RV Roadtrip – Bulgaria Part 2

Our route from Camping Rino and the rest of Bulgaria.

Sad to leave the guys at Camping Rino, we knew three weeks sitting at the lake was probably enough and we needed to head back to Bulgaria and finish our tour of that country. Prior to leaving we had figured out a different route back to Bansko, our first destination in Bulgaria. We decided to stay at the same Winslow Infinity hotel apartment for a few days as we (especially Sebastian) really enjoyed having a little more space to move around.

We tried to break this drive up into a few days but the places and people we contacted about staying never responded. We tried to hit up a winery in Macedonia to see if we could stay overnight and do a tasting. There was also some rock climbing I was keen on but we couldn’t get any info about camping near the rocks and knew our rig might have a tough time getting there even if we could camp. In the end we just did a long day on the road, no raki waiting for us at the end though.

Bankso in the off season can be a pretty quiet affair, especially in the areas most adjacent to the ski area, which is where the Winslow Infinity is located. Still, there were a few bars and restaurants and grocery stores open. After the long drive we found a local joint open for dinner and had an excellent meal on the outside patio. We spent a couple of lovely days back in Bankso, and would gladly go back.

Next up on the Bulgaria tour was a natural phenomenon that Shani found in the Atlas Obscura, a giant cave called The Eyes of God. The day we decided to visit there were some people climbing, a group shooting some sort of video and a few gypsy types selling souvenirs.

Looked like some fun rock climbing in the cave.

After our visit to The Eyes of God we drove a few kms down the road to a guest house/restaurant and they let us park in their parking lot for the night. Everything was fine and good until a Roma gypsy woman came knocking on the door begging. We ignored her and she eventually moved on. It was one of the very few times anyone has ever come knocking unannounced. All of our interactions with the Roma were pretty benign although Matt had warned us not to leave anything outside of the van, advice we followed.

Our next destination on the grand tour of Bulgaria was Belogradchik Rocks and our camping was at a place called Madona Inn. Along with the impressive rocks there is also a fortress built into the rocks that we went to see in Belogradchick. But for us the real draw here was the impressive rock formations. Unfortunately we didn’t have the best weather but the sites were still pretty impressive. To see the fortress we decided to park down in town at the first place we could fit and then had a bit of a hike up hill to the fortress. As we then found out, there was proper parking that could accommodate tour buses right at the entrance.

After Belogradchick we were headed to a campsite very near Veliko Tarnovo. This is one of the sister campsites of Matt’s, the first place we camped in Bulgaria. (Madona Inn is as well). Camping Veliko Tarnovao is a very nice campsite, possibly the nicest we stayed at in Bulgaria. It is run by a husband/wife combo from the UK and the facilities are top notch. They have a very nice pool as well, though they had just treated it and it wasn’t yet ready for the season when we were there.

The camping is about a 20 minute taxi ride from downtown Veliko and our hosts were happy to arrange a pick up for us as we were doing a free walking tour of the town which is something we try to take advantage of when possible. The tour was in English and our guide was quite knowledgeable, we had a nice tour and Sebastian was included! Our only qualm with Veliko is the lack of sidewalks in a lot of places but other than that we found it charming and interesting.

Sad to leave the spacious and quiet camping at VT, we did move on after a couple of days. Our Bulgaria itinerary had us headed to the Black Sea coast and a bit south of the resort town of Varna.

The spacious and lovely campsite.

However, on our way was the very impressive Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, regarded as the only monument in the world to depict the history of a whole country from its creation to the present day. The Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, also known as the Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument is a large monument built on a plateau above the city. It was built in 1981 to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of the First Bulgarian Empire.

The monument is built in concrete in a Cubist style, and designed by Bulgarian sculptors Krum Damyanov and Ivan Slavov. It is reached by a processional concrete stairway from Shumen, or by road. It stands at a height of 450 m above sea level and can be seen from 30 km away. (Wikipedia)

As it happened, we were in the height of cherry season and so we had to stop in one of the small villages on our route for some fresh cherries!

We stayed camped up south of Varna for a few days at a lovely site called Zora Camping in a town called Obzor and we took a few walks into the small village and along the beach before we decided to head south to a campsite on the Black Sea that was recommended to us by some Germans we met at Madona Inn. This couple was awesome, they didn’t speak any English but we all managed to share some drinks, they gave us some maps and brochures and related some of their Bulgarian adventures and we did the same. The wife even made some fresh strawberry jam and gave us a jar.

When we arrived at Camping Gradina they were in the midst of a major renovation project, as in the whole place was a giant construction site. There was a modern new bathroom block open and reception was nice but the rest was complete chaos. None of the restaurants and bars were open but there was a small bakery for bread and a few snacks. There were also a ton of permanent caravans parked on the beach obscuring the sea view. We were a little underwhelmed and a bit disappointed.

Lots and lots of caravans on the beach.

Our other option was to stay in the marina at Sozopol and when we drove over there it was obvious that would have been the better choice. As it was, we did a day trip to Sozopol, took in the sites, had a lovely and filling meal, and sadly returned to our construction zone. Oh well, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows in RV life!

After our construction zone we went back to Zora Camping for a night, lucky to get a spot as one of the caravan clubs had taken almost all of the pitches! We decided on one more stop along the coast in Bulgaria at a campsite called St. George Camping and Spa. This was a mostly uneventful stop though we did run into a Dutch couple we had camped near a few times before. Sometimes it’s a small world once you leave the main tourist path in the off season.

Stay tuned as we cross the border into Romania, experience the Black Sea from a whole other perspective and venture north and then back and forth across Romania before heading into Hungary and destinations as far north as possible in mainland Europe.