Helle and N had six days in Bulgaria with rafting, canyoning and hiking as well. Bulgaria has a lot to offer those looking for outdoor activities. We travelled in July 2022 on a mother-and-son trip, where we rafted on the Strouma river, canyoned in the Vlahi river and hiked the mountains of Rila national park. In between we visited The Rila and Rozhen monastaries. T was ill with ME and stayed home with Peter.
We stayed the first nights in Sandanski at hotel Medite, and later at Rila Hotel Borovets in the ski resort Borovets. Highways are good in Bulgaria, and it was easy to get around in the rented car.
Facilities for tourists are well developed, but not quite as abundant than in for example Croatia. It was easy to arrange rafting and canyoning tours on short notice.
On the day we arrived, we drove to the Popinolashki waterfall outside Sandanski.
Rafting on Strouma River
On the first day in Sandanski, we went rafting on the Strouma river with BG Rafting. We were the only customers on that day, and the agency were flexible and happy to make a tour just for us. What a privilege!
The Strouma is a easy river to raft, with very soft rapids. It is easiier than we prefer, but we new before we started, and enjoyed the warm day on the river.
Canyoning on Vlahi River
BG Rafting also have half-day canyoning tours on the Vlahi river. We had already tried canyoning in Portugal, and wanted to do it again.
Hiking in Rila national Park
Rila national park has lots of trails and very beautiful mountain scenery. The seven Rila lakes is the best known area, but there are many others as well. It is difficult to find good maps. We used an app on the phone to create a route we could hike. We started at the Malyovitsa ski station and hiked up to Malyovitsa hut. It was a good hike, but we had underestimated the amount of “vertical”, so the hike took much longer time than expected.
Rila and Rozhen Monastaries
There are many monastaries in Bulgaria, and especially the Rila monastary is well-known for it’s colourful facade and dramatic history.
Rozhen Monastary is another interesting monatary, also worth a visit.
Six days in Bulgaria with rafting, canyoning and hiking goes fast, and we could have stayed much longer. But we could not travel longer, and enjoyed those days the more.
We like rafting, and have rafted in several countries.