Day Trip to Medieval Bulgaria- Small group tour
Bucharest, Romania
- 12 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Offered in: English
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Overview
The drive from Bucharest to Bulgaria can be a long one—leave it up to someone else during this Bulgaria Medieval Sites Day Trip that takes you to Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, Tsarevets Fortress, and Konstantsalieva House. Ride comfortably in a climate-controlled vehicle until you reach the first stop at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo. Once you finish up in Arbanassi, your guide takes you back to your hotel in Bucharest.
- See some of Bulgaria’s most impressive medieval sites in just one day
- Easily take a day trip to Bulgaria with round-trip transport from Bucharest
- A guide knows the history behind each stop and shares it with you
- Cross the Bulgaria–Romania border stress-free with help from your guide
What's Included
- Licensed Private Guide
- Pick-up and Drop-off at your hotel or at any other location of your choice in the city
- Modern & comfortable A/C car or minivan at your disposal during the tour
- Lunch
- Photo fees
- Gratuities
- Entrance fees
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
Pickup possible from centrally located hotels, hostels, or apartments in Bucharest
Itinerary
1
Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
2
Tsarevets
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
3
Хотел Арбанаси
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Infant seats available
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 99 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.7
based on 77 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Long distance to travel. Interesting insight into a section of Bulgarian History and current lifestyle.
It was amazing trip!!! Very interesting, information.we sow so beautiful places.
Our guide Pavel very educated, polite, very good driver and very good speaker.
All information was easy to understand..
Excellent trip, Pavel was fantastic guide, WhatsApp instructions to meet were fantastic as well. Highly Recommended.
This tour is exactly what you would expect on an all day tour to another country. The drive is long the bathroom breaks and quick stops are at a gas station. That being said it is a wonderful way to quickly see two really great sites in Bulgaria. The rock church is simple and small but well done and a nice visit. The Fortress is also great and the views are stunning.
Two things I think all travelers should know:
1. You will need 4 Bulgarian Lev in cash for the church. All other sites do all use of credit cards.
2. If you do not have it available you will have a stop to exchange but they will only except 20 EUR cash or minimum 50 LEU. This will get you the amount for the church but will not cover the fortress (you can use card).
Nope. Don’t do this one. It’s a time waster because they include a trip to a monetary in the cliff. Silly. And some merchant house. I had almost no time to visit Veliko Tranovo which I wanted. There is another tour company that offers tour of Veliko Tranovo And Ruse. Should have done that one. Also, the guide was awful with a halting monotone voice that no one could understand.
This was a very good itinerary. I enjoyed all of the places we visited. I highly recommend the tour to everyone. I do want to point out two areas fir improvement:
1. After boarding the bus and on the long drive to the Bulgarian border, take the opportunity to let each member of the group introduce themselves.
2. Please consider assigning a guide who has fluent oral English articulation skills.
Again, I enjoyed this trip immensely.
Spectacular views of medieval Bulgaria but subpar service. Our tour guide was disengaged and not particularly helpful e.g. not assisting when issues arose due to language barriers. Our driver recklessly drove to and from the locations, consistently getting up to 150km/h (over double the speed limit) whilst also texting/scrolling on his phone and not looking at the road. Additionally, he would recklessly overtake, including when going around corners and roundabouts. This caused a lot of distress for ourselves and the rest of our tour group. When these concerns were raised, our tour guide dismissed them and refused to address the dangerous driving. We also did not visit all the listed locations on the programme, as they wasted time with numerous smoking breaks. Would highly recommend visiting Bulgaria and the locations listed, but NOT with this tour company.
Pick up was to b 7am Thursday. I was told by the tour operator that I called that they did not have a people to run the trip and it was cancelled = at 3pm on Wednesday!
It was quite a disappointement, with the exception of the monastery in the mountains, at the second stop the manager of the temple was very rude to us and I guess it was because our guided hadn't scheduled our visit, the last stop in town was ok, but nothing special, so considering the overall experience, it wasn't a good one.
I have a very bad experience they go without me and i have to call thèm to come back
A lot of Road to see just a church a monastery and a forteresse
I don’t recommand this agency
Would definitely recommend thus tour! Tudor was lovely and the driver was also so lovely, their English was amazing and they were very knowledgeable. The fortress in abarnassi was worth the walk up the Crooked steps. Great day
The tour basically lasts for a whole day including transport - had a good time much thanks to guide Alexia and driver Mario, who both cared for everyone. Alexia happily shared a lot of knowledge about everything related to the places we visited in an interesting way that made me even more curios.
If you are visiting Bucharest, Romania, and have an extra day to spare, this is a nice alternative to put your feet in another country, in this case Bulgaria. Carmen and Gabriel were awesome. Everything was clockwork. Well-planned and a nice visit to Tarnovo, a cute medieval preserved City.
This is a long tour, and our driver told us that there is not time allotted for lunch. Drivers are also not allowed to guide, so basically, the driver takes you to the site, points you in the right direction and you tour on your own. Very disappointing not to have more information.
Interesting excursion, suitable for kids and old people, Florian didn't push the tourists to buy stuff, everything was in a friendly mood. A comfortable minivan. Thank you!!!
Had a great day exploring Bulgaria. I really recommend this tour. First I was sceptical because of some of the negative reviews but I am very happy now that I decided to book it. The medieval town was beautiful and the fortress even more.
A waste of time. Nothing special to see. 7 hours of driving for a couple short stops. Very hazardous steps and walking.
I booked this tour in order to see the important sights in Northern Bulgaria. I saw the rock church first. It was a unique attraction that was worth a look. There are religious artifacts in rooms carved into the rock. There were several other sights we were shown, and there was adequate free time given throughout the day for lunch and self exploration. The guide was friendly and approachable. Our guide, Alin, gave allowed us to contact him after the tour if we needed any advice on what to do. I didn’t take him up on that offer, but it was a nice offer to the group.
Tour started late and no AC. Vehicle was too hot and uncomfortable. The views were amazing and the food delicious.
Trip was nice but spent late night before early morning trying to get Viator & Eastern Experience to pick us up as confirmed on order. Your site listed many hotels including ours. Evidently, we find out the night before pickup is Hilton Garden Inn Old Town only. I have booked with you for years. Viator should make it right and pay the Uber bills to and from Hello Gara De Nord. Getting notification late the night before we have to go to another hotel was infuriating. I will think twice before booking in the future and may cancel numerous bookings thru June on two cruises. What is the chance pick-up spots again will be changed at the last minute. It appears you just agree with the third party without any consideration for your customer. I was dealing with this at midnight when we had to go to another hotel before 7:30AM the next morning. Even though my confirmation and your website still listed our hotel and many other hotels in Bucharest. We flew from Athens for three nights just for these two tours picking a hotel listed on both bookings. Eastern Experience sent a Whatsapp telling us of the necessity to go to one meeting place only after getting back late from Dracula tour.
Horrible. Driver got lost and we drove in circles, back-tracked, and had no idea where we were going for about 2 hours. Missed out on the promised stops. Lunch was extended longer than planned and the guide decided to cancel the last stop because we were "out of time". She promised a discount on a different trip a few days later to make up for it, but never contacted me again. All in all, a waste of money and a waste of time!!!
Alin was an excellent guide. Very cautious and capable driver. Bulgaria is a beautiful country and well worth visiting again.
Unfortunately we spent 1 1/2 hours at the border control on our outward journey and 1 hour on the return journey so that made it a long trip. The churches were worth visiting although the steps are steep and there seems to be a lack of Health and Safety regulations there. It would be easy to trip and fall as the railings have large gaps between posts. The steep climb to Tsaravets was unexpected and I think it should have been indicated in the information given although it does say that the tour is not accessible to wheelchair users. Despite that we enjoyed the trip, especially visiting the old Ottoman influenced house.
Perfect trip and totally worth it. Giuliana was an excellent guide. We really enjoyed our time in Bulgaria full of history, culture and heritage!
Very good experience, good trip route, nice guide. You can have fun by participating this small Groupe trip.
Response from Host, Jan 2023
Thank you for your kind review. We are very happy to hear that you enjoyed your time with us and we are looking forward welcoming you again on one of our tours.
We had had our guide Gabriel the day before (25/11 Peles & Bran Castle) so knew what to expect with him and we were not disappointed. The tour was true to its word and there were only 7 of us which made it a way better experience. Our group bonded and it made the day so much better. Gabriel was on great form as always and we learnt alot of interesting fact. I enjoy the Rock Monastery and the Church on the top of the hill in the Fortress City - it is well worth the hike up to it! All in all though it was about 12 hrs, it didnt feel like it as the atmosphere was far better. Thoroughly enjoyed
Before I start the review, I would like to point out that our complaints on this occasion are generally with Viator and the way in which the trip was advertised. The trip itself was a good trip and I will come to this later. We have always used Viator as we love their trips and they always make sure that what they advertise is what you get. On this occasion, sadly what was advertised was not what we got. Firstly, the trip was advertised as a small group tour travelling in a minivan or car but in actual fact, we had a coach with 24 people on board. This meant that one of our party, upon seeing the large coach could not come (so we lost our money 🙁). Secondly, on Viators site, when we booked the trip, it said entrance fees were covered or free but once on the trip, we had to pay for all three entrance fees. This was all obviously very disappointing and spoilt our trip somewhat as we had to leave our friend/husband behind and also had to get some extra money.
The trip was well organised by our Guide and driver. We enjoyed all aspects but especially the Fortress which was spectacular. The Church and Monastery were both beautiful and well worth a visit. We did have a bit of a problem communicating before the trip with the organisers as we sent them three messages asking for confirmation of pick up point and ticket queries and they did not reply. Eventually we contacted Viator who did indeed sort this for us immediately and we then heard from the tour organisers.
All in all the trip is well worth doing but you must be aware of the extras for the entrances and that it may not be the small group you expect. Also, be aware that the wait at the border can be very long. Our trip was 14 hours in the end as we had a very long wait at the border. This is obviously not the tour operators fault but something to consider before booking.
Great trip and excursion outside Bucharest, if you want to visit one more country without staying a night. Our guide Adrian was very knowledgable and informative and able to tell us all the interesting stories of each places. Small group with spacious wagon van. Each stops we had more than enough time to explore.
Well worth but intense day. Great guide , small manageable group ( for toilet breaks for example ) and really interesting to see a bit of Bulgaria . Saw cave ( small hike ) , old 17th house and fort and craftsmen in village. Be aware you will pay by card or small places accept Lei otherwise Bulgarian money,. Wait at border can be over 30 minutes and long drive so be aware you get back after 8 in the evening .
This was terrible because the operator changed the pickup location and time after confirmation of what we requested!
Response from Host, Aug 2022
Dear customer,
The pickup point was not changed.
Our guide has waited for you and tried to contact you early in the morning of the tour with other customers in the car. In front of your hotel, there was no place to park and he was waiting for 20 m from your hotel.
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up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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