Photo Tour in the Magical Land of Rodopi Mountains (Bulgaria)

This is a photo tour in the vast and most iconic Bulgarian mountain – Rodopi. Small villages, where people of different faiths live, stunning gorges and dams like mirrors – Rodopi Mountains are true pleasure for all photo senses!

The tour is designed for those photographers, who like to make candid portraits of people in their natural environment, to capture moments of rural life, but also for those, who love landscape photography.
There will not be long trekking during the tour – only short walks in order good photo positions to be found. The photography skills of the participants may be on a various level. The beginners will get instructions from the tour leader. Certain amount of time will be devoted to the most important places mentioned in the program.
A photo walk in Plovdiv is added to the program. Thus you will combine wonderful mountain and rural experiences with a touch of Bulgarian city culture. And you will take home a variety of pictures!

Tour leader is Emil Danailov - a Bulgarian outdoor photographer and travel journalist. For many years he was editor-in-chief of "Odysseus" – the most popular Bulgarian magazine for tourism, travel and adventure. Emil loves travelling, adores the mountains and is experienced in many outdoor activities such as trekking, horse riding, biking and kayaking. His photographic interests range from landscapes through exciting outdoor action shots to spontaneous, natural portraits and lifestyle shots – unprepared photographs that particularly appeal to the reporter and journalist in him.
Emil has been a participant in dozens of photo exhibitions and also provides workshop training in Travel Photography. His articles and photos are regularly and widely published in the press. (Gallery)

Photo highlights:
Residents of the Muslim village of Ribnovo
Villages with traditional architecture – Kovachevitsa, Shiroka Luka, Kosovo
The dams of the Rodopi Mountains
The natural phenomena – Miraculous Bridges, Trigrad and Buinovo gorges
Plovdiv town

Itinerary:

Day 1. Arrival to Sofia

Day 2. Ribnovo and Kovachevitsa
Drive from Sofia to the first photo challenge (200 km, 3,5 hrs). The village of Ribnovo is situated at the western slopes of the Rodopi Mountains. It is inhabited by Bulgarians, professing Islam. The different religion has determined their different culture and lifestyle. The picturesque village residents will be our first photo models on this trip. By the evening we will continue to the village of Kovachevitsa (35 km, 1 hr), where we will overnight. Kovachevitsa is an architectural reserve with its interesting stone houses corresponding in a harmonious way with the surrounding nature.

Day 3. Dospat, Golyam Beglik and Shiroka Polyana
We will change the photo models today. Our prime object will be the nature of the Rodopi Mountains especially one of its features – the dams. We head towards the village of Dolen (40 km, 1 hr). After a stroll along its streets we continue to Dospat Dam (30 km, 40 min). In the afternoon we will also have stops at the dams of Shiroka Polyana and Golyam Beglik (35 km, 1 hr). We will devote the evening and the morning to photo shooting of their beautiful strands. We will overnight by Shiroka Polyana Dam.
Today’s drive: 100 km / 3 hours

Day 4. Trigrad
Today we will visit the villages of Trigrad, Kesten, Yagodina and Buinovo, where we will look for photo objects. These are small villages, situated close to the border. Many of the houses are now abandoned and a handful of the other residents have a modest and traditional lifestyle. Nature in this region is not of less interest – Trigrad and Buinovo gorges are among the highlights in the Rodopi Mountains – hundreds of meters of vertical cliffs on both sides of narrow river beds. There is a cave within each gorge – Yagodinska cave in Buinovo gorge and Devil’s Throat in Trigrad gorge. We will overnight in Trigrad.
Today’s drive: 120 km / 3-4 hours.

Day 5. Shiroka Luka, Miraculous Bridges, Kosovo
Today we continue our journey in the Rodopi Mountains. Our first stop for the day is the architectural reserve Shiroka Luka. Then we will visit the rock phenomenon Miraculous Bridges. We will overnight at the picturesque village of Kosovo.
Today’s drive: 120 km / 3 hours

Day 6. Plovdiv
We drive to Plovdiv (50 km, 1 hour). We will make a stop at Assen’s Fortress and visit the two-storey church from 13th c. Plovdiv is the second largest city in Bulgaria but this is its least dignity. Its appeal comes from the fact that this is one of the oldest towns in Europe. Its old part has preserved lots of traces of its millennial history – from the ruins of the Thracian settlements and the Roman Theater to the colourful houses and stone churches from the Revival Period. Late in the evening we will drive to Sofia for overnight (150 km, 2 hrs).

Day 7. Departure

Price includes: 2 nights with breakfast at a hotel in Sofia; 3 nights with dinner and breakfast at guesthouses; 1 night with a dinner and breakfast at a hotel on the strand of Shiroka Polyana Dam; transport according to the program; transfer from/to Sofia Airport; English speaking guide

The price does not include: flight tickets, drinks and meals not mentioned in the program, insurance, personal expenses, entry fees, tips.

Gallery