6-Day Guided hiking in the Rila and Pirin Mountains

Join Damyan, an UIMLA-certified guide through the Balkans. You will hike over mountains only to look out onto lakes!

Not specified

Balkan Mountains

6 Days

Jul, Sep

Fit

Intermediate

Description

If you are a nature-lover who enjoys hiking during the days and cozy mountainside hotels at night, then this trip is for you! On this 6-day hike we will get to see many if the lakes the Balkans have to offer.

The Balkans’ have been made famous for its panoramic views and stunning lakes nestled within the Rila and Pirin Mountains, which are the tallest mountains in Bulgaria. And we begin hiking through them after we meet in the capital city of Sofia and taking an optional walking tour in its center. After staying in a cozy hotel for the night high up in the Rila mountain range, we disembark for an active day hiking to see the famous 7 lakes until we eventually reach Peak Malyovitsa (900m).

The following day we take a gondola lift to a base in order to hike to Mt. Musula (900m), the highest point on the Balkan peninsula, which like all of the hikes prior, is extremely picturesque. Then, on our 4th day we will hike to what is, arguably, the highlight of the trip: the UNESCO world heritage sight known as the RilaMonastery, which is seen to be a symbol of Bulgarian faith and revival. On our second-to-last day, we will take a shorter hike in order to reach the highest point of 2914m and then settle into a hotel in Bansko.And then we finish our final day of hiking by taking a chairlift to the Popovo lake, which is the largest and deepest lake in Mount Pirin!

We hike approximately 7-8 hours per day, so it is requested that those interested possess a good fitness level. Transportation, accommodation, and meals are all provided for you, as well, we just ask that you take note that this trip requires a minimum of 4 participants, so if you are a member of an active family or group of friends, this could be a great trip for all of you!

So if you have always wanted to hike through the idyllic mountains of the Balkans, join me on this 6-day hiking adventure! And if you are interested in more hiking, check out my day-trip hiking in Malyovitsa!

Itinerary

Day 1: Day 1

Depending on what time you arrive in Sofia, there will be a sightseeing tour of the town (if you arrive too late, this activity can be postponed until the final day). From there we will be transported to the Rila mountain range and settle in our accommodation at the Resort Panichishte in Rila mountain (1200m.alt).

Day 2: Day 2 Seven Rila Lakes – Malyovitsa

Transportation will take us to the lower station of chair lift (1600m). We will take the lift to reach hut Rilski ezera (2135м), where our 8-hour hike begins. With a steady ascent in the beginning, only getting slightly steeper at the highest path location, we will hike the main ridge of the mountain. Here we will be able to take in the view of the 7 lakes. Then we will head toward Mt. Malyovitsa. After passing peak Malyovitsa, we will walk down along the valley where our transportation will take us to our accommodation in village Govedartsi.

Day 3: Day 3 Mt. Musala – highest point on Balkan peninsula

Transfer to Borovets resort, where we will take a gondola lift to hut Yastrebets (2368m.) The beginning of the route from there is nearly flat, but it then ascends to the top (2925m.) During our 7-hour hike we will pass several lakes and get many scenic views. We will take the gondola lift back to the starting point and then transfer to village Govedartsi.

Day 4: Day 4 Crossing the mountain to Rila Monastery

A short transfer will bring us to the bottom of Malyovitsa valley. The trail will lead us uphill to the highest point (2500m), where we will cross the main ridge of the mountain. Then we will hike down to“Kirilova polyan”(1470m), where our transportation will be waiting for us in order to visit the famous Rila Monastery before transfering to a family-run hotel in the village Bansko for the evening.

Day 5: Day 5 Mt. Vihren – the highest peak of Pirin Mountain

We will take a short transfer to the exit point of our the path for this day’s hike. In 3 hours we will reach the highest point (2914m.) During the hike we will be surrounded of steep slopes and especially the wall of Mt. Vihren. After a break at the top we will descend back to the transportation vehicle. We will stay the night in Bansko.

Day 6: Day 6 Hike to Popovo lake and Mt. Dzhano

Popovo lake is the largest (13 200 sq.m.) and deepest (29.5m.) lake in the Pirin mountain. Our hike today begins with a chair lift, which will bring us to hut Bezbog (2240m.). The path to the lake is easy to hike up and down. Once we have finished this, we will go to Mt. Dzhano and then hike downhill to the Kremenski lakes. We will then be transported to the same hotel from the night prior in Bansko.

Day 7: Final Day--Back to Sofia

Transfer back to Sofia. Optional guided sightseeing tour of the town will be offered, if you were unable to do so on the first day. We will then offer transportation to the airport.

Details

More info

The schedule may change due to bad weather conditions. The participants must possess: comfortable hiking shoes, waterproof jacket, sunglasses, at least 1L bottle for water, sunscreen, fleece jackets and polyester T shirts.

Meeting point

Sofia, Bulgaria

Photos

About the guide

Damyan

Mountain Leader

My first touch to the mountain had been at age of 3 with my father. Since then I have been spending valuable time among the mountains - at first in Bulgaria and later across the Alps every summer. At age of 24 I visited rock climbing course and two years later I graduated climbing instructor course. In 2010 I finished my the training for mountain leader and decided to devote my life to sharing this passion called mountain experience.

If you intend to visit Bulgaria to climb trad routes you will find several of them set by myself and my climbing buddies.

Languages

German | English

Certificates

UIMLA

Residence

Sofia, Bulgaria

What people are saying about Explore-Share

Teodora Jugrin

5.00

Nov 19, 2021

I had a very good experience booking the hike through Explore-Share. Communication with the team was prompt and clear and the booking process was seamless. The trip itself was also just perfect. Uroš was a fantastic guide, highly skilled and talented. The hike felt safe at all times, even on more exposed routes, thanks to him. He was always up to date on the weather forecast and planned the days around it, checked the conditions on the route ahead of me, if needed, discussed and adapted the routes to my level and always made sure I was safe and comfortable. I highly recommend him, as well as Explore-Share.

5.00

Oct 25, 2021

Explore Share is a really usefull website that has a great overview of reviewed guides for a (in our case) hiking/climbing trip. During the booking I got assigned an assistent for Explore Share that helped solve questions that I might have. Great customer service, and I will come back again.

Dan Laufer

5.00

Oct 17, 2021

Explore-share was easy to use and the staff and guide w ere very responsive. The trip descriptions were accurate and the pricing reasonable. I would definitely recommend the site for people looking to do guided hiking.

Mac

5.00

Oct 13, 2021

Excellent!! Great guide and service. I had a very good experience. Id do it again.

Amanda Gardner

4.00

Sep 14, 2021

Guide was very experienced and very patient with us. We learned a lot and he tried to fit in all the knowledge he could in one day, super awesome. A little tough going back and forth to get the trip set up hard to tell if the site is sketchy until you see reviews but all worked out. Ended up with an awesome day with an awesome guide. Overall pretty satisfied and thankful!

Meret Schädler

5.00

Sep 14, 2021

The whole experience was great! The customer service of explore-share was really good. I always got an answer very quick. I would absolutely recommend to use explore-share if you are looking for a great guide in a foreign country. 5 stars!

john mcevoy

4.00

Sep 10, 2021

What a trip, fantastic guide who picked me up and dropped me off. Would use again.

Catherine Derroitte

5.00

Aug 25, 2021

It's the 2nd time we have been booking with Explore-Share. The booking was super easy and both Explore-Share and the guide were fast in their responses. We did rafting as a family with 3 kids for the first time in Slovenia. The guide (José) was super nice. He was doing everything he could to make everyone at ease with rafting (he gave clear explanations), have a great team spirit (we were joined by 2 other girls) and have a good time. We had lots of fun and the nature there is so beautiful. Thank you Explore-share and Soca splash for the great afternoon! I would recommend this activity to anyone without a doubt. My kids immediately told me they want to do rafting again soon !"

Aditya Kumar Jha

5.00

Aug 2, 2021

Best platform for mountain sports services. Easy to use, great personalised service and support.

Ibolya Kovacs

5.00

Jul 5, 2021

I am very pleased to have booked with this group. All of my mails have been answered in no-time, I felt really safe on the rock and the atmosfere of the whole group helped a lot not to mind about stressing. Will be back for more!