Walking Holidays | Balkan Mountains

Balkan Trek's tailored-made mountain walking holidays in Bulgaria's Balkan Mountains offer you the chance to explore on foot the stunning mountain landscapes of the 'Central Balkan' National Park. During your holiday, an experienced and qualified Balkan Trek mountain guide will lead you on a daily programme of exciting mountain walks, that will see you walking through an unforgettable mix of ancient beech and coniferous forests as well as panoramic open ridges, with expansive alpine pastures studded by rocky outcrops. Because the 'Central Balkan' National Park is a extensive wilderness area, the walking can be quite demanding, with long steep ascents and descents; however, the rewards are immense. During the course of a mountain walking holiday in the Bulgaria's Balkan Mountains you can also visit the Troyan Monastery, one of the largest and most atmospheric monasteries in Bulgaria, and enjoy visiting tiny traditional villages that preserve picturesque vernacular architecture.

Holiday Highlights

- Wilderness region internationally recognized as being one of the most important and best protected in Europe.

- Wonderful open ridge walking with spectacular panoramas.

- Extensive ancient forests roamed by large carnivores such as wolves and bears.

- Rugged cliffs and rock outcrops that provide refuge to many rare plants and birds.

- Timeless villages preserving photogenic traditional vernacular architecture.

- The spiritual and artistic heritage of the Troyan Monastery.

- Delicious traditional Bulgarian cuisine.

- An experienced, fully qualified, knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide.

NB: Unlike many other walking holiday companies in Bulgaria who attempt to cut costs by making their guides have to double up as drivers, we employ separate professional drivers with licensed vehicles for all our walking holidays in Bulgaria as we believe it is not only safer to have a driver fully focused on the road, but also allows our guides to concentrate fully on looking after you!

Further Inspiration

The Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) cover almost one tenth of Bulgaria’s total land mass, and stretch right across the country from the Serbian border in the west to the Black Sea in the east. The Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) comprise a large number of individual massifs. However, a distinct main ridge can be delineated, which stretches for 530 kilometres from the Belogradchik Pass to Cape Emine, and along which rise twenty-nine peaks with altitudes over 2000 metres, including the highest summit Mount Botev (2376m).

The flora of the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) is extremely rich and varied with approximately 1900 species and sub-species of higher plants found growing in the 'Central Balkan' National Park alone. Of all the Bulgarian mountains, the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) are the richest in endemic plant species. Over 90 Bulgarian endemic species and subspecies occur in the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina). More than 20 of these plants are local endemics restricted to the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) and include the 'Balkan Mountain Primrose' (Primula frondosa) and 'Balkan Mountain Violet' (Viola balcanica).

Despite the long-term presence and pressures of man, large carnivores such as brown bear (Ursus arctos) and Wolf (Canis lupus) still manage to maintain a foothold in the range, and Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) is tentatively starting to make a reappearance. The extensive forests of the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) provide a home for many interesting species of woodpecker and owl including such elusive species as white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos lilfordii), Ural owl (Strix uralensis), Tengmalm’s owl (Aegolius funereus) and Pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum). There are also Semi-collared Flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata) and Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva), as well as rare raptors such as Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) and Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).

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