The Seven Rila Lakes & Rila Monastery
Description
Experience Bulgaria’s two ultimate highlights in a single day. This expertly timed day trip combines a breathtaking hike to the panoramic Seven Rila Lakes with a cultural visit to the historic Rila Monastery, the largest and most important spiritual landmark in the country. It is the ultimate mountain-and-culture combo designed to maximize your time without feeling rushed. - Conquer the highlights of the Rila Mountains in just one day from Sofia. - Trek past the spectacular lakes with stunning panoramic views (chairlift ticket optional/paid locally). - Rila Monastery: Enjoy ample time to explore the vast UNESCO-listed complex and its famous frescoed church. - Relax in an air-conditioned vehicle with a professional driver navigating the mountain roads. - Active yet Accessible: A moderately active trek perfect for travelers with basic physical fitness and comfortable shoes.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Departure at 07:00 from the car parknext to Vasil Levski Monument, in front of the Embassy of Slovakia
The tour begins with an early transfer to the Rila, followed by a brief cable car ride to the Seven Rila Lakes Cirque. The glacier lakes are at between 2100 and 2500m/6800 and 8200ft above sea level, with name fitting their shapes, like Babreka (the Kidney), Okoto (the Eye), and Salzata (the Teardrop). As we need to follow strict time schedule depending on your fitness we can either walk the whole trek around all lakes, or make the stroll shorter and skip some of them (normally the two highest ones).
Admire the impressive Rila Monastery (UNESCO)- its architecture and the frescoes present the apogee of the Bulgarian Renaissance art. With an about 1-hour guided tour of the most treasured monuments in the inner yard and the Monastery museum (optional), you will learn the most fascinating facts and stories about the biggest Bulgarian monastery complex.
Return at the starting point of the tour at approximately 19:30
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Food: although there are two huts on our way where we can purchase some basic food (i.e. beans soup, meatballs, tea) we advise you to come prepared with a lunch pack from Sofia, because the programme today is rather tight and for sure we won’t have much time for a proper lunch.
- Difficulty: the hiking route is moderately arduous, with individual brief paths featuring steep inclines. Please bring along comfortable walking boots. Sandals and flip-flops are not accepted. Rain jacket might be useful in summer as heavy showers sometimes occur in the afternoons.
- IMPORTANT FOR MAY AND JUNE DEPARTURES! Kindly note, that availability of the tour depends on the weather conditions and the operation of the chairlift.
- The terrain will be very wet and slippery and there will still be snow in the area. Walking in such conditions requires adequate equipment (good trekking boots, waterproof clothes and a warm layer beneath the jacket). The hike is demanding, so a good fitness level is also required. Keep in mind that some of the lakes may be covered in snow.
- Important! As with all lifts the one, used for the hike to The Seven Rila Lakes, may halt operations (due to strong winds, power cuts etc.). In this unlikely event, an alternative hike will be offered on spot by the guide. Mind that such a situation does not make you eligible for a refund for the tour.
- Tour with ONLINE (cloud-based) Audio-guide in different languages (EN, ES, IT, FR, DE, RU). INTERNET required to download and use. Headphones required, too.
Reviews(113)
It was an incredible trip, from the views of the seven lagoons to the monastery. It is an intermediate hike and is totally worth it; the views and the experience you have are incredible. Additionally, our guide was very friendly, always attentive to everything (English guide).
Wonderful experience, the best tour , the guide Megi Sink was brilliant, kind and helpful driver, timing and support all excellent highly recommenced ( English speaking Guide ) .
Punctual transfer and nice guide. During the hike, you can join the guide if you feel uncertain.
Awsome day out . breathtaking views of the Rila Lakes & peaks . The travel bus was very comfortable. Our english speaking guide Megi was very informative, patient & genuinely loves what she does.
An interesting and fascinating trip, the tour guide Megi Ski had an excellent knowledge of the area , it was pleasure to listen to her.
This is a great day out of Sofia… beautiful monastery and the mountains & lakes were amazing. This could easily be a 5 star trip but tarnished by the unfriendliness of the tour guide. Multiple times she kept on about being on time and somehow she managed to delay our return to Sofia by 40 mins. In addition more people joined the bus which was not mentioned and thus created some frustration with other travellers.
Amazing day! Radi, our tour guide was not only lovely but very informative. I went with my son and would highly recommend it to anyone. Some day tours are often rushed but this tour was perfect. Plenty of time for the hike and we also had plenty of time to look around the beautiful monastery.
A great day out, an easy way to see both the Rila Monastery and the seven lakes within the same day. We booked the guided option however we didn’t realise the guide was in relation to the hike. We decided to do the hike unguided as we wanted to do the full loop walk to the summit to see all 7 lakes - if we had done the guided we would only get to see 5. It took around 2.5 hours to do full loop walk with about 1.5 hours to chill at the bottom! Plus the fried bread at the monastery was a yummy bonus!
Experience not to be missed if you stop in Sofia. Breathtaking landscapes , lovely lakes. we chose the option with guide and we had a great time , our guide (Radi) was really good in guiding us and explaining the various stages of the tour.
An amazing time hiking the Rila Lakes and visiting the monastery, done with professional guides and a nice bus
