**This section is a work in progress! Videos, links, photos, and more coming soon!**
In this section, you can find our ten day itinerary of a road trip around Bulgaria that we took in early October 2025. Due to weather, our plans changed quite a bit while we were on the trip, so I will include the planned and the actual versions for the days that were altered. My itinerary was not quite as flawless here as it was in Iceland. However, finding travel info for Bulgaria was much, much harder for me. Hopefully, this itinerary and the information coming will help anyone who wants to visit the amazing country of Bulgaria!
We will include the videos of our trip, as well, so you can see for yourself the driving conditions around the country of Bulgaria. I will update this section as we publish the videos. Each video will have a blog entry describing in more detail the places we visit, too.
Bonus Day: Istanbul via Turkish Airlines Stopover Program
Day 1: Sofia: We didn’t have the camera installed for the short drive from the airport to Hotel Villa Boyana.
Day 2: Sofia-Part One and Part Two
Day 3: Plovdiv
Day 4: Plovdiv
Day 5: Stara Zagora
Day 6: Nessebar
Day 7: Varna
Day 8: Ruse
Day 9: Veliko Tarnovo
Day 10: Return to Sofia/Home
DAY ONE: SOFIA: The Sofia airport was a little confusing for me. The signs weren’t clear, so I followed the herd onto a bus shuttle and hoped for the best as we drove to…somewhere. Again, we hoped it was wherever our luggage had gone. Thankfully, the airport was not too huge.
The weather was unseasonably awful with freezing rain and snow on October 1. We followed the instructions from our rental car company, but they didn’t lead us to our car. We trudged back to the airport entrance, and we found the counter and, eventually, the car. But, it was a long walk with luggage in the freezing rain to and from the car lots.
We had plans for museums and touring the city, but the weather and roads made driving for the first time in Bulgaria a little treacherous, so we headed directly to the hotel, Hotel Villa Boyana. I loved the location and feel of this small guesthouse. We had a beautiful view, and the owner was most gracious.
We had dinner at The School. This restaurant was one of my favorites of the entire trip. It was also our first lesson that menus were more often than not, only in Bulgarian.
DAY TWO: SOFIA: We awoke to heavy snow this morning. Our original plan was to drive to Rila Monastery and stay in the area, visit some mineral baths, and see the mountains. However, my phone was buzzing with alarms, snow warnings, fallen tree warnings, and other issues along our route. I wasn’t really prepared for winter driving in a new country in an unfamiliar vehicle.
So, we quickly found another hotel in Sofia, and we spent the day exploring. We discovered parking in Sofia was very difficult. We went to the National Archaeological Museum, but we struggled to find parking elsewhere in town. We drove around for awhile, but soon we’d had enough driving in town.
We went back to the Boyana District to explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Boyana Church is nestled back in a wooded area that is so serene, you feel yourself grow quiet and meditative just entering the grounds. It was one of my favorite places we visited.
We spent this night in the Hotel Atlantic in Sofia, near the Snail House. Yes, it was a house shaped like a snail!
DAY THREE: PLOVDIV: We intended to go to Pazardzhik on this day, but before we left, the hotel canceled our room. We opted to spend two nights in Plovdiv instead. On our way, we stop at Stenos Fortress to explore the history of the area.
Then, we head to Plovdiv, the oldest inhabited city in Europe. We explore Old Town, struggle with parking, and eventually arrive at our hotel, Hotel Jägerhof.
DAY FOUR: PLOVDIV: We spent a good chunk of the day at the Museum of Aviation. I cannot recommend this museum enough. It is accessible, outdoors, and so impressive, even if you’re not into aircraft.
We went to a different hotel on top of a casino, The Grand Hotel Plovdiv. And, it was near the pedestrian bridge and mall. I loved this location. Then, we explored the ruins around town and the city center of Plovdiv.
DAY FIVE: STARA ZAGORA: We got another wet and dreary day for a lot of outside exploration. We went to Asen’s fortress and the ancient city of Perperikon. Sadly, floods were destroying portions of Bulgaria at this time, and we had to get to our hotel for the night. We stayed at Park Stara Zagora. I intended to explore the lake on the property, but heavy rain kept us indoors except for a brief dash to get food at the restaurant.
DAY SIX: NESSEBAR: We drove through Burgas, visiting one of my favorite comic shops of all time, Art Studio Burgas and Comic Shop Burgas. We met the owner, Magdalena, who showed us around her store and helped us pick out some very cool souvenirs.
Then, we went on to Nessebar and explored the area in wet and cold weather. We walked through the UNESCO World Heritage area of Old Nessebar. I loved going in off season because, while many of the shops were closed, the crowds were non-existent. I am not sure I would love this area in high tourist season, but in October? Loved it.
We stayed there in Nessebar for the night at St. Panteleimon Beach Hotel, just steps away from the Black Sea.
DAY SEVEN: VARNA: We drove up to Varna to see the Varna Museum of Archaeology. This museum was the reason we went to Bulgaria in the first place! The building was beautiful, and the exhibits had so much information. We highly recommend this museum for history lovers.
I loved Varna. We enjoyed walking in the pedestrian areas here, as well. We stayed at the Grand Hotel London which had confusing parking, but was a really interesting hotel.
DAY EIGHT: RUSE: I wanted to wave at Romania and see the Danube River, so we chose to drive up to Ruse.
I don’t think we followed a single item on my planned itinerary. We found ourselves at a Soviet submarine, a glass museum, and then walking through Ruse and along the river. It was relaxing, and the hotel we chose was small, cozy, and felt like home. Hotel Jeweller had a great location that was close to the river and the city center.
DAY NINE: VELIKO TARNOVO: Well, this day was my fail. We left Ruse feeling relaxed and at peace. We…did nothing this day but a terrifying drive. All went well as we headed to Veliko Tarnovo. Once we got there, however, things fell apart.
I had chosen a hotel in Old Town…I knew the streets were narrow and steep, but I did not realize just how narrow and steep. We couldn’t find the hotel, and once we did, we couldn’t find parking. They gestured us towards where we should take the car. The roads wound up and up and up into dirt mountains and steep roads that were either a sidewalk or an alley or just the idea of a passageway. Then, we headed back down, down, down. At that point, I made my husband stop the car.
I walked to the hotel to retrieve his passport, and then I booked a hotel outside of town. We were so stressed, so exhausted, and so freaked out, we slept and did nothing that entire evening. We had a gorgeous view of the sunset over the city though.
DAY TEN: SOFIA: We drove back to Sofia, determined to find parking this time. After much circling, we did manage to find a space. We visited the Cathedral and walked a little in the pedestrian mall on Vitosha Boulevard.
We stayed at a convenient but not really comfy hotel right near the airport. My favorite part of this day was meeting a cute dog in the parking lot at the hotel. The next morning, we left early to return the car and catch a beautiful sunrise at the airport.
And there you have our trip itinerary for Bulgaria. We will continue to update this page, and have individual blog posts about each step of the journey and videos! Happy adventuring, friends.