The Beauty of Bulgaria

However, as I’ve gotten older, I feel they should be expanded upon themselves to include a note about looking past preconceptions and potentially limiting beliefs, especially when it comes to travel and venturing further afield.

Take Bulgaria as a prime example. A country that, relatively speaking, few Brits see as a viable touring destination. Why? Possibly because we don’t know much about it and, as is human nature, if we don’t know much about something or somewhere, we assume it’s because it can’t be that great or maybe even that it’s not safe. It’s as if we fear the unknown and thus, we dismiss new destinations out of hand, often to our detriment, sticking to the safe options.

Anyway, back to Bulgaria, a country that, rightly or wrongly, we approached with a high degree of caution as we headed further east on our travels. Our lack of knowledge leads us to believe that not only would there be a severe shortage of good quality campsites, but also there wouldn’t be a huge amount to see or do. How wrong we were. It didn’t take long after entering Greece to have our preconceived ideas well and truly dismissed.

Very quickly, we began to discover that Bulgaria is a country that combines sublime natural beauty with modern culture and storied history, resulting in an alluring appeal that compels the traveller to seek out more of its hidden wonders, to delve deeper into the fabric of its past and seek out encounters with the people that call it home.

Bansko and Pirin National Park were our first ports of call, the former a blossoming ski resort that attracts a wide range of digital nomads when the snow melts, and the latter one of three designated national parks in Bulgaria. While the sleepy town of Bansko allowed us to resupply with food and fuel, it was the mountains that called to our hearts, and so it was we found ourselves wild camping at 2000m altitude in the shadow of snow-capped peaks. Our days were, in between the rain showers, filled with walks, wildflower hunts, and wading in the river a few meters from our front door.

Given we hadn’t expected much on the campsite front, we were more than a little surprised by the quality of our first site, the brilliant Thermal Spa Camping in Velingrad. Any site that also has a thermal spa is already off to a good start, add in the fact it is designed, run, and maintained as well as any site we’ve encountered in Europe, and it left us wondering why such places are not better known. It would set the tone for a series of excellent sites, all of which we discovered in the Camping Bulgaria guide, available at almost all sites as well as online.

We have never really been city people, so we were somewhat reluctant, despite several glowing recommendations, to head to Plovdiv. One afternoon was spent ambling through the hip Kapana neighbourhood, browsing boutique craft workshops, and eating delicious food from Pravaj, a restaurant that serves traditional Bulgarian recipes from yesteryear with a modern twist, and that reluctance was replaced by a bubbling desire to see more of Europe’s oldest continually inhabited city. Which we did over the following days, as well as a day at the brilliant Aqualand Waterpark.

Back in more natural surroundings, our route took us to the vibrant mountain town of Ardino, which is the gateway to one of Bulgaria’s most iconic attractions. Built between 1515 and 1518, Devil’s Bridge is an archaeological wonder worth the ten-kilometre detour down a dead-end road to reach. It was here that we found a new candidate for our favourite wild camping spot of the entire trip.

Our original plan had been to be in Turkey already, but instead, wowed by all that we are discovering in Bulgaria, we are still keen to explore more of the mountains and coast, eat more of the wonderful food, and discover yet more great campsites. In doing so, we hope we can inspire others to venture east and experience Bulgaria for themselves.

Admittedly, some parts of the country are run down and more in keeping with how you might imagine a country that, for many years, was under communist control would be. But then the same can be said of every country we travel to, and even the UK. Nowhere is truly perfect, and if anything, it’s the imperfections that accentuate the good parts. We need contrasts to truly appreciate a place.

As we continue to meander through Bulgaria, we do so having learned we should never judge a place until we’ve been there and seen it for ourselves. We should leave our preconceptions at the border and embrace what we find with open hearts and open minds.

To stay up-to-date with our travels in real-time, as well as ask us any questions about our life on the road in our Adamo 75-4DL or about any of the places we have visited, please feel free to contact us on social media. Our handles are @MarcusLeachGlobal and @Our.Roaming.Odyssey, and on Twitter at @MarcusGLeach.