Bulgaria and Greece 19-26 Sep - Sue Tooke

Our holiday started from Heathrow terminal 5 and a British Airways flight from Heathrow.  Flights were on time and it is always a bonus to have a meal on the plane: not bad either! I hate the early flights but the bonus was a full day ahead as the drive from Sofia is usually at least 2 and a half hours.  It is advisable to have satnav in Bulgaria as the signage is not very clear and they have a different alphabet.  It is 2 years since I travelled to our apartment in Winslow Highland Bansko and there is a general improvement in roads; some of which are not on the satnav yet and I got lost in Sofia yet again, adding a good half an hour to our journey. The main road runs all the way to Thessaloniki and there are good sections of dual carriageway which have made it quicker so I can see the transfer soon taking 2 hours or less. 

Our 2 bed duplex apartment block

Play area in garden



Our view to Pirin mountains - more photos on facebook or separate blog



Our apartment looks good and the mountain air was fresh and clear.  Temperatures 28 degrees sunny.  Whilst in Bulgaria, we visited the smallest town in Bulgaria called Melnik which is very pretty and consists of 2 streets only.  We would recommend the wine tasting in Melnik and the wines, which are totally natural, and cost just £2.50 per bottle.

Looking down river and street in Melnik

Melnik street

Wine cellar approach is windy path

Looking back towards wine cellar behind these buildings

 The Rojan Monastery is also just 10 kilometres away and worth a visit.  Photos are not allowed here which is a shame and the situation is stunning.

My most expensive photo as pulled car in to take photo and left camera case on top of car

entrance to Monastery

Rojan Monastery

one of the views from Rojan monastery

  After 2 days we crossed the border to Greece which is just 1 hours drive south, stopping off en route at a lovely mountain village for a coffee. The heavens opened this day and we were greeted by the storm we have had in the UK, and some roads were blocked on our way to Ouranoupolis.  A few problems were experienced with the satnav so a back up map would be advisable!  It was, they said, the latest Garmin but I was not convinced.  Journey time 5 hours with a few detours.  The route was very scenic with mountains and streams all the way.

Our beach to the right

Our beach to the left- our favourite spot

Swimming pool with swim up bar at our hotel

Our hotel and private beach

Evening Ouranopolis is is fairly small with just I main street and a few streets off with a good choice of restaurants offering discounts if you eat with them

Ouranopolis tower taken from ferry

The following day we took the ferry trip to Mount Athos which is closed off to visitors as owned by all the monasteries.  Over 2300 monks live in 23 or more monasteries.  The trip was well worth the cost of 18 euros and we were able to sit out on deck in the sunshine and temperatures of approx 29 degrees admiring the views and monasteries, and occasional dolphin swimming with us.

This was the ferry trip to Mount Athos - monasteries were set into hillsides

The scenery was like this throughout the area and right up to Bansko, Bulgaria

View on ferry Ferry trip Athos peninsula

Another monastery

and another monastery

This was my favourite monastery (Russian style)

 The hotel we stayed at was the 5 star Eagles Palace Hotel booked through Classic Collection which was a very good hotel.  Staff were friendly and on the private beach, you only had to press a button on the umbrella and the waiter would instantly appear. There were a good choice of Cocktails but they were expensive at 12 euros each and wine was 5.50 euros a glass so you can feel the cost of the euro which is at 1.09 to the pound at the moment (always worth stocking up with wine from Melnik!)

After a pleasant 3 day rest here in temperatures close to 30 degrees, we travelled back via Thessaloniki which is the second largest town in Greece and the old part of town with a steep walk up to the ramparts is worth the views over the whole city and surrounds.

Pretty village en route to Thessaloniki

Old town of Thesaloniki

One of several UNESCO heritage sites - we never really found the Forum as no local knew where it was and the address could have been it but was not worthy of the Thomas cook write up in their guide as fenced and smaller than implied (so dont spend too much time looking for that one!!

Not far from the sea in central Thesaloniki

Part of the view close to the top of old town

Best view from this point and where batteries ran out on camera!

Just sqeezed a quick photo from camera on way back

 We took a different route back on the E79 whcih is the road to Sofia so it took approx 3 and a half hours back.  I was surprised at how mountainous and scenic both Bulgaria and Macedonia in Greece are and roads were generally very good.


The highlight of the holiday was the rafting trip South of Simitli about 1 hour drive from Bansko which, unlike the American version actually gets you to do some work so were were surprised to be kitted up with waterproofs, helmets and paddles!!!  The safety talk almost had us retreating.  However, we were glad to have continued and the rapids were not as scary as I had thought.  Aparently this time of the year is tame; the best time is in April when the snow is melting and the rivers run faster.  Better book now then!

Thank you to all you fit young men at adventurenet.bg!!!

Cost of living in Bulgaria is about half that of Greece and they have some great biscuits and crisps for the journey! There is a restaurant we recommend close to the apartment just 5 minutes downhill on left where you can sit inside or out and is quite reasonable(something ?Royal we think!? .  There is a good choice of Mexanas (local Bulgarian restaurants) with a good choice of foods available at lower than English prices.  Bansko has a small town with shops and nice cafes to sit out and enjoy the sunshine.  Unfortunately my camera stopped working on my last day but at least it was the last not first day!