Black Sea Coast
Explore the rich history of Nesebâr – formerly Mesembria – at this fine museum. Greek and Roman pottery, statues and tombstones, as well as Thracian gold…
Must-see attractions in Bulgaria
Ruse
The country's only National Transport Museum is housed in the building of Bulgaria's first railway station. It exhibits vintage locomotives from the late…
Black Sea Coast
Built in the 11th century and reconstructed 500 years later, this is the best-preserved church in town. If you only visit one, this is the church to…
St Michael the Archangel Church
Varna
St Michael the Archangel Church was founded in 1865 and is historically significant as the first place where religious services were given in Bulgarian…
Plovdiv
Plovdiv's Historical Museum concentrates on the 1876 April Uprising and the massacre of Bulgarians at Batak, which directly led to the Russian declaration…
Bulgaria
This house-museum dedicated to the rebel-movement leader is set in a lovely wooden building arranged around a cobblestone courtyard. The building features…
Burgas
This small museum houses a diverting collection of local finds including Neolithic flint tools, a wooden canoe from the 5th century BC, Greek statuary and…
Church of Vavedenie Presvetiya Bogoroditsi
Pirin Mountains
In a small, serene garden, this church (1844) has a richly frescoed portico and a unique black-and-white chequered facade. Look for the extraordinary…
Sozopol
This 15th-century church was built below street level, as required at the time by the Ottoman rulers. Set in a courtyard with a giant fig tree, it is one…
Veliko Târnovo
The Forty Martyrs Church, in the old Asenova quarter, was built in 1230 to celebrate Tsar Asen II’s victory over the Byzantines. It was used as a royal…
Church of Sveti Arhangeli Mihail
Bulgaria
Overlooking the square near the clock tower is slate-roofed St Archangel Michael, Tryavna’s oldest church. Local lore dates it to the 12th century. It was…
Bansko
Occupying a Revival-era stone and wood building, this house-museum exhibits manuscripts by, and photos of, Rilski (1793–1881), the father of Bulgarian…
Ruse Regional Museum of History
Ruse
The 5th-century BC Borovo Treasure, consisting of silver cups and jugs adorned with Greek gods, is one of the highlights of Ruse's main history museum…
Sofia
Lions, tigers, elephants and bears are among the animals at Sofia's small zoo, situated in a park about 2km south of the city centre. There are also play…
Bulgaria
Numerous species of birds, 700 types of trees and about 500 caves distinguish this nature park of 288 sq km, southwest of Vratsa. Although some of the…
Sofia
Originally built as a final resting place for Bulgarian kings, this crypt now houses Bulgaria's biggest and best collection of icons, stretching back to…
Black Sea Coast
The permanent collection of this gallery holds about 1500 works of art from Bulgarian and foreign artists, though the main draws tend to be the highly…
Bulgaria
The temporary art exhibitions are a fine excuse to explore this creaky period house, where the crimson rugs and elaborate carved wooden ceilings give an…
Plovdiv
Occupying an 1881 girls gymnasium, this gallery contains more than 7000 artistic works by 19th- and 20th-century masters, including Nikolai Pavlovich,…
Plovdiv & Southern Mountains
This excellent gallery features 1800 paintings, sketches and sculptures by local, national and foreign artists. Especially interesting are the upper floor…
Black Sea Coast
Offering dramatic panoramic views across the Black Sea, these peaceful gardens overlook the northern peninsula's rocky headland at the end of the main…
Black Sea Coast
Inside a typical wooden National Revival building, constructed in 1840 for a wealthy merchant, this museum features exhibitions of folk costumes and…
Varna
The pretty Sveti Nikolai Church, right in the city centre, is worth a visit for its saintly murals. It’s always busy, and is a popular venue for weddings.
Varna
The beautiful Sveti Atanas Church overlooks the Roman Thermae. Dating from 1838, it features numerous icons and an intricately carved bishop’s throne.
Bulgaria
The 3rd-century-AD Forum Augusta Trayana is well preserved and hosts summertime concerts. Just north of the park, it can be freely explored on foot.
Black Sea Coast
The impressive ruins of this 5th-century church today form the centrepiece of a busy plaza surrounded by cafes and artists’ street stalls.
Sofia
Near the entrance to Borisova Gradina, this gigantic monument was built in 1954 and is a prime example of the forceful socialist realism of the period…
Sofia
The Romantic poet and revolutionary Peyo Yavorov (1878–1914) briefly lived in a small apartment here; the three rooms have been restored to their original…
Sofia
This small, central park, bounded on its northern end by ul Tsar Osvoboditel, is favoured by Sofia's chess-playing pensioners. It's home to the National…
Sofia
Completed in 1863, this magnificent domed church is one of the city’s major landmarks, and is noted for its rich, Byzantine-style murals. The church was…
Sofia
The chunky building at the southern end of the City Garden park is an art gallery staging rotating exhibitions of mostly contemporary Bulgarian and…
Bulgaria
Founded in the 14th-century, Cherepish Monastery was torched, toppled and rebuilt repeatedly during the Ottoman period. Like many other monasteries, it…
Sofia
This working monastery is probably the oldest of its kind in Bulgaria. It was built around 1345, but abandoned only 40 years later. The monastery contains…
Bulgaria
This two-room museum displays the remains of an 8000-year-old Stone Age house, once 7m in height, along with interesting details on how Bulgarians from…
Museum of National Revival & Constituent Assembly
Veliko Târnovo
Within a former Turkish town hall built in 1872, this is where Bulgaria’s first National Assembly was held to write the country’s first constitution in…
Veliko Târnovo
Across the river, enclosed by a high wall, is Târnovo’s oldest church, the beautifully proportioned Church of Sveti Dimitâr. Built in the so-called…
Plovdiv & Southern Mountains
Also called 'Devil’s Throat Cave', this dank cave system was burrowed out by the Trigrad River over millennia. A mandatory 20-minute guided tour,…
Bulgaria
Set around a garden, this house-museum contains manuscripts and paintings by locally born Milev (1895–1925). After suffering injuries in WWI, including…
Veliko Târnovo
Eerily lifelike wax figures of medieval characters are the main attraction of this museum en route to Tsarevets Fortress. Between waxy visages of peasants…
Monastery of Sveti Georgi the Victorious
Black Sea Coast
Sveti Georgi Monastery, built in 1856, is a small complex set in pretty gardens with a quaint, icon-filled church and a bell tower covered in saintly…
