Key details
• Private tour: only for you and your partner/family/group
• In English: with a guide or driver (other languages upon request)
• Dates: you decide the dates
• Services: you choose the type of services and options
• Location: it starts in Bucharest and ends in Sofia
• Duration: 5 days in total
• No flights included
Short description
All the essential attractions in a short but balanced tour, which gives you the opportunity to discover cities, Byzantine churches, and original villages.
What you will do
• See UNESCO attractions: Thracian Tomb and Rila Monastery
• Visit Sofia (young and welcoming capital city), Plovdiv (beautiful cultural town), Veliko Tarnovo ("the city of the Tsars")
Advantages
Why Santiago Tour?
1. Local experts and excellent guides
2. Local prices and selected services
Why a Private Tour?
1. It's flexible - you decide when to travel and how
2. It's personal - a trip for you and according to your preferences
Price
This is a private tour, adaptable to your travel dates and preferences, organized only for you and your partner / family / group.
| Number of participants |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 or more |
Price* / person |
€979 |
€719 |
€679 |
€599 |
€529 |
* Prices valid in high season: April - October, Easter and some other similar period.
Discount: up to - €75/person, in case of choosing English-speaking driver (more basic level) instead of a tour guide (see below in options)
In low season (November - March, except Easter or some other high season period):
up to - €75/person with a tour guide
up to - €100/person with an English-speaking driver (more basic level).
Services
What is Included:
• Accommodation: 4 overnights according to the program, in double room double use with breakfast included, Smart type (see below).
• Transportation by modern vehicle according to the program, with related expenses and 2 airport-hotel and return transfers included. Type: car up to 3 people and minivan up to 7 people.
• Assistance: English speaking tour guide, as per program. Type: driver-guide for car or minivan (up to 7 people) and guide plus driver for larger vehicles (8 people and up).
• Guided visits mentioned in the program; 1 attraction with free entrance: Rila Monastery (Bulgaria); 3 attractions with entrance fee included: Nativity Church (Arbanassi); Thracian Tomb (Kazanlak); Hindliyan or Balabanov House (Plovdiv).
Smart Type Accommodation: mainly 3* superior hotels with quality services
or similar, depending on availability at the time of booking.
• Single room supplement: + €110.
What is Not included:
• flights and travel insurance
• personal expenses, such as: mini bar, phone calls, porterage etc.
• photo / video fees during the visits (if applicable)
• in general, all services not specified in "what is included"
• tips for the guide and/or driver.
Options
1. Accommodation
• Comfort type - mainly 4* hotels with quality services: Bucharest - Garden Inn Hilton 4* modern (center 0) / Concorde 4* boutique (center 0); Veliko Tarnovo - Yantra Grand Hotel 4* (center 0); Plovdiv - Double Tree Hilton 4* (center 1); Sofía - Eurostars 4* (center 1), or similar, depending on availability. Total extra charge: approx. + €70/person in double room and the single supplement changing to: €170.
• Economy type - mainly 3* standard hotels with quality services. Total discount: to be confirmed on request.
Notes on accommodation
• Confirmed hotels can be communicated only after making the reservations on specific dates
• center 0 / center 1 / center 2 means: 0-5 / 5-15 / 15-25 minutes walking distance from the center (the important tourist area of the city)
• Some boutique hotels have flights of stairs. If you prefer more accessibility, please let us know.
2. Assistance
A. With a tour guide. Option included in the price.
• English-speaking tour guide, offering detailed explanation, presentations, and guided tours. The tour guide also makes all necessary arrangements, as well as restaurant and meal recommendations.
• a tour guide for the entire program, no local tour guides being used in general. Some attractions only allow guided tours (their own staff); if the included tour is not available in English, our tour guide will join you and translate.
• depending on the type of vehicle: a tour guide who also drives (1 person, for car or minivan, up to 7 tourists), or a tour guide plus a driver (2 people, for minibus or coach, starting from 8 tourists), with fee, meal allowance, and accommodation included.
B. With a driver. Discount: up to - €75/person.
• English-speaking driver (more basic level), facilitating the visits, the entrances to attractions, the check-ins and other details. The driver is also able to make restaurant and meal recommendations.
• offers basic information about the main attractions and the country but not detailed explanation or presentations. Some attractions only allow guided tours (their own staff); if the tour included is not available in English, our driver will join you and translate.
• his fee, meal allowance, and accommodation are included.
Meal notes
• lunches and dinners will be organized freely or with the help of your assistant
• breakfasts are included with the accommodation.
Read the General Conditions for a Private tour by clicking here
How it is organized
• 4 Overnights: Bucharest - Veliko Tarnovo - Plovdiv - Sofia
• Itinerary: Romania > Bucharest (the capital) - Bulgaria > Veliko Tarnovo (medieval capital of the tsars) - Kazanlak (the city "of roses") - Plovdiv (European Capital of Culture 2019) - Rila Monastery (UNESCO) - Sofia (the capital)
• The tour has 4 overnights and 5 days: 2 days for arrival & return and 3 days of program with activities such as city tours, free time, and visits along the route.
Short description
Concept:
• 5 days in total and planned to take place from Wednesday to Sunday. It can be adapted to your flights and preferred dates while taking into account the visiting hours of the attractions included in the program.
• The program can be slightly customized to match your preferences and ideas, or it can be the draft for a tailor-made trip made from scratch.
Custom-made:
• Adapt: if the returning flight hour is too early, we recommend adding 1 extra night in Sofia to allow enough free time in the Bulgarian capital and relax the program.
• Adapt: the program can start and end in Sofia, and will be personalized accordingly.
Program
Day 1 of 5. Arrival in Romania
Bucharest ☾
Program: transfer and free time (if possible)
Arrival at Bucharest Airport and meeting with Santiago Tour’s guide or driver.
Transfer to the accommodation. Bucharest is only 80 km from Bulgaria.
Depending on the arrival hour, free time in the city (without driver or guide). You can stroll around the old town where the capital is recovering its "belle époque" charm: the Central Bank, CEC Palace, Macca-Vilacrosse Covered Passage, and its medieval identity: the Prince Court of Vlad Tepes "the Impaler", the Old Court Church or Stavropoleos Monastery.
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Day 2 of 5. Arrival in Bulgaria: The city of the tsars and a special village
Bucharest (Romania) - Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria) ☾. 190 km
Program: visit Arbanasi; visit and free time in Veliko Tarnovo
Breakfast. We leave Bucharest towards the border with Bulgaria. We cross the Danube and begin our visit into this Balkan country reaching Arbanasi, a prosperous merchant village privileged by the Sultan in the past, characterized by a beautiful architectural heritage from the 17th and 18th centuries. Highlights include the surprising Nativity Church and Konstantsalieva House, an original residence with remarkable attention to detail. We then continue to Veliko Tarnovo, just 4 km away, old medieval capital with beautiful and unusual architecture that seems to climb the hills. Time for lunch, accommodation check-in, and walking tour admiring the extensive Tsarevets Fortress and the historical street of the artisans “Samovodska Charshia”. Free time in the afternoon.
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Day 3 of 5. The Balkans, Thracian history and the cultural center of the country
Veliko Tarnovo - Kazanlak - Plovdiv ☾. 225 km
Program: visit the Russian Church and the Thracian Tomb; visit and free time in Plovdiv
Breakfast. We leave Veliko and head south, enjoying spectacular landscapes in the Balkans. We arrive at Shipka, a mountain pass and the site of one of the most important victories against the Ottoman Empire in the War of Independence back in the 19th century. Visit the Russian Church and continue with the program to Kazanlak, a center of rose oil production. Refined and very much appreciated in perfumery, it is the essence of the flower that has become the national symbol of Bulgaria. Here, we visit the accurate replica (the only visit allowed) of "The Thracian Tomb" dating from the Hellenistic period - 4th century BC, a monument included in the World Heritage List. Time to have lunch. In the afternoon we arrive in Plovdiv, a charming city with a bohemian air and the second largest in the country, with an impressive history. Plovdiv city tour including “the Roman city”, with a wonderful Ancient Theater and the ruins of the Stadium, and the Old Town dominated by beautiful buildings from the Bulgarian Revival period. During the walking tour, we highlight attractions such as Dzhumaya Mosque, Hindliyan and Balabanov House Museums, or the Church of Saints Konstantin and Elena. Overnight accommodation and free time in the city.
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Day 4 of 5. A Byzantine monastery and the capital
Plovdiv - Rila Monastery - Sofia ☾. 399 km
Program: visit Rila Monastery; city tour and free time in Sofia
Breakfast. We leave Plovdiv and arrive at Rila Monastery around noon. It is a convent protected by UNESCO due to the beautiful Byzantine architecture and its importance as an Orthodox cultural and spiritual center. Founded in the 10th century by Saint John of Rila, the monastery is located at an altitude of 1,147 m, all surrounded by the nature of the homonymous mountains. Visit, time to have lunch, and continue to Sofia in the afternoon. Arrival in the Bulgarian capital and city tour: Nevsky Cathedral with its multitude of domes, the Art Gallery - former Royal Palace and the rather small National Assembly, the beautiful Russian Church also known as St. Nicholas the Miracle-Maker, the Presidency with its guard of honour and the old St. George Rotunda inside its courtyard, and the iconic Theater building. Overnight accommodation and some free time in the city.
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Day 5 of 5. Return
Sofia - Airport ✈
Program: free time (if possible) and airport transfer
Breakfast. Free time in the city depending on the flight and transfer to the airport. End of Santiago Tour’s services. Thank you!
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