Architecture, Monuments and Life in Communist Bulgaria

Itinerary:

Day 1. Arrival in Sofia. Introductory meeting.
We will meet at the restaurant Raketa Rakia Bar where we will get introduced to the Bulgarian cuisine and its famous Rakia brandy - in a setting designed to evoke Communist-style atmosphere and decoration.

Day 2. Sofia- The "Golden Days" of Communism - Political , Military and daily life
Explore Sofia’s Stalinist Largo, home to former Communist Party headquarters, the Secret Police building, the now demolished mausoleum, and the striking examples of Brutalist architecture — many still in use today. Visit the Red Army monument and the Fraternal Mound, commemorating pro-Communist resistance during WWII.In the afternoon, tour the Museum of Military History with Warsaw Pact-era tanks, missiles and more, led by a former museum director and Communist Party member. See the Lyulin suburbs, Bulgaria’s largest prefabricated housing estate from the 1970s–80s, then step inside the “Red Flat” to experience everyday life in 1980s Bulgaria.

Day 3. Sofia- Latter days of Communism - Art, Culture and Memories
Visit the National Palace of Culture, built in just three years for Bulgaria’s 1,300th anniversary in 1981, and see nearby the Berlin Wall section and a controversial Communism victims monument. Stop at a smaller Red Army monument in Lozenets.
In the afternoon, explore the Museum of Socialist Art, featuring the granite Lenin statue, the original Party House star, and artworks depicting everyday life under Communism. End the day at Sofia Central Cemetery, the resting place of key Communist figures like Todor Zhivkov and Georgi Dimitrov, while learning their stories and legacies.

Day 4. Dimitrovgrad - the city of dreams - communist utopia town
Drive to Dimitrovgrad, a "model" Socialist town erected from scratch in the late 1940s-early 1950s. The whole town is a "living museum" as its Stalinist housing estates are still very much in use. Visit the local museum as well as a "typical" housing unit in one of the estates, located downstairs from the museum of a noted Bulgarian poet who was one of the thousands of volunteers to work on the construction of Dimitrovgrad, but then got disillusioned with Communism and committed suicide.Overnight in Stara Zagora.

Day 5. Stara Zagora - Kazanlak- Buzludzha- Grandiose celebration of eternal brotherhood with Russia
Start the morning at the Liberators of Stara Zagora monument, a massive structure commemorating the Russian Imperial Army’s advance against the Ottomans in the late 19th century — a symbol of Bulgaria’s historical ties with Russia and the notion of “eternal fraternal bonds.”
Drive through Kazanlak, home to Bulgaria’s largest ammunition and small arms factory, a legacy of the Communist Party’s five-year industrialization plans. Continue to the Buzludzha summit, one of Bulgaria’s most iconic Communist-era landmarks. Perched high above the valley, the House-Monument of the Bulgarian Communist Party — resembling a UFO — was completed in the early 1980s, abandoned in the 1990s, and is slowly being preserved for possible reopening as a museum. Exploring its exterior provides a striking insight into Bulgaria’s Communist architectural ambitions. Overnight in Gabrovo, where you can admire the city’s Soviet-style modernist town hall and clock tower, another emblem of Bulgaria’s 20th-century urban planning.

Day 6. Gabrovo - Veliko Tarnovo
From Bulgaria’s founders to space exploration, this day explores how history — and humor — was shaped under Communism.
Start at the Museum of Humour and Satire in Gabrovo, once called the “saddest museum in the world” by the New York Times. Thanks to dynamic leadership in recent years, the museum retains its Communist-era atmosphere while embracing modern art.
Drive to Veliko Tarnovo, stopping briefly in Dryanovo to see perhaps the only granite monument dedicated to a space rocket. In Veliko Tarnovo, visit the monument to the two medieval brothers who led a revolt against Byzantium, and optionally explore Tsarevets, the medieval fortress that served as the capital of the Bulgarian kings. Overnight in Veliko Tarnovo.

Day 7: Pravets – Birthplace of Todor Zhivkov
Drive to Pravets, the hometown of Todor Zhivkov (1911–1998), Bulgaria’s long-serving Communist leader from 1956 to 1989. While Zhivkov ruled as a hardline dictator, his memory remains alive in the town, marked by a monument in his honor. Visit his parents’ house, now a museum displaying the many gifts and honors he received from foreign dignitaries across Europe, Africa, Cuba, the UK, and the United States.
A walk through Pravets reveals a unique example of Communist-era urban planning, transforming what was once a village into a well-functioning modern town, with architecture and streets that reflect the ideals of its time. Return to Sofia in the afternoon. End of the tour.