Cultural Landscapes of Romania & Bulgaria

Fly to Bucharest, Romania’s lively capital, where you will be met on arrival and transferred to your centrally located hotel. Depending on your arrival time, spend the remainder of the day relaxing or begin exploring independently. Perhaps take a stroll through the historic Old Town or along elegant Calea Victoriei, one of the city’s most important thoroughfares and home to grand architecture dating from Bucharest’s prosperous late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Delve into Bucharest’s communist past on a guided tour exploring life under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s regime. Travel on the city’s metro and explore neighbourhoods shaped during the communist era, learning about everyday life under the dictatorship and the events that eventually brought it to an end.

See the monumental Palace of Parliament, one of the most striking legacies of Ceaușescu’s rule, and visit Revolution Square, a focal point of the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Continue to the Ceaușescu Mansion, the former private residence of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu, for a fascinating contrast with the lives of ordinary Romanians. Sightseeing also includes landmarks such as the Arch of Triumph and University Square. (B)

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Leave Bucharest with your private driver/guide and travel north through the Carpathian Mountains into Transylvania. Stop in the mountain resort of Sinaia to visit magnificent Peleș Castle, built as a summer residence for Romania’s royal family and renowned for its richly decorated interiors.

Continue to Bran Castle, the imposing 14th-century fortress later associated with the Dracula legend, and discover its connections with Transylvanian history and Queen Marie of Romania. In the late afternoon, arrive in Brașov for a short guided tour of its historic centre, with its medieval streets, fortified walls and colourful Piața Sfatului. (B)

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Leave Brașov for a scenic journey east across the Carpathian Mountains, travelling through the Buzău Pass towards the Danube Delta. There will be stops along the way for refreshments and lunch before continuing towards the edge of the Delta. Later, transfer by boat to Crișan, a small settlement on the Sulina branch of the Danube accessible primarily by water.

Spend the next two nights in the heart of the UNESCO-listed Danube Delta, an extraordinary landscape of channels, lakes, reed beds and wetlands supporting one of Europe’s richest concentrations of birdlife. Look out for pelicans, herons, egrets and cormorants as you begin exploring this remarkable environment. (B)

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Spend today exploring the remarkable waterways of the Danube Delta by boat, travelling along smaller channels and across lakes surrounded by vast reed beds and wetlands. These quieter waterways offer excellent opportunities to experience the Delta’s extraordinary biodiversity and observe its wildlife in its natural habitat.

Keep watch for some of the many bird species found here, including pelicans, herons, egrets and cormorants, while your journey reveals landscapes that can only properly be explored from the water. With two boat excursions included during your stay, there will be plenty of opportunity to discover different parts of this vast UNESCO-listed wetland before returning to Crișan. (B)

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Leave the Danube Delta and travel south to Constanța, Romania’s principal Black Sea port and one of the country’s oldest cities, founded as the Greek settlement of Tomis more than 2,000 years ago.

Explore the historic centre on foot, including the impressive Constanța Casino, an Art Nouveau landmark overlooking the Black Sea, and the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. Discover more of the city’s Greek and Roman heritage at the National History and Archaeology Museum and see the remarkable remains of the Roman Mosaic Edifice, once part of a vast commercial complex linking the ancient city with its harbour. (B)

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Travel south along the Black Sea coast and cross the border into Bulgaria. Continue to Balchik to visit the former summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania, created in the 1920s when this part of the Black Sea coast was under Romanian rule.

Explore the palace complex, known as The Quiet Nest, with its distinctive blend of architectural influences, before strolling through the extensive Balchik Botanical Garden, where landscaped terraces descend towards the sea. Afterwards, continue along Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast to Varna, the country’s largest coastal city, where you will stay for the next three nights. (B)

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Spend the morning discovering Varna, Bulgaria’s lively maritime capital and an important Black Sea port with a history stretching back more than 2,500 years. Visit the impressive Roman Baths, among the largest surviving Roman bath complexes in Europe, before exploring the Archaeological Museum, whose remarkable collections trace the region’s history from prehistoric times through the Greek, Roman and medieval periods.

The afternoon is free to explore independently. Perhaps stroll through the leafy Sea Garden, relax on the beach or spend more time discovering Varna’s shops, cafés and waterfront. (B)

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Travel south along the Black Sea coast for a day trip to Nessebar, one of Bulgaria’s most historic towns and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Set on a rocky peninsula, the Old Town preserves traces of more than 3,000 years of history, from ancient Greek and Roman remains to its remarkable medieval churches.

Explore the atmospheric cobbled streets, see sections of the ancient fortifications and discover some of Nessebar’s beautifully preserved Byzantine and medieval churches, characterised by decorative brickwork and surviving frescoes. There is also time to enjoy the waterfront before returning to Varna. (B)

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Leave the Black Sea coast and travel inland to Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria’s medieval capital, dramatically situated across hills above the winding Yantra River. Visit Tsarevets Fortress, once the political and spiritual centre of the Second Bulgarian Empire, and explore the remains of its royal palace, fortifications and hilltop Patriarchal Church.

Continue through Samovodska Charshia, the historic craftsmen’s quarter, with its traditional workshops and cobbled streets. Later, visit nearby Arbanasi, a village known for its distinctive stone houses, and step inside the Church of the Nativity, renowned for the richly detailed frescoes covering almost every surface of its interior. (B)

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Travel south towards Bulgaria’s Valley of the Roses, stopping first at Etara, an open-air ethnographic museum where traditional workshops, water-powered machinery and historic buildings showcase Bulgarian crafts and rural life.

Continue to Kazanlak, at the heart of the rose-growing region, to discover its ancient Thracian heritage and visit a rose oil producer to learn about Bulgaria’s centuries-old rose industry. See the UNESCO-listed Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, celebrated for its remarkable ancient frescoes, before travelling through the Valley of the Thracian Kings to Plovdiv, one of Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. (B)

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Discover Plovdiv, one of Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, on a guided morning tour. Wander through the cobbled streets of the Old Town, where colourful 19th-century National Revival houses stand alongside reminders of the city’s ancient past. Visit the remarkably preserved Roman Theatre and the richly decorated Church of Saints Constantine and Helena.

The afternoon is free to explore independently. Perhaps visit the impressive Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopolis, with its extensive collection of early Christian mosaics, browse the galleries and cafés of the creative Kapana district, or simply enjoy more time in the atmospheric Old Town. (B)

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Leave Plovdiv and travel southwest through Bulgaria’s mountainous interior to Rila Monastery, the country’s largest and most important Orthodox monastery and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Founded in the 10th century, the monastery has long been a centre of Bulgarian spiritual and cultural life.

Explore its impressive arcaded courtyards and the richly decorated Church of the Nativity, whose exterior and interior are covered with colourful 19th-century frescoes. See the medieval Hrelyo’s Tower and learn more about the monastery’s turbulent history before continuing to Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, for the final two nights of your journey. (B)

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Spend today exploring Sofia with your private guide. Begin at the magnificent Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks, before discovering Sofia’s much older history at the Serdica Archaeological Complex, where Roman remains survive beneath the modern city.

Visit the historic Saint Sofia Church, which gave the city its name, before continuing to the National History Museum, housed in the former residence of Bulgaria’s last communist leader. Later, enjoy some time around central Sofia and Vitosha Boulevard, the city’s main pedestrian shopping street, lined with shops, cafés and restaurants. (B)

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Enjoy breakfast at the hotel before your private transfer to Sofia Airport for your flight back to the UK. Depending on your chosen flight time, there may be some free time for a final stroll through central Sofia, perhaps returning to Vitosha Boulevard, exploring the streets around the Ivan Vazov National Theatre or stopping for a coffee before departing for the airport. (B)