Itineraries for Your Trip to Plovdiv
2 Days in Plovdiv for First Timers
Two days in Plovdiv gives you ample time to see the city ’s highlights, which include the Roman Stadium and Old Town, while also exploring less-visited areas and soaking up the cultural and nightlife scenes. Here’s how to spend 48 hours in Bulgaria’s second city.
Get your bearings while checking off Plovdiv’s major sights on a private or group sightseeing tour, which typically tick off the Roman Stadium, Ancient Theater, Old Town, and Djumaya Mosque. For more flexibility, create your own itinerary on a self-guided audio tour.
Make your way to the Kapana district, hailed as Plovdiv’s creative quarter. Take a stroll around the art galleries and boutiques and pop into some of the many cafés and bars; order a glass of rakia, the strong Bulgarian spirit distilled from stone fruits, if you dare.
Spend your evening soaking up the city’s lively nightlife scene. Embark on a pub crawl, which offers the opportunity to chat with locals while discovering some under-the-radar spots that you may otherwise have missed. Pub tours tend to include free drinks.
Spend the morning exploring on two wheels or four hooves. Cycling tours typically take you along Maritza’s riverbank to the Rowing Canal, and reveal off-the-beaten-track locations missed by most visitors. Alternatively, saddle up for a horse-riding tour through the meadows and forests of the Rhodope Mountains.
Reward your morning efforts with a wine-tasting tour. Learn about Bulgarian wines, and bottle, cap, and label your own blend during a workshop in the city. Alternatively, head a little out of town for a buggy tour of the vineyards of Brestovitsa, one of the country’s best-known wine regions.
Head back to the Kapana district for your final evening in Plovdiv. Here, you can take your pick of restaurants that serve everything from traditional Bulgarian cuisine to Italian and and Mexican dishes. There’s no shortage of bars here either, from a sprawling Bavarian-style brewery to chic cocktail lounges.
