Rila Monastery and Hot Mineral Bath Spa Complex Tour

A fabulous day out from Sofia! Experience was great from the beginning, with clear instructions and advice received the evening prior. Monastery is an incredibly special place - very unique. Poor weather set in soon after with heavy rain and cloud around the mountain, causing us to change plans and spend the afternoon at the mineral spa baths (instead of our original intent to visit Rila Lakes). This was by no means a disappointment as the baths were a delighful treat. A big thank you to our tour leader Apostolos who looked after, informed and entertained us throughout.

the tour was very disappointing. Our guide Phillip was not professional, didn't give us any information about the Monastery and complained a lot. The spa was more expensive than we were told and required 50 EU cash deposit, which we didn't have.

All very nice, both the monastery and the spa. The guides were very helpful and even helped us solve a personal problem by speaking Bulgarian with the host

The drive to the monastery takes over 1.5 hours is really worth the drive to the spa again 1.15 hours and the Spa was fine nice and warm but not everything was full of water about 35% not. And for what we're used to, it's a little more primitive. Mobiles are allowed and smoking is still allowed in Bulgaria.

+1

This was a great day. Apostolos was a very safe driver and ensured that we had assistance with details such as knowing where less crowded restrooms could be located, ensuring that we had entry to the spa complex when we arrived, and pointing out interesting cultural details about the return of spring to Bulgaria. On the way to the monastery we we even stopped at a small cafe to have a quick coffee, which really helped with making the day feel like a complete experience at a relaxing pace while still having plenty of time at the intended stops. After the tour he sent us recommendations for food, drinks, etc. that were based on our conversations during the tour. I highly recommend this tour.

Everything went very well, Apostolos was really very nice and gave us a lot of information about the monastery of Rila.

Our apostolos guide was very kind because as the only French it was not easy to understand everything...he was kind

Apostolos, our driver, was very nice. Everything was punctual and the day developed as described. The monastery is beautiful and the spa very complete and relaxing. Thank you for a wonderful day! My 3 stars are due to the price of the spa. Be aware that the price of the spa on the weekends is not the one announced in the description. To enter the inner and outer pools with bathrobe rental costs 51 euros per person. The cheapest entrance was 30 euros just for the outer pools and no bathrobe. You need to leave 20 euros deposit in cash at the entrance for locker key and bracelet. This should be corrected because the price in the end is higher than expected.

The monastery of Rila was magical under the snow, the hot baths, a real delight. And our friendly companion gave us a lot of interesting information about the history of the Monastery and that of Bulgaria, making the road shorter.

Wish this would have been advertised as transport only. Tour guide didn't give us any information on the place, no history of the country or region. Didn't engage with us at all. It was just a trip to and from. Had I known that I wouldn't have paid €50 for the bus and an additional €20 for the spa entry, I would have just rented my own car. Only spent 45 minutes at the monastery but wasted 5 hours in a small town with nothing to do.