VELIKO TARNOVO

Veliko Tarnovo, the medieval capital of Bulgaria, is regarded as one of the most beautiful towns in Bulgaria. This is a place where future meets the past to build the present. The picturesque situation and panoramic view of the town, its centuries-old history wins Veliko Tarnovo the recognition as a historical, cultural and tourist centre of present-day Bulgaria. A great number of monuments of art and architecture, museums, specilised exhibitions and complexes shape the historical appearance of the town and reflect its glorious past, offering marvelous opportunities for cultural tourism. The Veliko Tarnovo region boasts a remarkable collection of monasteries and churches, some of them dating from the 11th century. The area around Veliko Tarnovo encompasses many villages and small towns where traditions combine with lovely, unspoiled scenery to form an ideal place for holidays. Recently there has been a boost to rural tourism and small family-run hotels welcome visitors seeking recreation and immersion in the traditional Bulgarian atmosphere, offering a taste of the national cuisine and the world-famous Bulgarian wine. Veliko Tarnovo is an ideal study environment. There are many high schools, including the English High School and the High School for Mathematics and Natural Science, which provide very good educational opportunities for the young people in the town. Here is situated ’St.Cyril and St.Methodius’ University of Veliko Tarnovo, the second biggest university in Bulgaria. It is a state university, awarding baccalaureate and advanced degrees in various fields of arts. Nowadays the University has an established reputation as a center for the study of arts and humanities, maintaining a wide network of international relations and is held in high esteem both nationally and internationally. There are many hotels, some of them located within walking distance from the centre of the town and others - in the surroundings of the town, offering comfortable accommodation and a range of hospitality services. A wide choice of restaurants, cafes, pubs and nightclubs is available to spend your leisure time and enjoy good food and good wines in a friendly atmosphere. Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Sofia-Varna motorway and is easily reached from Sofia or Varna by comfortable coaches which operate every hour. The coach trip from Varna or Sofia takes about three hours. A pick up by a taxi from Sofia Airport is available upon request.

Plovdiv - culture crossroads and picturesque nature

Bulgaria, situated in the south-eastern part of Europe, and in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, had been a land of many ancient civilizations and great peoples, all anxious to leave marks of their turbulent history: bronze and iron spears and arrows, stone buildings remains, messages to future generations carved on rocks and stone columns or written on parchment or leather. For centuries, the roads passing through the territory of our country have been connecting Europe to Asia and Africa. Four common European transport corridors, connecting Western and Northern Europe with the Eastern and Southern part of the continent, cross their roads right here.

Plovdiv is the second largest city in Bulgaria, situated on the Maritsa River. Its unique location on these ancient crossroads has stimulated strong cultural and political influences from East and West civilizations, and yet maintained its unique cultural identity. Being older than most of the oldest towns like Rome, Athens, Carthage or Constantinople, an almost contemporary of Troy, Plovdiv is a town built upon layers of towns and a culture developed upon layers of cultures.

Plovdiv is a picturesque town, with many parks and gardens, museums and archaeological monuments. Its old part, called the Old Town, with houses from the National Revival period (18-19th century), is an imposing open-air museum situated on the three hills of the ancient Trimontium. One of the most remarkable sights of the town, the Ancient Theatre (a well-preserved Roman theatre), is located there and is still used for open-air performances.

VARNA.

The city of Varna – population 325137, is situated at the Bay of Varna, 470 km east of Sofia. Varna is the biggest city at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
Varna’s length is over 11 km, its width, including the new residential district in nearly 9km. The city stand in tiers and follows the curves of the Bay of Varna. The city is surrounded by lots of gardens, vineyards and deciduous groves. Almost the whole territory is occupied with private country houses and belonging to them small farms. The city is a regional centre.

Pazarjik.

Situated among three mountains - the Sredna Gora, the Rhodopes and the Rila, municipality Pazardjik is spread in the most flat part of Tracia that has unique natural resources and climate. In the bosom of the Balkans this land keeps the history of Tracians, Romans, Slavs, Byzantines, Turks and Bulgarians. You can still feel in the murmur of Maritza river memories of the Orpheus songs and mysteries. Here breaks out the first Bilgarian

national-liberation revolution - the historical April uprising. It’s no chance that on the holy land of Oborishte is established the First Great National Assembly - a symbol of formation of new Bulgarian democracy. Today, with the spirit of the ancient cultural traditions, the Bulgarian national revival ideas of Constantine Velichkov and Stanislav Dospevski, of the great Bulgarian lyrics - Dimitar Boyadjiev, Nikola Fournadjiev and Theodore Trayanov it is preserving remarkable architectural monuments, a unique song-folklore and theatrical art. It turned into a cozy place and an attractive center for investments into tourism, agriculture, mining and processing industry. Now municipality Pazardjik is looking for its image on the threshold of the 21st century.

Haskovo.

Haskovo municipality is located in the central part of Southern Bulgaria and occupies the most western part of Haskovo county. It is located on a territory of 737 square meters, which is 13% of the territory of Haskovo county. Its geographic location is extremely favourable and important.
Haskovo municipality includes the town of Haskovo and 35 villages. It is a transport cross road between Europe, the Near East and the Middle East, which is a good prerequisite for an international commercial and cultural exchange. The basic bus and railway connections between the entrance and the exit boundary points in Bulgaria, which determine to a great extent the successful trade with Republic of Greece and Republic of Turkey, are located in it.

Places of interest:

The Middle Ages fortress Hisaria - Haskovo
Asenova krepost /fortress/ - the village of Klokotnitza
The Paskalevs’ house, turned into an ethnographic museum
The Shishmans’ house, in which there is an exposition of the local crafts
The visitors of Haskovo, who come here on a business trip or attracted by the pleasant atmosphere of the region and by the healing Haskovo mineral springs, seldom miss to visit the picturesque place Kenane - a splendid oak forest with a spacious park, restaurants, tennis grounds, houses for recreation.

Here are the complexes “Romantika” and “Klokotnitza”, located in “Kenana” park. Hotel "Oazis" and complex "Haskovo" function in the town. They offer good services in the hotel part, the restaurant, the night bar and Vienna pastry shop.

Blagoevgrad is located in the southwestern part of Bulgaria. The area of Blagoevgrad municipality is approximately 628 square kilometers. It is close to Greece and Macedonia and has easy access to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia which is 100 kilometers to the north. Through Blagoevgrad runs the E79 international highway and a rail line which connects Central Europe with Greece. Blagoevgrad has a big cultural and histirical heritage. Earliest traces of man in community date from 10th century BC are ceramic fragments.

The Blagoevgrad region has abundant natural resources. These include a varied topography, mild Mediterranean climate, an ample supply of pure mineral water, lush mountain forests and two prominent river system. The physical characteristics combine to make Blagoevgrad an important center for culture, administration, and industry for the entire southwestern region. The population of Blagoevgrad and the region totaled 82,415 people. About 76,000 live in Blagoevgrad with the remaining scattered throughout the 25 regional villages. Blagoevgrad is a regional center for both the national telecommunications and national television companies.

Gabrovo.

The town of Gabrovo is situated in Northern Bulgaria, along the River Yantra, in the north Sredna Stara Planina mountain spur, 392 m above sea-level. Gabrovo is 220 km north-east from the city of Sofia. In the immediate vicinity of Gabrovo is the geographical centre of Bulgaria. Because of its locality the town is a busy road junction. There are a lot of roads leading from Gabrovo to the other towns and municipalities in Northern and Southern Bulgaria.
The nearest airport is in the town of Gorna Oryahovitsa (60 km).

The nearest river port is in the town of Rousse (160 km).

The nearest sea port is in the town of Bourgas (230 km).

Due to its clean mountain air, historical and ethnographical complexes Gabrovo has become an attractive tourist centre. Municipality and the surrounding area is considered to be one of the most ecologically clean regions in Bulgaria. The rich flora and fauna come to prove that. Some of the best hunting trophies such as bear, red deer and mouflon can be found in the game reserves.

Bourgas is the fourth largest city in Bulgaria. The municipality includes the City of Bourgas and other 14 small villages. The City of Bourgas consists of 8 housing regions with more than 226 000 inhabitants, an area of about 2800 hectare with a built housing area of 843 257 m2, 72 930 lodgings. For the first time the name of Bourgas appeared as early as 1306 in a poem by Manuel Phil, Bysantium poet, as Pirgos - the Greek equivalent to the Latin word Burgos, i.e., ’the Tower’: a name preserved in local legends, and dating as back as 1st or 2nd century AD, when a Roman travel station was functioning at the place of the present-day harbour. The earliest life can be traced back to the Bronze and the beginning of the Iron Ages; while a ’number of finds, treasures and archaeological sites have witnessed to live activities during the Thracian epoch, that is to say the second half of 4 BC. Yoan Exarch, one of Bulgaria’s pre-renaissance authors, wrote, ’The sea brings all that is distant together’. It is the sea itself that is shaping the appearance of Bourgas, the spirit of its people and the original atmosphere due to century-old contacts with various nations and civilizations Bourgas has always been open to the world and the world’s economy and culture by means of its harbour, where more than 1,500 vessels and a large number of petroleum tankers are mooring each year. The Port of Bourgas is the biggest seaport in the country. The region is one with a best developed industry in Bulgaria - oil refinery, machines building, cables production, ship yards, food industry, harbour - totally 35 big industrial plants. One of the biggest industrial plants on the Balkan Peninsula, Neftochim-EAD, is located in the vicinity of the city. A Duty Free Zone was established in 1989 with the objective to create most attractive conditions for foreign investors. The city has an airport with the best weather conditions when considering the Balkan Peninsula and is a big railway and road traffic center, too.

Pleven:

Pleven is the face of Central North Bulgaria, located in the heart of the rich and fertile Misia. It is a city worth visiting for several reasons.

Firstly, to find yourself in this wonderful city is fairly possible if you are on your way from the Capital City, to the seaside, or to the Northern Bulgarian border. In such case you could have a rest overnight - enjoy the lovely nature around and infinite possibilities for rest and fun that Pleven offers.

Secondly, Pleven itself is worth visiting for its plenty of historical monuments and variety of cultural and business institutions. For you Pleven is a good place to make friends in Bulgaria, to create business contacts,
and feel the delight of Bulgarian hospitality.