy, and is a popular venue for weddings. ...

St Michael the Archangel Church

Varna

　　St Michael the Archangel Church was founded in 1865 and is historically significant as the first place where religious services were given in Bulgarian. The building also contained Varna’s first school. The church is small and badly lit, but there are some fine wooden icons. ...

National Naval Museum

Varna

　　The National Naval Museum hosts several galleries of model ships and uniforms. Anchors, artillery and helicopters can be seen rusting quietly in the grounds at the back, while the revered warship Druzki, which torpedoed a Turkish cruiser during the First Balkan War in 1912, is embedded in concrete outside. ...

Natural History Museum

Varna

　　The museum presents the flora and fauna of the Black Sea region, divided into sections representing the area's geology, botany, vertebrates and invertebrates. Kids will enjoy the collection of creepy crawlies, such as spiders and scorpions. The museum is located in the northern part of Primorski Park, opposite the Palace...

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin

Varna

　　Varna's cathedral (1886) is topped with golden onion domes. Note the murals (painted in 1950) and colourful stained-glass windows, though you'll have to pay 5 lv if you want to take photos inside. ...

Primorski Park

Varna

　　Established in 1878, this large and attractive green space, overlooking the sea, stretches for about 8km and is said to be the largest of its kind in Europe. It’s full of promenading families and old women knitting lace in summer, and there’s always something going on. In addition to greenery...

Roman Thermae

Varna

　　The well-preserved ruins of Varna's 2nd-century-AD Roman Thermae are the largest in Bulgaria and the fourth-largest of their kind in Europe. Visitors are allowed to clamber around the various chambers of the bath complex and admire surviving pieces of the advanced floor- and water-heating systems. The baths survived in their...

Archaeological Museum

Varna

　　Exhibits at this vast museum, the best of its kind in Bulgaria, include 6000-year-old bangles, necklaces and earrings said to be the oldest worked gold found in the world. You'll also find Roman surgical implements, Hellenistic tombstones and touching oddments including a marble plaque listing, in Greek, the names of...

Ruins of Eumolpias

Plovdiv

　　Some 203m high in the old town, a hill with spectacular views reveals sparse ruins of Eumolpias, a Thracian settlement in 5000 BC. The fortress and surrounding town enjoyed a strategic position, later bolstered by Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgarians and Turks, who named it Nebet Tepe (Prayer Hill). 　　Reach it...

Church of Sveti Konstantin & Elena

Plovdiv

　　This is Plovdiv’s oldest church and one of its most beloved. Dedicated to Emperor Constantine the Great and his mother, Helena, it was built on the spot where two Christian martyrs were beheaded in the year 304. Admire marvellous frescoes and a colourful carved ceiling in the exterior colonnade, and...

Tsar Simeon Garden

Plovdiv

　　Plovdiv's prettiest place to stroll, Tsar Simeon Garden was sculpted by Swiss architect Lucien Chevalas in 1892; he's now lovingly referred to as the 'minister of flowers'. In recent years the park's Goddess Demeter Fountain and central Viennese-style pavilion have been carefully restored. Tsar Simeon's Lake with the Singing Fountains...

Archaeological Museum

Plovdiv

　　This 100,000-item museum is a tour de force of Thracian and Roman artefacts, as well as icons and ecclesiastical artefacts from recent centuries. Most dazzling is the weighty Thracian gold work, part of the Panagyurishte collection, Bulgaria's biggest-ever haul of ancient gold. The museum's most arresting space is a corridor...

Atanas Krastev House

Plovdiv

　　Close to Nebet Tepe hill, this late 18th-century house was the residence of local painter and conservationist Atanas Krastev until his death in 2003. Krastev's impact on preserving and showcasing Plovdiv's cultural riches has left him fondly remembered as 'mayor of the old town'. His self-portraits and personal collection of...

Ethnographical Museum

Plovdiv

　　Even if you don't have time to step inside, it would be criminal to leave Plovdiv's old town without glancing into the courtyard of this stunning National Revival–era building. Well-manicured flower gardens surround a navy-blue mansion ornamented with golden filigree and topped with a distinctive peaked roof. There is more...

Balabanov House

Plovdiv

　　One of Plovdiv's most beautiful Bulgarian National Revival–era mansions, Balabanov House is an enjoyable way to experience old town nostalgia as well as contemporary art. The house was faithfully reconstructed in 19th-century style during the 1970s. The lower floor has an impressive collection of paintings by local artists, while upper...

Roman Amphitheatre

Plovdiv

　　Plovdiv’s magnificent 2nd-century AD amphitheatre, built during the reign of Emperor Trajan, was uncovered during a freak landslide in 1972. It once held about 7000 spectators. Now largely restored, it's one of Bulgaria's most magical venues, once again hosting large-scale special events and concerts. Visitors can admire the amphitheatre for...

Ancient Serdica Complex

Sofia

　　This remarkable, partly covered excavation site, situated just above the Serdika metro station, displays the remains of the Roman city, Serdica, that once occupied this area. The remains were unearthed from 2010 to 2012 during construction of the metro. There are fragments of eight streets, an early Christian basilica, baths...

Sofia History Museum

Sofia

　　The history of Sofia is presented on two floors of the magnificent former Turkish Mineral Baths, just behind the mosque. Exhibitions are divided thematically over eight chambers, with the most interesting rooms dedicated to the Bulgarian royal families of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the findings of...

Museum of Socialist Art

Sofia

　　If you wondered where all those unwanted statues of Lenin ended up, you'll find some here, along with the red star from atop Sofia's Party House. There's a gallery of paintings, where you'll rejoice in catchy titles such as Youth Meeting at Kilifarevo Village to Send Worker-Peasant Delegation to the...

Sveti Georgi Rotunda

Sofia

　　Built in the 4th century AD, this tiny red-brick church is Sofia's oldest preserved building. The murals inside were painted between the 10th and 14th centuries. It's a busy, working church, but visitors are welcome. To find the church, enter through an opening on ul Sâborna. ...

Archaeological Museum

Sofia

　　Housed in a former mosque built in 1496, this museum displays a wealth of Thracian, Roman and medieval artefacts. Highlights include a mosaic floor from the Church of Sveta Sofia, a 4th-century BC Thracian gold burial mask, and a magnificent bronze head, thought to represent a Thracian king. ...

Boyana Church

Sofia

　　Tiny 13th-century Boyana Church is included on Unesco’s World Heritage list and its 90 murals are among the very finest examples of Bulgarian medieval artwork. A combined ticket includes entry to both the church and the National Museum of History, 2km away. 　　Highlights include the oldest known portrait of St...

Sveta Sofia Church

Sofia

　　Sveta Sofia is one of the capital's oldest churches, and gave the city its name. A subterranean museum houses an ancient necropolis, with 56 tombs and the remains of four other churches. Outside are the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and an eternal flame, and the grave of Ivan Vazov,...

Aleksander Nevski Cathedral

Sofia

　　One of the symbols not just of Sofia but of Bulgaria itself, this massive, awe-inspiring church was built between 1882 and 1912 in memory of the 200,000 Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria’s independence during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78). It is named in honour of a 13th-century Russian warrior-prince....