Ancient History
Bulgaria boasts what is thought to be the first civilization in Europe, the seaport of Varna along the Black Sea. On your Bulgaria private tour, you can tour the Varna Museum of Archeology, and see the famous Varna gold, discovered in the 1970s, dating possibly as far back as 4600 B.C. Archeologists unearthed graves filled with gold artifacts of stylized pendants, bracelets, beads and headpieces.
Further inland, located between the plains of the Balkan Mountains to the north and the Rhodope Mountains to the south, is what is thought to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, the City of the Seven Hills, Plovdiv. While today there are only 6 hills, the name remains. On a clear day, you can see both mountain ranges, but that is just the beginning of all you will find on a Bulgaria holiday package. Plovdiv is easily walkable, and your Bulgaria tour will take you from a Roman Theater, to mosques from the Ottoman Empire, to Russian monuments on Bunardjik Hill.
Additionally, if you are a student of historical handwriting, you will love learning that the First Bulgarian Empire developed the Cyrillic script alphabet, the basis for Orthodox Slavic and Russian alphabets.
Natural Wonders
With the mountain ranges, coastal areas, and the Danube River (along with hundreds of smaller, less deep rivers), you will marvel at the natural wonders you find on your Bulgaria tour. You will appreciate a nature hike to Emen Caves and Canyons, in the foothills of the Balkan Mountain range, where artifacts from the Neolithic age have been discovered.
To the South, in the Rhodope Mountains, you can see the Kardzhali Earth Pyramids, a geomorphical structure formed nearly 40 million years ago from volcanic ash. These rock formations are named for their appearances, so you will learn the legends behind the “petrified stone wedding”, or perhaps create your own stories from what you see.