The unusual, almost Native American-like drum rhythm and the bagpipe tunes echo over the silent crowd, gathered around a large circle of live embers glowing into the night. All eyes are on a tiny group of barefoot men and women in traditional clothes, who dance slowly […]
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In the 1870s, while traveling to Belogradchik, a tiny town in Bulgaria’s northwest, Austro-Hungarian traveler and scientist Felix Kanitz was in two minds. Kanitz had read the boastful 1841 description of the magnificent beauty of the Belogradchik Rocks by Frenchman Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui, and he could scarcely […]
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Sumptuous Old Town façades hide well-preserved treasures The colorful houses lining the cobblestone streets of Old Plovdiv are arguably the city’s most recognizable sight. The only thing that can distract from marveling at their painted façades, projecting bay windows, and verdant gardens is the pavement. Polished […]
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LESHTEN Tranquility combined with landscapes untouched by tourism: if you have a longing to visit, Bulgaria will deliver. Here and there isolated and lesser-known villages lay scattered over vales and hills, offering the chance to awaken to bird song, spend the long days exploring quiet lanes […]
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There’s nothing deeper than the Iskar,” goes the local folk song, with characteristic parochialism. Even skeptics, however, admit that the longest river running entirely within Bulgarian territory is indeed remarkable. Springing from the plain near Samokov, it flows through the Sofia Plain and the Stara Planina […]
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The massive stone crosses that centuries ago used to be the graveyard of Garlo village, in the region of Pernik, poke out from the undergrowth, a poignant sight that we have covered several times in Vagabond. This time we are in this picturesque, atmospheric, and overlooked […]
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Sofia during the ages Neolithic mounds indicate that Sofia was inhabited as many as 7000 years ago. During the 1st millennium, the Thracian Serdi tribe settled around the central hot springs, and called the city “Serdika”. It was of strategic importance because of its position on […]
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You can’t miss going to Plovdiv if you’re around visiting Bulgaria. There’s something magical about that place you feel as soon as you enter the city. Situated between the Rhodope and the Balkan mountains, Plovdiv is 2 hours from Sofia and it’s easily reachable. The […]
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