Bulgaria
This rounded burial mound was first excavated in 1996. The bare central chamber of the 4th-century-BC tomb has columns with Doric capitals; its 6m-by-4m…
Must-see attractions in Bulgaria
Plovdiv & Southern Mountains
The dome of Bulgaria’s biggest planetarium, built in 1975, is the mirror image of the equally broad, navy-coloured cathedral cupola opposite…
Plovdiv & Southern Mountains
Although not exactly replicating the voyage along the River Styx (the waterway into the Greek underworld), the journey into Golubovitsa Cave is a…
Southern Fortress Wall & Tower Museum
Sozopol
This museum occupies a former granary and part of the fortification walls of the medieval town, dating from the 5th century AD. At this time, Sozopol was…
Bulgaria
Todor Kableshkov is revered as having (probably) been the person who fired the first shot in the 1876 uprising against the Turks. After his arrest, he…
Bulgaria
Join the locals filling water bottles at this elegant colonnade. Sipping these lukewarm and mineral-rich waters is reputed to boost everything from liver…
Bulgaria
The museum within Dryanovo Monastery is devoted mostly to the 1876 April uprising and the Russo-Turkish War, and the monastery's role in safeguarding the…
Plovdiv
Get two famous Bulgarians for the price of one at this tasteful National Revival–era mansion. Seventy-two paintings by Plovdiv native Zlatyu Boyadjiev …
Bulgaria
Shop with the locals at this large warren of shops, selling everything from jars of honey (4 lv) to bags of spices (1 lv), alongside fruits and vegetables…
Sofia
This massive visual-arts gallery combines the holdings of the National Gallery and the former Museum of Foreign Art. The result is several hundred…
Sofia
Displays on regional costumes, crafts and folklore are spread over two floors of the former royal palace, and many of the rooms are worth a pause…
Bulgaria
This museum examines the life and trials of one of Bulgaria's best-known revolutionaries, Vasil Levski, through items from his life (including weapons)…
Iskra Historical Museum & Art Gallery
Bulgaria
This museum showcases ancient finds and modern art, split across two floors. The ground floor displays extensive archaeological finds, including pottery,…
Ruse
This huge, gloriously titled neo-baroque building dominates the western end of pl Svoboda. Built between 1898 and 1902 by Viennese architects, it was…
Bulgaria
Also called Topalova House, after the original owner, Lyutova House was built in 1854 in a style that mimicked Plovdiv’s characteristic baroque houses. It…
National Museum of Military History
Sofia
This out-of-the-way museum tells the story of warfare in Bulgaria, with most space given to the period from the 1876 April Uprising through to WWI…
Plovdiv
Bulgaria's first working mosque, this unmissable Ottoman building in the middle of Plovdiv's pedestrianised shopping zone was originally built in 1364. It…
Bulgaria
Inside the former Turkish police station, located in the central part of the city, this museum holds a scrappy collection of neolithic flints, Roman…
Pantheon of the National Revival
Ruse
The gold-domed Pantheon of the National Revival was built in 1978 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the deaths of 453 local heroes who fought the…
Bulgaria
Arrowheads and other finds from Roman times are displayed at this two-floor regional museum, alongside agrarian implements such as tremendous urns used to…
Sofia
A treasure trove for anyone interested in the history of technology, this low-key museum displays an intriguing (though not always well-labelled)…
Veliko Târnovo
Named for an early 20th-century Veliko Târnovo artist, this gallery is housed in a grand neoclassical building near the Asen Monument, in a tight bend of…
Plovdiv & Southern Mountains
The Danov School (1850) hosts an interesting little museum to Bulgarian Revival education – complete with old-fashioned writing desks – within its elegant…
Bulgaria
Up on the cobblestoned ul Hristo Ivanov Golemia, the Ethnographical Museum is comprised of two mid-19th-century buildings with exhibits attesting to…
Museum of the Urban Lifestyle in Ruse
Ruse
Built in 1866 this elegant townhouse features some re-created period rooms, with 19th-century furniture, paintings and chandeliers upstairs. Downstairs…
Bulgaria
This art museum is housed in an elegant former military club on the southern edge of the city's riverside park. On display are some 1300 works of famous…
Bulgaria
This small museum, arranged across a pretty courtyard, is divided between archaeological displays from Neolithic tools to late-Thracian jewellery, and a…
Bulgaria
Affiliated with Belogradchik's history museum, the nature department displays unusual local flora and fauna. To get here, proceed from the large, modern…
Permanent Exhibition of Dimitar Kirov
Plovdiv
Housed in a grand old-town mansion where Plovdiv's budding artists worked in the 1960s, this special place celebrates the life and works of Dimitar Kirov,…
Sofia
Set in a leafy garden, this church dedicated to Sts Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples was originally built as a mosque in 1528; it later became…
Tsar Aleksander II House Museum
Bulgaria
Sitting in a city-centre park, this modest cottage was where the Russian tsar Alexander II accepted the surrender of the Turkish general Osman Pasha after…
Black Sea Coast
Typical of the characteristic Nesebâr construction is this well-preserved church, built in the mid-14th century. An unusual feature at the eastern end of…
Bulgaria
Guzzle down some beer history at this brewery museum. You can peruse barley-processing equipment and a 1902 bottle, and admire photos of the good old days…
Pirin Mountains
Learn the history and tools of Melnik's winemaking trade; ogle 400-plus bottles of wine; and work your way through a tasting menu at this fun museum…
Museum of Otets Paisii Hilendarski
Bansko
Commemorating the eponymous local monk, author and instigator of Bulgarian nationalism, this museum contains a chapel with a replica of the room at the…
Bulgaria
It's impossible to miss the dark wooden building with a steeply overhanging upper floor along ul Angel Kânchev. Now housing the Angel Kânchev House-Museum…
Varna
Housed in a powder-blue art deco building, the city aquarium is worth a look to see the tanks filled with seahorses, piranhas and conger eels, as well as…
Varna
Varna's retro planetarium is a beautiful building in its own right, though the nightly presentations (shows start at 5pm Monday to Saturday) are in…
Black Sea Coast
With only one nave and one apse, the Sveta Paraskeva Church is a fine example of 13th-century architecture. The church now houses a small exhibition of…
Bulgaria
The Art Gallery is in a grand yellow-and-white Viennese-style building on the central square. Inside you can view hundreds of 19th-century and…
