The best of Romania & Bulgaria in 10 Days – Private guided tour (2025)

Day 1: Bucharest – arrival

Depending on your flight schedule, arrival at Otopeni international airport, pick-up and private transfer to your hotel.

Day 2: Bucharest-Sinaia-Brasov

Breakfast. Departure to Sinaia. Visit Peles Castle, former summer residence of the Romanian Royal Family. Peles Castle is always closed on Mondays and Tuesdays!

Departure to Brasov, crossing the Carpathians through Prahova Valley.

Arrival in Brasov, free time for lunch on your own.

Sightseeing tour including the Old Town, the walls of the old fortress, the Rope Street, the

Black Church, St. Nicholas Church and the First Romanian School, St. Catherine’s Gate

Day 3: Brasov – Bran – Sighisoara – Brasov  

After breakfast, departure to Bran village. Visit Bran Castle, known as Dracula’s castle, medieval fortress built by the Teutonic knights in the XIIIth century.

Departure to Sighisoara. Free time for lunch (lunch on your own).

Walking tour of the citadel, admire The Clock Tower, Dracula’s House, the entrance gates

(The Clock Tower and the Tailors’ Gate), the defense towers and the surrounding defense

walls, old cemetery and the Dominican Monastery.

Return to Brasov in the evening.

Day 4: Brasov – Prejmer – Bucharest

After breakfast, departure to Prejmer. Visit Prejmer Fortified Church WH built in the XIIIth century. Return to Bucharest, crossing the Carpathians. Arrival, panorama with the car, check in at your hotel.

Day 5: Bucharest – Ruse – Veliko Tarnovo 

Breakfast and take the train to Ruse, arriving in the early afternoon. Your Bulgarian guide= driver will meet you at the train station. Panora

ma tour of Ruse – the largest Bulgarian Danubian city, called “the small Vienna” for its architecture. Free time for lunch.

Afternoon transfer to Veliko Turnovo – the medieval capital city of Bulgaria, picturesquely located on 4 hills above Yantra river.

Day 6: Veliko Turnovo – Tryavna – Veliko Turnovo 

Day to explore the area – visit Tsarevets Citadel with the Patriarh`s complex and Baldwin tower (the leader of the 4^th Crusade), Samovodska Charshia – the old marketplace of Veliko Turnovo. There is a variety of craftsmen’s workshops today: potter, armourer, coppersmith, carver, confectioner, weaver, icon-painter’s studio, photographer, café, and a bakery. The centre recreates the atmosphere of the first decades of the 20th century.

Continue towards Tryavna museum town, main centre of woodcarving and icon painting in Bulgaria. Visit Daskalov house – museum (museum of woodcarving ). Back to Veliko Turnovo, possible stop en route for pictures at Dryanovo Monastery.

Day 7: Veliko Turnovo – Kazanlak – Plovdiv 

Breakfast and continue exploring the central parts of Bulgaria, travelling further south. En route possible stops for visits at Gabrovo, Etura, Shipka mountain pas ( the highest part of the Balkan mountains – the mountain, which gave its name to the Balkan peninsula ) and Shipka memorial church with its golden domes. Arrival in Kazanlak – the centre of the Valley of Roses, known as well as the Valley of the Thracian kings. Once, 75% of the world rose attar was produced here. Today Bulgaria ranks among the 4 largest exporters of rose oil in the world. Visit of Kazanlak Thracian tomb ( UNESCO site, copy ). Afternoon departure to Plovdiv. Arrival, check in at your hotel, time to rest and overnight. 

Day 8: Plovdiv – Basnko  

Day to explore Plovdiv – the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe. Plovdiv has 6,000 years of history and was once the capital city of Philip the 2nd of Macedonia (the father of Alexander the Great). With its innumerable art galleries, winding cobbled streets and bohemian cafés, it would be no exaggeration to call today’s Plovdiv the Paris of the Balkans. Plovdiv’s appeal derives mainly from its lovely old town, the Stariat Grad, largely restored to its mid-19th century appearance and full of winding cobblestone streets. It is literally packed with atmospheric house-museums and art galleries and, unlike many other cities with ‘old towns’, has eminent artists still living and working within its tranquil confines. You can see the Ancient Amphitheatre, St. Constantine and Helena Church, the Ethnographic Museum (the so-called `Royal House`), the Roman Stadium, etc.

Afternoon departure to Bansko museum town, located at the foothills of Pirin Mountain ( National Park, UNESCO site ). Check in at a family-run hotel, dinner and overnight.

Bansko is rated No3 in Lonely Planet`s list of the Best Cities to travel in 2025 : https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel/cities#bansko

Day 9: Bansko – Rila Monastery – Sofia    

Morning walk in the centre of Bansko to see the old town and St. Trinity church. Proceed to Rila Monastery UNESCO site – the largest monastery in Bulgaria, located at 1100 m above sea level in Rila Mountain National Park. Admire wooden balconies, azure fretwork, collonades, facades and colourful frescoes, silhouetted against a fantastic panorama of mountain peaks. Free time for lunch before proceeding to Sofia.

Late afternoon walking tour with a local guide to explore the capital city of Bulgaria, which Emperor Constantine the Great once called “My Rome”.

Day 10: Sofia – departure 

Free time and private transfer to the airport.

Free time and depart to airport.

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