Small-Group Day Trip to North Bulgaria
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Bucharest, Romania
- 12 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Discover the wonders of Northern Bulgaria on this 12-hour small-group day trip from Bucharest. Only 1-hour from Romania’s capital, Bulgaria is a captivating country with bucolic farmland and charming villages. See its highlights, such as the UNESCO Heritage site of Ivanovo Churches, Veliko Tarnovo (the City of Tsars) and the village of Arbanassi, on this hassle-free tour with an expert guide.
- A 12-hour small-group day trip to Northern Bulgaria, departing from Bucharest
- See Bulgaria with the assistance of a knowledgeable guide
- Enjoy an easy pickup from a central location
- Explore a new country in a single day
- This is a small group tour, ensuring personal service
What's Included
- Transport by air-conditioned minivan
- English speaking travel assistant
- Lunch
- Gratuities
- Entrance Fees
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- The Romanian AthenaeumStrada Benjamin Franklin 1-3, 010287 București, Romania
in front of the Romanian Athenaeum just in front of the little garden (1-3 Franklin St., Sector 1, Bucharest), next to Athenee Palace Hilton Hotel.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Start time.8:00 am
Itinerary
1
Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
2
Tsarevets
1 hour 20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
3
Arbanasi
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel.
- By taking this tour, please remember that you are leaving Romania and entering Bulgaria. Please ensure that your Visa requirements are in order and it is essential that you carry your passport (or ID card for citizens of EU states)
- The Ivanovo Rock Church is closed during the winter season, from Dec 1 to Mar 31. During this period, the visit will be replaced by the Roman ruins of Nicopolis ad Istrum, the Basarbovski Rock Monastery, or a city tour of Ruse
- At least 4 people are required for this activity to take place if the minimum number of people is not reached, you will be offered an alternative date or a full refund
- This tour is not suitable for people with walking (stairs climbing) disabilities.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Abraham_F
The tour was great for its beautiful route and sites: The crossing of the Danube, The amazing rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo and the breathtaking Veliko Tarnovo, But the thing that made this tour one of a kind was the wonderful guide - Serban. He is never tired of giving information, answering questions about every aspect of Romania and Bulgaria - history, every day life, current politics and economics and more.
Reviews
4.5
based on 72 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Arlene_G, Jun 2026
The pictures on Viator were too old and did not show what how steep the stairs at the monastery were. Also it did not state that we would only see one cave. The artist area was lovely. The driver was knowledgeable, but we had to ask questions for him to tell us information most of the time.
Anneliese_M, May 2026
Our guide Matthew was good, but the tour does not match the description or expectations. We got 1 hr at the caves instead of 40 min (40 would have been plenty). Then at the tsar city, we *only* got 1 hour, which was not nearly enough time. According to the description, we should have gotten 1 hr 20 min,which still wouldnt have been enough, but would have been better (the fortress is HUGE)! And then they gave us *2 hours* in the city and for lunch, which was ridiculously absurdly long. I would so much rather have had more time at the fortress and less for lunch in some touristy city. And the cherry on top: Avanasi was supposed to be a free experience around the city. Our guide brought us to a church where they charged for entrance. Again. NOT what the description says.
Viator also did not mention how long any of the drive times were.
Basically, you're just paying for a driver to these spots, with some added commentary here and there. Wouldn't say it's worth it and wouldnt have booked if I'd known
Michael_B, May 2026
We had an excellent day trip to Northern Bulgaria. Our guide, Serban, was friendly, professional, and very accommodating throughout the tour. We learned so much about both Bulgaria and Romania, and the experience was informative as well as enjoyable. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to explore the region in a day.
Leanne_R, May 2026
Serban was amazing. A genuingly lovely man, with a good sense of humour. Very friendly, very informative and a perfect tour guide. We had a fabulous day. Vehicle used very comfortable and clean.
Tha_N, Apr 2026
Really enjoyed this tour. The guide was kind and helpful. The schedule was easy to follow. A simple, relaxing, and fun day.
Arlaan_M, Mar 2026
Nice full day excursion from Bucharest. Our host was very knowledgeable and patiently answered all of our questions. I highly recommend!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Hello,
Thank you very much for your review!
We are happy that you had a nice excursion in Bulgaria with TravelMaker and our guide!
We look forward to offering you other amazing experiences!
Have a great day!
Kind regards,
Sabina
Rafael_G, Mar 2026
Șeban Riga our driver was very funny and awesome....traffic is horrible there and back....sites were amazings...My wife and I enjoyed the town of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria...we skipped the palace tour and walked the whole town, there are a lot of eating options, don't be afraid to try it. Our weather was perfect SUNNY with a little breeze....I would recommend it, if you have the time. Our original date of the tour was canceled, because we were the only ones signed up for it. But they offered a different date, which we were free from other tours, I can undertand why you need at least 4 or more people for this tour. We managed to get back in a reasonable time to Bucharest as we had an early flight the next day. Long day but worth it.
Alisa_A, Mar 2026
Great day trip to northern Bulgaria out of Bucharest! Our visit enhanced our vacation and provided a more nuanced understanding of the region, including 20th century history and local interpretation of the communist era. Be prepared for several hours of driving, including some stop and go. Bathroom stops were available as needed. We strongly considered driving this ourselves, something we have done in other European countries, and at the end of the day we were very glad we went with a driver. Seban Riga was our guide and took incredibly good care of us, enriching the journey with both historical facts and local perspectives. He was energetic, engaging, and thoughtful to ensure the trip exceeded all of our expectations. It is wise to have some Euros on hand, as the modest entrance fees to some of the sites may not take cards. We also paid gratuity in Euro, and could have paid in Lei.
Alejandro_F, Feb 2026
Very nice trip with a great and friendly tourist guide, very nice places,views,overall a great experience
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! We’re delighted that everything was enjoyable and well-organized!
Brie_K, Jan 2026
Uncomfortable and disappointing experience overall. The tour felt less like a guided experience and more like being loosely chaperoned across the border with very little added value. The tour operator, Sęrban, made several comments that came across as racist and made multiple people of color in the group visibly uncomfortable. Instead of creating a welcoming or respectful environment, his remarks created tension and awkwardness throughout the day. He was also personally rude to me, calling me a child because I look young, which was unnecessary, unprofessional, and disrespectful. I understand humor can vary culturally, but this did not feel like humor—it felt dismissive and insulting. There was little historical or cultural insight provided, and the organization felt minimal. For the price and time commitment, I expected a more informative, respectful, and inclusive experience. I would not recommend this tour to travelers who value professionalism, cultural sensitivity, or meaningful guidance. Especially for solo travelers of color.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
We are truly surprised and deeply saddened by your review. At TravelMaker, we do not have, and will never tolerate, any form of racist behavior within our team.
Immediately after receiving your feedback, we spoke with Serban. He assured us that any statements he made were never intended to be racist, but we understand that some comments may have been misunderstood. To ensure that no future guest ever feels uncomfortable or disrespected, we are implementing inclusion and sensitivity training for our guides.
Regarding the value provided by our guides, we would like to clarify that, while our guides cannot provide tours inside certain sites in Bulgaria, they do share a wide range of cultural, historical, and practical information about both Bulgaria and Romania throughout the tour. Our goal is always to offer informative, respectful, and enriching experiences.
We sincerely regret that your experience did not meet these standards, and we truly appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention. Your feedback will help us improve and ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all travelers!
Mark_L, Jan 2026
Thoroughly enjoyed this trip. Our guide Serban was fantastic! He gave us lots of information and was a lot of fun. Highly recommend!
Response from Host, Feb 2026
We’re delighted you had such a great experience! Serban will be happy to hear that his knowledge and enthusiasm made your tour memorable. Thanks for sharing your kind words!
Steven_A, Dec 2025
Serban Riga is an excellent guide who was funny, friendly and engaging. It was a really comfortable tour and a great way to see another country.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
We’re so happy you enjoyed your tour! It means a lot to us that the day was comfortable, fun, and gave you a great way to explore the country. Thank you!
Allyson_A, Dec 2025
Fun day trip from Bucharest to see a new country! Stopped at a monastery, fortress, and medieval town before heading back. Our guide, Serban, was very accommodating, fun, and gave great information throughout the day! Would highly recommend :)
Response from Host, Jan 2026
We truly appreciate your feedback! It’s great to know you had a fun and informative day exploring new places, and that Serban helped make it such an enjoyable experience. Thank you for the recommendation!
Brian_A, Dec 2025
Great tour and what made it even better was our tour guide, Serban. He was very entertaining, accommodating, and was good at telling us the history. He was AWESOME!!!
Response from Host, Jan 2026
We’re so happy to hear you had a great day trip! Serban will be very happy to know his guidance made the experience even better. Hope to see you again soon!
Lesley_I, Nov 2025
The trip was really rushed. While I’m
glad that I had a chance to visit the places that we visited, which were really worthwhile, I was really disappointed in how the trip was conducted. The “guide” was not a guide at all, merely a driver and facilitator. He just seemed to want to get us back to Bucharest as quickly as possible. Hardly said a word and just left us to our own devices. The trip did not meet the details described. I would hesitate to book a trip with Viator on the back of this, feel let down.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
We are very sorry for the difficulties you experienced during the tour, and thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.
This tour is quite full and includes many hours on the road, and we always try to keep the schedule as balanced as possible. The 12-hour duration can change depending on the season, weather, traffic, or delays at the border, which we cannot predict in advance, but we always aim to cover everything in the program.
Regarding our guide, we have already discussed your feedback with him. The guide mentioned that he shared information with the group, but indeed, most of it was during the first part of the day. We have also encouraged him to offer information more evenly throughout the tour.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts — they truly help us improve! Once again, we sincerely apologize if the tour felt a bit hurried and that the tour didn’t turn out exactly as you had hoped.
MariaJasmine_B, Nov 2025
Serban is strict on the schedule which I honestly appreciate. Made us arrive back in Bucharest earlier than expected. We were able to go to 2 rock-hewn churces, which I also appreciate.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Thank you so much for your feedback and your kind appreciation!
We are glad that keeping a clear schedule helped make your experience enjoyable!
Mary_E, Nov 2025
Serban Riga was a top notch guide for our comfortable mini-van group!! He gave us pertinent information on the way to our destination, knew the cleanest restrooms & money exchanges, and regularly went over our itinerary and timeline providing options to keep everyone happy! I highly recommend this tour and guide!
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Thank you so much! We’re delighted to hear that you enjoyed the tour and found the information and support helpful.
Henry_P, Nov 2025
The pickup locación was easy to find and the van was quite comfortable. We saw a lot of interesting places including two cliff churches. It was a long day but well worth it.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thank you for your kind feedback and for joining us!
Dunia_d, Oct 2025
I had some doubts at first, but this tour was one of the best! Stunning views, a great lunch spot, and clear guidance from Serban. The walk was amazing, but I wouldn’t recommend it for people without proper shoes or for those who have difficulty climbing.
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Thank you so much for your kind words following your experience in Bulgaria.
For some guests, the walk can indeed be a bit demanding, and having comfortable and supportive footwear and clothing is very helpful for longer walks, steps, and exploring nature.
We’re happy it was a great day for you, and thank you for choosing us!
Niki_S, Oct 2025
Very beautiful views! The group was very friendly and the guide was very knowledgeable. I would recommend in the future.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for your kind feedback!
We appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you again in the future!
Rhian_R, Sep 2025
I had a great day on this tour - Serban was an excellent guide who showed us many interesting things on the journey and allowed us to decide what we wanted to do as a group. The stops were all very interesting and entrance fees are reasonable - I would recommend bringing cash. Thank you for an amazing day!
Kathlene_L, Sep 2025
We very much enjoyed this interesting day trip into Bulgaria. It was a full day and Serban kept it all on time in spite of a power outage in one town at lunch time, crazy traffic and complete highway grid lock at times. Not easy. Thanks Serban! We enjoyed your humour, the safe drive and kindly firm approach in keeping the group to schedule.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
We truly appreciate your kind words about your trip! It’s wonderful to hear that you enjoyed the day exploring Bulgaria and that Serban helped keep everything running smoothly despite the unexpected challenges.
Thank you for joining us, and we hope to see you again!
Melanie_S, Aug 2025
We had a great time on our tour. It was a nice way to check another country off the list. The historic sites were beautiful but it was also interesting during the drive just to look out the window and see the country, cities, buildings, etc. Be prepared for traffic at the border crossing. Our tour guide Serban is highly recommended. Not only is he a wealth of knowledge and very personable, his creative driving helped us get around some troubling traffic situations. You should definitely request him if booking this tour. Taking his suggestions really maximized our time on the trip. There was a total of 6 on the tour: my husband and I were paired with 4 lovely young ladies from Holland. We all got along so well!
Maila_M, Aug 2025
The tour operators should have informed us days before that they are changing the meet-up time from 8am to 7am given that Aug 15 is a known holiday. However what they did was to inform us via email 17 hours before the trip to which if you are on travel. You wouldn’t have the time to even check emails. I arrived at Bucharest late evening of Aug 14.
On Aug 15 (today), I went to the meet-up place before 8am and I called the contact number and said that they have left already because they informed 17 hrs ago that they changed the meet-up time to 7am. With that, I wasn’t able to join thr tour and what I paid is basically gone.
It is a known public holiday (Aug 15) and they should have given the advise days before the trip not 17 hrs before it.
It is disappointing cause it is a known public holiday and they should have informed us days ago that they are changing the schedule not 17 hrs before the tour. If I was informed days ago I could still cancel my reservation or be at the meet-up place at 7am. No money gone to waste.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Dear Maila,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re truly sorry to hear about your experience and the frustration it caused.
We’d like to clarify that the change of departure time due to the August 15 public holiday was communicated in advance. An email notification was sent on August 13, two days before the tour, informing all guests of the earlier 7:00 AM departure. The message you mentioned in your review was a reminder email sent on August 14, the evening before your tour.
We completely understand how inconvenient it must have been to miss the trip, and we truly regret that the information did not reach you in time. Our intention was to ensure all travelers were aware of the adjusted schedule caused by the holiday traffic restrictions, not to cause you stress during your visit.
Your feedback is very important to us, and we’ll carefully review our communication process to make sure schedule changes are highlighted more clearly and that travelers receive them with enough time to adjust their plans.
We hope to have the chance to welcome you on another tour in the future and provide you with the experience you expected and deserved.
Warm regards,
Venus_R, Aug 2025
Long drive but it was a great experience. The cave and hiking was great. Beautiful area. Mathew our guide was really good. He was very accommodating, friendly and helpful. Thank you Mathew for being great.
Sudharshan_P, Jul 2025
It was well organized and the guide+driver, it was very nice! Would recommend this tour! Exceeded my expectations!
Helen_N, May 2025
This was my best European adventure ever. Narcisse- the guide spoke English very fluently. Patient, kind with a great sense of humour. Timings were perfectly respected and I found a lot of value to my money paid. I recommend with no doubt. Thank you Narcisse for the great adventure in Bulgaria. He went beyond his scope recommending things to do in Romania.
Ivan_S, Apr 2025
A very well organised tour with good commentary. Very nice places to visit in Bulgaria. Luciano David is an excellent guide and driver, very helpful and sensitive to the guests' needs. Highly recommended Tour to those visiting Bucharest.
Anthony_K, Apr 2025
We had such a lovely time in Bulgaria! There were only 6 on our tour, and our driver/guide was able to check with us to see where we wanted more or less time. The sites we saw were so cool, and we appreciated the lunch time built in. It gave us a great taste of Bulgaria, and we would highly recommend this tour! Thank you for a great day!
Knut_O, Sep 2023
The leader and the driver were very good and we had a great time on this long trip.
People may consider very long lines at each boarders.
Response from Host, Sep 2023
Hi Knut,
Thank you! We are grateful for your review.
It's nice to hear you had a great trip to Bulgaria.
Have a wonderful day,
Aurora
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