Nice Places in Bulgaria. Bulgaria Guide.

Bulgarian mountains :: Rila Pirin Rhodopes Balkans Sredna Gora
Mountains in Bulgaria - mountain lakes, curative hot springs and deep chilly caves coexist in harmony in Bulgarian mountains.

With its forests of oak and beech and numerous caves and hot springs, the region was inhabited by humans as early as the 5th millennium BC. The Thracians left a hoard of gold treasure at Panagurishte, and the Romans a crop of ruins at Hisar, but for Bulgarians, the Sredna Gora is best known as the "land of the April Uprising", which started in Koprivshtitsa. For tourists too, these towns are the region's highlights and starting points for mountain hiking. Very interesting are the karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms. What is typical for the Rhodope mountains is that they are the most populated mountains in Bulgaria which together with the mild climate and the numerous mineral springs, provides essential advantages for the development of tourism. The best conifer woods in Bulgaria can be found here, as well as 15 natural reserves, some of which protected under UNESCO. The highest peak is Golyam Perelik at an altitude of 2191m. The snow cover on the parts of average altitude and the Alpine parts often exceeds 2m. Eastern Rila is the highest part of the mountain where one can visit Rila's highest mount-Moussala (2925m) and the 10 top peaks, and the highest lake in Rila-the Glacial lake (2709m). Northwestern Rila is the home to some of the symbols of Bulgarian alpinism and mountaineering-Malyovitsa and Kupenite peaks, and the biggest and significant lake groups, the most famous and scenic of all - the 7 Rila lakes. The most of the chalets and high mountain shelters are in this part of the mountain. Many marked tourist hiking trails and high-mountain rock climbing tours originate from here. It is situated in the southwest part of the country in a rather extended shape to the northwest and southeast between the rivers Struma and Mesta. Pirin mountain, a glorious glacial landscape of peaks and lakes, offers some of the finest walking in Europe. Pirin has acquired an Alpine relief - rocky marble or granite peaks and cliffs, deep cirques, well shaped glacier valleys and numerous lakes. Northern Pirin is the home of the highest peak, Vihren (2914m), of 60 others above 2500m, and of all glacial lakes (140-150 in number). It is also the place where one can find most of the region's ski resorts and hiking centers, as well as 12 chalets and 4 huts which are open for mountaineers the year-round. The 550km-long granite Balkan Range has become emblematic of Bulgaria - a birthplace of the Bulgarian nation-state and a place where Bulgarian traditions and culture have been preserved during the Ottoman occupation. It is also a climatic barrier between north and south Bulgaria with more snowfalls on its northern slopes than on the southern. Average temperature around Mount Botev, the highest peak (2376m), are -8.9C in January, and 7.6 in July. Its 29 peaks above 2000m, some of which definitely Alpine, are of great interest to tourists and climbers. The numerous alpine formations in the western part of the mountain-caves, rocks, gorges, attract extreme climbers and mountaineers. Hundreds of tracks have been marked, most of them leading to important historic and cultural places. A landmark is the National Park "Central Balkan" with 10 biosphere reserves under the protection of UNESCO.