Veliko Tarnovo, the last stop in Bulgaria!

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When I started my trip in Bulgaria I didn’t quite know where to go but the more I met other travelers the more I was recommended to go to Veliko Tarnovo, many of them saying it was their favorite city!

From Varna I took the bus to Veliko Tarnovo, a small and beautiful mountain town. Once there I met with my Colombian friends and decided to go on a walk and see the sunset. We went up to a park with a viewpoint and although the view was nice we couldn’t really appreciate the sunset.

Somehow VT reminded me a little bit of Berat, with all the houses built on the mountain side.

The independence monument

Camila and Sebastian waving while I walked through the bridge to get to them.

View from the hiking point

From there we went for dinner and drinks and made plans to go to the free walking tour the next day before their departure back to London.

In VT there is one free walking tour given by one girl every day at 11am from the tourist info so we met there and the tour started. I felt it was a lot of the same, meaning that by this being my 3rd walking tour in Bulgaria the history of course was the same and it just had some little bits and pieces about what was different about Velico Tarnovo. The guide talked and talked and talked, she talked so much I really wanted to leave but stuck to the whole thing just in case there was something amazing and I didn’t want to miss out. In the end the tour lasted 3 and a half hours! zZzZ

What I learned about VT is that it doesn’t have a main square or a pedestrian street, so things are a little bit scattered. There is an old town consisting of one main cobble stone street with shops and restaurants and that’s about it. But… there is a real charm about the town, with the fortress within a 10 min walk, the cobble stone streets lined up with balconies displaying beautiful flower pots.

Non- Pedestrian only main street

The guy on the left said to me" Come in my shop, Bulgarian products not Chinese shit!" haha

Camila wearing a traditional Bulgarian mask

After the tour I joined some other people for lunch and then headed with Jess to the local market to get some fresh local fruit!

Cherries everywhere!!!!

While we were in the market it started raining and it actually rained on and off for the next 4 days that I was there!

Every day I tried to go out and walk around. I knew that around VT there were many monasteries and churches but to be honest I think I've had enough of those so decided to relax, make friends, prepare for Romania, and take it easy.

Most days were rainy and wet but by sundown the rain had stopped and it was perfect to go for a city stroll and enjoy the beauty of Veliko Tarnovo! I especially loved those days when there was a lot of fog and the sun would at times come out through the clouds.

One of the "must do" in VT is to go and visit the Tsarevets fortress but after 5 days in town I hadn't and on my last night after an almost full day of rain and feeling lazy I looked at the watch and still had 1.5 hours before closing to go. I thought about it, knowing it would be muddy and cold and asked myself if it was really worth it or if I would regret not going once I left. So, I put on my shoes and raced to the fortress entrance.

The fortress was nice but nothing out of this world. The view of VT from it was pretty nice, I could see the mountains all around it and the river.

Going up to the church...

And when I got there it was nothing like I was expected, it wasn't what a catholic church looks like, nor what the paintings in an Orthodox church look like, very interesting paintings!

The whole fortress has been reconstructed due to burning and it wasn't until the 1980s that it was finished and re opened.

A couple of times a month the fortress is lit and there is music and a light show and one can buy a ticket for about $15 to go and listen to some traditional music while watching the light show. But the whole fortress has lights so you don't actually have to pay the fee to go sit in a room and listen to a cd being played while the light show goes on. While I was in VT I saw the light show every single day! I was told that sometimes a group of tourist will pay the fee for the show to be played and as long as there is someone giving them money they put on the lights. It was cool to see the different colors on the fortress but if I had paid for it I would had been a little disappointed by the 20 min show (advertised as 40 minutes!)

VT was great and I must stop to see in Bulgaria now I'm off to Romania!!!

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!