Small Group Full-Day Tour: Rila Monastery and Melnik

Get more of your holiday by booking an intensive small group guided tour to the highlights of southwest Bulgaria.

• Tour the smallest Bulgarian town, famous for its architecture, stunning surroundings, and wine production.

• The Melnik Pyramids are a fantastic phenomenon. Use wisely the recommended photo stops! :)

• In Melnik discover the impressive Rivaval Period style house of Kordopoulo’s family and peek into its tunnel-like wine cellar.

• Enjoy the sights of the tranquil Bulgarian countryside and its sleepy villages, while your guide introduces you to Bulgarian everyday countryside life;

• Visit the overwhelming Rila Monastery and let the guide relive its history and enlight you on its present-day status;

• Admire the priceless frescoe masterpieces of the most notable 19th-century Bulgarian painters

• Enrich your experience by tasting local delicacies and in this way involve all your senses;

Itinerary:

Depart early morning from the parking behind Alexander Nevski Cathedral, just in front of LaCattedrale restaurant.

The smallest town in Bulgarian with only 208 inhabitants, Melnik still preserves part of its glory from 14th till19th-century, when it had been a flourishing tobacco and wine-producing center, whose fame was spread by local merchants to many European countries. Today, the city is famous for its lovely white houses and cobbled streets, mild climate, internationally recognized brands of red wine. You will have a guided walking tour through the city and enter the biggest Bulgarian Revival Period style house and its tunnel-like wine cellar.

Rila Monastery (UNESCO site) and its architecture and the frescoes present the apogee of the Bulgarian Renaissance art. With an about 1-hour guided tour of the most treasured monuments in the inner yard and the Monastery museum, you will learn the most fascinating facts and stories about the biggest Bulgarian monastery complex. You will also have free time to buy souvenirs, make more photos or to continue to explore it by yourself.

MEETING POINT INSTRUCTIONS:

Aleksandar Nevski Square.

ul. "Oborishte", 1000 Sofia Center, Sofia (GPS coordinates: 42.695529, 23.333586) - BEHIND St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and IN FRONT OF La Cattedrale restaurant , Sofia 1000, Sofia City Province, BG