Full-Day Belogradchik Rocks and Belogradchik Fortress from Sofia

Wonderful tour guide. He also helped us climb some parts of the trail which was only difficult due to my twisted ankle. If you’re going here don’t hesitate to use, highly recommend

The guide was wonderful and I had a terrific time walking around the scenery. He was a good driver and the van was very comfortable

I wrote a longer review on the Viator listing for this tour, but WOW. Seriously spectacular. Ventsislav rocks! Must do, can’t miss.

Best day ever! My friends and I were visiting Sofia and got picked up/dropped off at the Intercontinental. Ventsislav was right on time and had an awesome car (Mercedes shuttle van). I get motion sick so he was also very kind in letting me sit up front. Ventsislav has a fantastic attitude, is kind and pleasant, and has a degree in tourism that really shows — he knows the answers to every question you ask!

Ventsislav was even willing to schedule a private tour with us for the very next day to hike Rila, which was the other best day ever. He really made our trip, and we are all looking forward to returning to Bulgaria for another adventure with him as our guide! Thanks :)

The whole tour was memorable: after about three hours by car we reached the Belogradchik fortress and we reached the top of the rocks with amazing views of natural landscapes. After lunch we were inside Venetsa cave with spectacular stalactites, stalagmites and stalactons. We reached the lowest part of the cave. Ventsislav was a fantastic guide, very kind, giving us all the information and available for any need. Highly recommended!

Excellent experience I would highly recommend. From my initial website enquiry to whatsapp messages before the trip the communication was always quick and helpful. Ventislav was a great guide and driver. I had a wonderful day exploring these incredible sights, an absolute highlight of my time in the Balkans.

Even though it was a long drive from Sofia (3 hrs) it was definitely worth it.
I’ve never seen such a panorama in my life and our guide took care of everyone and drove us safely throughout the day.

Long long drive for a very basic tourist site. Emphasis could be put on the rock formation..more than the fortress

Belogradchik was a great day tour. You get to see some amazing views in a relatively remote and nature-rich, mountainous region, which most tourists often (and undeservedly) skip. The drive is about 3 hours each way from Sofia, but the views throughout are well worth the drive. There were also few other tourists by the fortress, which made the whole experience more special. You also get to visit the Venetsa cave, where Ventsislav again will make sure you feel safe and informed before you venture in. Ventsislav got in touch beforehand to arrange the practical details and was very punctual. He is a great guy - he drives very safely and is very considerate. He will plan the drive - stops, speed, etc - according to your needs/wishes. I suffer from motion sickness (especially on winding terrain like on this region), but with this in mind he drove extremely well and it went very smoothly and stress-free. It is also very easy to talk and discuss with him on all issues related to Bulgaria, the region and travel in general. With Ventsislav you feel he goes the extra mile to make sure you have a memorable experience rather than business as usual. You will definitely enjoy this tour and will be in very good hands.

Belogradchik Rocks is an amazing place, I loved it the most. Our guide was really kind and gave us shortcuts to see the best views. He took care of us and had pacience and comprehension with people who had some fears or that were not well prepared to face the climate or the humidity in the caves.

The travel lasts ~3h but it's well worth it. The fortress itself offers a lot. Even though the weather was not at its best the views were spectacular. The guide showed as some hidden extra places and was best photographer. We also had some time for lunch and other viewpoints to the rocks. Then the cave was one of the best I've seen with some narrow spots. There the guide also showed us one more place in the cave.

Great trip, I really recommend it with that company/guide.

Our driver was very friendly and helpful and shared a lot of informations with us. The rocks and the cave were absolutely stunning and worth exploring. We also had lunch in a typical bulgarian restaurant with authentic food, which was also quite an experience.
I really enjoyed the day.

Fantastic tour with fantastic guide. Awsom places to see and lot of stories to hear. Warmly recommended.

Where to even start with this review? This tour is a must see and was incredible from start to end. Ventsislav contacted us before the tour and recommended we push back the tour by 2 days as the weather would be clearer and the views would be better. He was very communicative beforehand, telling us exactly what to pack and what temperatures to dress for. He was waiting for us in the hotel lobby at 8am sharp. It was just the two of us on the tour and yet Ventsislav was so accommodating. The drive to belogradchick was around 3 hours from Sofia and during the drive we learned about the history of the fortress and its purpose in the Roman Empire, Ottoman empire and it's more recent uses. It was a cold February morning with snow still on the ground- when we arrived we had the place to ourselves. The photo opportunities are some of the best I've ever seen with views almost 50km north. The rock formations are unique and picturesque. After climbing to the top of the fortress and taking pictures with the rocks, we drove to a nearby viewpoint and learned some common folklore surrounding the origin of the rocks. Ventsislav then drove us to the Magura caves (this was suggested beforehand as the Venetsa caves were closed) and we toured round the extensive cave system. We were also the only ones on the 14:00 tour giving us yet more photo opportunities. The natural beauty of this cave system, including cave paintings 10-25,000 years old, was astounding. I am shocked that these locations are not more widely known or visited.

Despite the tour usually taking around 12 hours, here comes the icing on top of the cake. Whilst talking with Ventsislav on the way to Belogradchik about the history of Bulgaria as one of the earliest civilisations in Europe Ventsislav asked if we had heard of the Kozarnika cave. This is a cave in which a tooth from the Lower Paleolothic period, estimated to be around 1.2-1.4 million years old, was found. This was thought to belong to Homo Erectus, the earliest form of human. The cave is significant because not only did it provide evidence of an earlier form of human migration to Europe but marked bones were found which may suggest the earliest ever example of human symbolism. After telling him we had not heard of it, he offered to take us there in addition to seeing Belogradchik and Magura. This was at least a 30 minute detour and involved a small uphill walk to the caves which was slippery in the ice and snow. Once we got to the entrance, Ventsislav had brought a head torch which allowed us to explore the cave which had multiple archeological dig sites. I am very appreciative of Ventsislav's generosity and willingness to show the beauty that Bulgaria has to offer. I cannot recommend this tour and tour operator highly enough.

Highly recommending this trip and this company and driver. He is really good at driving, explaining the tour and guiding.
His car is very clean and all in all we had a great trip.

We were undecided between this trip or going to Plovdiv, but I'm 100% sure we made the right choice as this was excellent. We had a WhatsApp message the day beforehand from Ventsislav confirming pickup time at our hotel. He arrived bang on time and we were the only two on the tour with him, no attempt to reschedule or cancel which was happened on other tours in the past.

He then drove to Belogradchik with a little stop off to get drinks. His knowledge of the area and the Venetsa Cave was excellent and despite the first choice of restaurant being closed he still found us somewhere to eat,

No hesitation in recommending this tour, amazing value for money and fantastic sites.

I found this tour by accident but this tour was worth every penny. From start to finish. Our driver (forgot his name unfortunately) was a very good driver. He drove very carefully and even over the mountains through the serpentines people could sleep. It was a bit more than a 3 hours drive to Belogradchik with a break on the way.

The rocks were incredible. Couldn't believe that this exist in Bulgaria and that I haven't seen them in any picture or advertisement before. They are definitely a hidden gem. Be aware to have some cash on you. They don't take card at the entrance of the rocks.

The cave was brilliant as well. Great experience.

On the way back we took another route which showed us more from the stunning landscape of Bulgaria. Our driver knew a lot of things and was able to answer all our questions.

A very nice day trip. If you have a day to spare, do it. It is worth it.