07/08/2026
🌍🌍🌍 Around Bulgaria in 33 Days 🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬..or why sometimes the greatest adventure is not travelling around the world in 80 days, but dedicating 33 days to a single country.
Nearly 150 years after Around the World in Eighty Days was published, the world seems to encourage us to collect as many countries as possible in the shortest amount of time. Three days here, two days there, a photo for social media, and then on to the next destination.
But there is another way to travel.
It is called slow travel. For us, it is neither a passing trend nor another marketing buzzword. It is the art of giving a place enough time to reveal itself. It means slowing down, discovering a small family-run restaurant instead of another tourist attraction, stopping because the view takes your breath away—not because it appears in the itinerary.
A few weeks ago, we said goodbye to guests who reminded us exactly what slow travel is all about.
A remarkable couple, both in their 80s, chose to spend 33 days exploring Bulgaria in a rental car. Their goal was never to "see everything"—because even 33 days would not be enough for that. Instead, they wanted to experience the country as it truly is.
Together, we designed an itinerary that crossed almost the entire country—from Sofia through the spectacular Iskar Gorge to the Belogradchik Rocks, along the Danube, through Bulgaria's medieval capitals, down the entire Black Sea coast, across the Rose Valley and the Thracian Plain, into the Rhodope Mountains, on to Melnik, and, of course, the Rila Monastery.
More than a month filled with small discoveries, meaningful encounters, authentic local cuisine, peaceful villages, family-run hotels, and hidden gems that rarely make the front pages of travel guides or standard tour itineraries.
A journey like this is never created overnight. It requires months of preparation, meticulous attention to detail, and continuous care. Throughout all 33 days, Mihaela Dimitrova was available around the clock. Because true peace of mind while travelling comes not only from a perfectly planned itinerary, but from knowing there is always someone you can rely on.
The greatest reward came at the very end.
Our guests left with the feeling that they had not simply visited Bulgaria—they had truly come to know it.
And perhaps that is the most valuable lesson of this extraordinary journey.
Sometimes the greatest adventure is not travelling around the world.
Sometimes it is giving one country enough time to tell you its stories.
🇧🇬 Now we'd love to hear from you.
Which place in Bulgaria would you return to again and again?
And if you had 33 days, what would your Bulgarian journey look like?
