City: Blagoevgrad Province
Top Things to do in Blagoevgrad Province
Top Restaurants in Blagoevgrad Province
Top 6 Things to do Adventurous in Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria
Coordinates: 41°45′N 23°15′E / 41.750°N 23.250°E / 41.750; 23.250
Restaurants in Blagoevgrad Province
1. Razlog Valley Tours
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 78 reviews
Off Road Mountain Buggies, guided tours from Razlog/Bansko in the Rila mountains. Half day or full days, BBQ by mountain lakes or fresh trout at a mountain Mehana by the stream.
2. Bansko Safari
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 94 reviews
INFO - Winter Safari - Costs & what the tour consists of Bansko 4x4 Safari A Tour for 1-4 Persons is 300 leva per tour not per person for 5 to 6 total it is 350 leva I only have 1 Jeep so 6 is the Maximum per TOUR Due to weight that the Jeep can manage when we are 4x4ing the max is 4 large adults and 2 children or 6 slim adults You need to BOOK and make an APPOINTMENT for a Safari The Jeep is OPEN topped so we do not run Safari's in the RAIN or SNOW
3. Pirin National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 39 reviews
4. Vihren
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 148 reviews
Reviewed By ceebeebee2017 - Derbyshire, United Kingdom
It is really difficult as a Brit to find out how to safely climb the mountain, the 2nd highest peak in Bulgaria, but where there's a will, you must find a way! You can drive up Pirin Rd out of Bansko, past the National Park centre where I saw a wild tortoise- yes, wild! Drive up and up and up the windy road, following the Vihren hut signs. When you drive through an enormous bus parking, go through it, sweeping round to the far left and continue up again, eventually past Banderista hut on your left. It is worth stopping here for 15mins- walk up the steps on the uphill side of the hut and visit the second oldest tree in Bulgaria- amazing! Then continue, after 10 mins reaching uneven track and Vihren hut, your starting point. There is not much parking there, maybe 20-25 vehicles, but you can turn round to park wherever you can find just below it. The hut here is lovely, with opportunity for refreshments throughout the day. The journey took 35 mins from Bansko. Then, follow the yellow signs to Vihren, following the blue and yellow symbols painted on rocks every few minutes. The way they are painted gives the direction of travel, and little cairns often mark changes in direction- clues I figured en route. Vihren means 'windy mountain' and even though it was 30 degrees in June, we needed an extra layer at the top. Also, at this time of year, the weather can be unpredictable so go prepared for rain and never attempt if thunderstorms are predicted incase you are hit by lightening. Check Accuweather Virhen website the day before. The route up took us just over 4 hrs from the hut; we are 60 yrs of age and I walk VERY slowly uphill, and yes, I drank my litre bladder dry on the way. The terrain is stepped most of the way over natural stones alongside a stream, crossing Boulder falls at times, and through scrub on narrow paths. If in doubt of the correct route, walk no further than 15 mins without seeing the coloured symbols ( some of them are a bit faded). We found there are a few well walked pathways leading up but if they are in the general direction, they are all painted with this symbol to help guide you. The main pathway is slightly wider. There are some larger, steeper slabs of rocks to haul yourself up, but nothing requiring wire ropes and nothing technical or higher than a very large Boulder. I read online accounts beforehand which say this peak is easy and suitable for children. I have lots of mountain walking experience, and I think children need to be 8 or above and confident on rocky, steeper terrain. The views are wonderful as you walk uphill. About 30 mins from the top, the convex slope becomes exposed and extremely rocky, so pick your path wisely and preferably follow a painted symbol path. This is a hard final slog. At the top, there is a tall cairn encased in metal. An amazing view of the Pirin and Rila mountains. By the way, a 1:50,000 Pirin mountains map can be bought from the tiny fronted bookshop about 5 doors up from the central Tourist Information. We followed the red route on the map clockwise from the hut, by far the easiest route. So retrace your steps back down to the hut unless you are a very experienced walker/ scrambler/ mountaineer, mad following it clockwise off the summit towards the Premkata col, requires climbing downhill using wired ropes and down large rocks with vertical drops if you slip! We were warned at the top against doing this by a very experienced Bulgarian, who said he viewed it as more dangerous than Koncheto ridge, which is at least horizontal. He advised only doing this stretch in an upwards direction, so you are pulling yourself up the wires. In the past I have found wearing half fingered mountain biking gloves gives good grip for this and protects hands against any protruding wires. Hope this helps you to confidently give this beautiful mountain a go! It's well worth the effort.
5. Enduro Max Bulgaria
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 26 reviews
Guided Enduro Tours with Newest 2018-2019 KTM enduro bikes around Bansko-Banya-Razlog Valley! Pirin,Rodopy and Rila Mountains routes! Open all year,various difficulties, from very beginners to pros! Various durations of Tours. LICENSE is NOT NEEDED! HQ in Banya Village, hotel Aquilon SPA with thermal water pools. Full Day round Enduro Adventure 8 hours 220 euro including: bike, guide, fuel,riding kit, lunch and thermal SPA relax. We will pick you up from your hotel at 9am, drive to our Base Camp in Banya Village,short breafing, riding gears adjusting and then Adventure Tour starts at 10am. We could also take care about your family members while you are on your Enduro Route -horse riding,fishing or SPA/massages.
6. Ski Bansko
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 2,030 reviews
Reviewed By shaziaraf - Agadir, Morocco
First time in Bansko and first time skiing. We were a family of five with kids aged 16,13 and 11. We were pleasantly surprised with everything from the gondola queues to slopes and lessons. Booked everything through traventuria, car transfers, ski rentals and lessons. Everything went smoothly from the moment we arrived. We went from complete novices to going on the blue runs comfortably by day 4. We had a 8 min walk from our hotel, Guinness to the rental shop traventuria, then got our stuff from lockers on first floor, we had 2 as could only comfortably fit 2,3 person ski stuff in there( ski helmets,goggles, skies, poles and boots). We then walked with our gear on to gondola took another 15 min ( only actually 5 min walk). Please note not easy carrying 2 sets of skiers esp your kids ones. We normally got to gondola around 8.30 and would get on cable cars within 10-15 min but If you get there for 9 you can look at 30-40 min wait as gets busy fast!! The cable cars takes another 30 mins to get to the slopes. Also leave early before 3 pm to avoid huge queues, we made this mistake on last day!took us 45 min to get on the cable cars We booked 4 hr lessons but mostly were given on average 2 hrs per day by the instructor. Will be returning next year but hopefully will book ski rentals next to gondola to save the hard long walking distance with skies on.
