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Cycling holidays in Bulgaria, tailormade

country:Bulgaria
trip type:Moderate cycling holidays
departures:Departures can be arranged at anytime between May and September with a minimum 2 people
price:From €420 (8 days) excluding flights. Single supplement €70. Price includes accommodation (halfboard), transfers, equipped bike (without helmet!), guide with supporting vehicle, map and roadbook
 
the amazing things you'll be doing
On this tour we bike along the north and central parts of the Balkan Mountains (the so called Fore-Balkan), famous for their unspoiled nature, green valleys with sheep peacefully grazing on lush grass, precipitous cliffs and gentle, rolling hills offering plenty of unique biking opportunities.

We start the trip from the tiny Goliam Izvor village, passing by the Central Balkan National Park and ending up in Veliko Tarnovo – the Old Bulgarian capital and one of the most charming Bulgarian towns. The narrow roads meander through picturesque museum villages that look as they have been untouched for the past 200 years. You’ll see wooden carts pulled by a horse or donkey and villagers making hay the old-fashioned way. During the trip you will visit several of Bulgaria's most important Orthodox monasteries, situated in the dales or woods. Churches with centuries-old icons and colourful murals are spread across a wide range of villages and small towns.

All bikers are provided a detailed roadbook but the guide with the supporting vehicle checks every 3-5km if everything is OK with the group and meets them at every interesting place or at crossroads just to make sure the group does not miss something interesting.
day-by-day itinerary
Day 1:Arrival at Sofia airport and transfer to Goliam Izvor village (we arrange private transfers for arrivals at Bourgas or Varna airports).
Day 2:Biking through Glozhene Monastery to Ribaritsa resort (the longest Bulgarian village). Distance: 70km; +850m/-800m
Day 3:Cycling through Shipkovo resort to Troyan Monastery. Transfer to Apriltsi. Distance: 74km; +900m/-1000m
Day 4:Cycling to Batoshevo Monastery and Etura ethnographic open-air museum. Distance: 55km; +750m/-800m
Day 5:Biking to Tryavna and the museum village of Bozhentsi. Distance: 52km; +950m/-1000m
Day 6:Cycling to Dryanovo and Kilifarevo monasteries, ending in Elena. Distance: 48 km; +600m/-700m
Day 7:Biking from Elena to the museum village of Arbanassi and further to Veliko Tarnovo, overlooked by Tsarevets Fortress. Transfer to Plovdiv (the second biggest town in Bulgaria) for overnight in the old quarters of the city. Distance: 43 km; +600m/-600m
Day 8:Transfer to Sofia for departure (we arrange private transfers for departures from Bourgas or Varna airports)
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.
how this holiday makes a difference
With this tour our agency offers you a unique experience combining cycling in remote mountain village regions, exploring the splendid natural surroundings of the Central Balkan mountains and the chance to experience genuine contact with the local people and their every day life.

Our groups are small, up to 12 persons, and accommodated in small to medium size locally owned family hotels and guesthouses. We have established good relations with the accommodation facilities and provide them with sufficient numbers of tourists from all around the world which add to their prosperity and sustainability throughout the year. We encourage our tourists to take part in as many as possible additional activities offered by the accommodation owners and purchasing home made ecological foods and other traditional Bulgarian crafts products from local people.

By joining this tour our clients also contribute to the protection and preservation of precious Bulgarian cultural and historical landmarks, architectural reserves and old monasteries by visiting them, purchasing local goods and using the services of local guides. We encourage tourists to visit Tourist information centers and various craft and art exhibitions and learn and spread the knowledge of Bulgarian culture, history and traditional village way of life. Nature, culture, adventure and close relations with local people and their sustainable prosperity is what we put the stress on, hoping to add as much as possible to the development and establishment of sustainable tourism in Bulgaria and its countryside regions.

We believe that what we have now as an environment is not a legacy from our ancestors but something we have borrowed from our children. We will do our best to preserve it and improve it as much as we can. We directly support nature conservation projects, donating money, or providing vehicles for different NGO actions like forestation activities, monitoring of waterfowl, winter counts, research projects on specific species/habitats etc. We provide local nature conservation NGOs with discounted prices on our rent a car services or hostel accommodations for their every day job, workshops, training etc. common initiatives.

We recycle paper and reuse paper in our office; all printer cartridges (incl. laser jets) are also subjects of regular recycling. An online version of our printed brochure is available for online viewing at the website, which reduces considerably our paper consumption in terms of print runs and mailing envelopes. We have also adopted a variety of energy efficiency measures at our offices like outer wall insulation, energy saving light bulbs etc. A bird feeder, supplied with huge amount of seeds, is always available by our office in severe winters.

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