1

Hi, there are many routs you can take in the mountains, but in early May there will be a lot of mud and still big patches of snow above 1500 m. If you want to camp I would advise to get equipped for winter conditions. It's not impossible, but I would prefer the mountain huts if I was you. Many of them are very basic, however they offer hot soups, herbal teas and beds so if you have a good sleeping bag is better to sleep there than outside:))
If you let me know a what your plans are I will be able to make you a plan of action. I live on the outskirts of Rila and have hiked the mountains a lot so might be able to help.

2

Thank you.

I bought tickets just yesterday. We arrive Sofia 24 April. We are thinking to spend the earlier weeks in lower areas between Sofia and Burgas, then through Ruse to Bucharest and across Romania. We would return to Sophia in early June to hike Rila-Pirin before departing Sofia 16 June. Central Balkans and Rhodopi could be early or late depending on conditions.

We will not be equipped for camping, but will be able to carry food and water for several days.

We would like to hike between Rila Monastery and the Seven Lakes across the Razdela saddle, but are unclear what else to do in the area or which huts would be best.

We are even less calibrated in the Pirin. I am entranced by the Koncheto, but the YouTube videos give me pause. I would like to live to hike again. :)

Central Balkans and Rhodopi are a blank slate. One thing we would like to accomplish there is to hike between small villages in which we could stay the night.

Any insight would be most welcome.

3

Hi, from Rzadela there are a few possible routs. If you are coming from Rila monastery then you can decent down around the seven lakes and end spend the night in Seven Lakes hut or Rila Lakes hut. The second is better. more like a hotel really, they have food and washing facilities. Next step is to go from the lakes to Maliovitza, which has some challenging rock sections, but not impossible and you don't need a specialized equipment. Maliovitza is beautiful! From there you can go down the less crowded part of Rila and the one I personally prefer:)) So from Maliovitza you take towards Ribni Lakes hut ( Fish lakes), then Granchar hut, Zavratchitza and Maritza huts. Here is a point where you can get down to the ski resort Borovetz and take transport to Sofia. If you want to continue walking then head towards Belmeken hut after Zavratchitza, from there you can take a path down to Kostenetz where the main train line runs between Sofia and Plovdiv. There are regular trains to Sofia and you only go on the train for an hour. If you want to go from Rila to Pirin then from Granchar hut you go down to the resort Treshtenik and from there to the Yakoruda town. From Yakoruda get on the narrow gauge train to Bansko and you are on the outskirts of Pirin. If you want to do koncheto I would recommend spending a day in Vihren hut or Banderitza and do a day trip to Vihren peak and Koncheto. Koncheto is not impossible but you need good shoes and not to be afraid of heights. From Vihren you need to follow the rout towards Tevno Ezero, a beautiful lake and a nice hut! From there you go to Demianitza hut, then Bezbog hut where there is a chair lift down to Gotze Delchev hut - the point to take transport to Bansko or Sofia.
It all depends how many days you want to spend in each mountain. This rout I described here takes about 2 weeks altogether if you don't rush. Also have in mind that the huts tend to be quite busy in the summer so you plan to be there early in the afternoons to get a bed for the night. Most of the huts are like dormitories and the facilities are really, really basic so have a sleeping bag with you! Let me know if you need any more information and good luck:))

4

Thank you, Karavansarays. That is precisely the kind of detailed info I was hoping for.

5

You are very welcome:)) Good luck with the trip and have fun! :))

6

You are very welcome, good luck with the planing and have fun!:))