The Best of Romania and Bulgaria

Day 1: Bucharest, Romania
Arrival and meet your local guide. Transfer to your hotel in Bucharest. After you check into your room, your guide will lead a brief orientation tour of the neighborhood of your hotel. Some time to refresh, overnight in BUCHAREST.

Day 2: Bucharest
Bucharest was founded by the shepherd named Bucur. It is located on the plains between the Carpathian foothills and the Danube River. Take advantage of the friendly environment and stroll the main boulevards of this fascinating city. You will have a panoramic tour of the Romanian capital city, which includes: the Parliament Palace – the world’s largest civilian administrative building, Romanian Athenaeum, the Royal Palace, Arch of Triumph, Village Museum an open-air museum, a place where since 1935 peasant houses and house-holds were brought here, piece by piece, alongside with everything they contained – kitchen, objects, textures, and so on. Free afternoon for your own discoveries. Second overnight in Bucharest.

Day 3: Bucharest – Pitesti – Curtea de Arges – Cozia – Sibiu
Morning departure for Curtea de Arges to visit the Princely Church, founded in 1340, Mason Manole’s Fountain and the Cozia Monastery. Continue through Olt valley river to Sibiu. Sibiu built on the site of the Roman village of Cibinum which dates from 1192 is renowned for its well-preserved medieval walled city center. Overnight in SIBIU.

Day 4: Sibiu – Sighisoara – Bran – Brasov – Sinaia
Morning sightseeing tour of Sibiu, former European Capital of Culture for the year 2007. Known in German under the name Hermannstadt, Sibiu has always been the most important center of the German minority in Transylvania. You leave Sibiu for the museum town of SIGHISOARA, founded in the 13th-century by German immigrants and best known as the birthplace of Count Dracula. You will visit the citadel, whose formidable walls remain intact, followed by transfer to Bran castle, often referred to as Dracula’s Castle. On the way from Bran to Sinaia, we stop for a short sightseeing tour of Brasov. Accommodation in SINAIA.

Day 5: Sinaia – Giurgiu – Ruse – Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria
After breakfast you tour the Peles Castle. Set dramatically in the hills above Sinaia, this 160 room palace, built in German Renaissance style, was completed in 1914 for the first Hohenzollern king of Romania, Carol I. Fortunately, as you’ll see, it is one of the best preserved royal palaces in Europe. You are transferred to the border town Giurgiu where we will change cars and tour guides. Depart via Ruse to Veliko Turnovo, capital of Bulgaria’s Second State from the 12th to 14th centuries. The old city has a picturesque location on the banks of the meandering Yantra River. Overnight in Veliko Turnovo.

Day 6: Veliko Turnovo – Arbanassi – Shipka – Plovdiv 
After breakfast, visit Tsarevetz Hill where you will find relics of the mighty fortress of the Bulgarian monarchs. After sightseeing tour of the city, proceed to Arbanasi. Its five churches are unique, striking the visitor by the contrast between their austere outside appearance and the richness and originality of the mural paintings decorating their interior walls. En route visit Drianovo Monastery. Continue to Etara where we visit the open-air folk art museum. Short stop at Shipka Memorial Church and then drive to Kazanluk – the centre of the Valley of Roses, known as well as the Valley of the Thracian kings. Visit Kazanluk Tracian Tomb (UNESCO site, copy). Tasting rose products. Drive to Plovdiv for overnight.

Day 7: Plovdiv
Day dedicated to Plovdiv, the 2nd largest city in Bulgaria, once capital city of Philip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great. The city is contemporary of Troy, and is much older than Athens and Rome. The tour includes the Roman Amphitheatre, the Roman Stadium, the Old Plovdiv Architectural reserve with the Ethnographic museum (the so-called Royal House) and the National Revival Houses complex, Djumaya mosque and Trakart exhibit of Roman mosaics. Plovdiv was European capital of culture and has been awarded by UNESCO with golden medal for architecture. Second overnight in Plovdiv.

Day 8: Plovdiv – Rila Monastery – Sofia
Transfer to Rila Monastery (UNESCO site). Admire wooden balconies, azure fretwork, colonnades, facades and colourful frescoes, silhouetted against a fantastic panorama of mountain peaks. Altitude 1147 meters above sea level. Founded in the 10th century. National Historical Reserve since 1976. UNESCO site since 1983. Late afternoon departure to Sofia. Overnight.

Day 9: Sofia
After breakfast full day sightseeing tour of Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria, which Constantine the Great once called “My Rome.” The tour includes Boyana Church (UNESCO site) and the National Museum of History. Visit St. George’s Rotunda of the 4th century, containing the oldest mural paintings in Sofia, the area with the Presidency, the Council of Ministers, the ruins of Ancient Serdica, the National Theater, the Old City Garden, St. Sofia 6th-century basilica, the Parliament Square, and St. Alexander Nevsky’s Memorial Cathedral. Dinner with folklore show and overnight in Sofia.

Day 10: Departure
Free time and transfer to Sofia airport.

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