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Bulgaria: 10 places worth the journey

Boyana Church, Madara Rider, Srebarna Nature Reserve and 7 more β€” what each one is, and why it is worth the detour.

Places
10
World Heritage
5
Language
Bulgarian
Currency
BGN
Boyana Church, Bulgaria
Boyana Church · Church in Sofia, Bulgaria · Todor Bozhinov / Π’ΠΎΠ΄ΠΎΡ€ Π‘ΠΎΠΆΠΈΠ½ΠΎΠ², CC BY-SA 3.0

What to see in Bulgaria

Chosen from everything Wikidata knows about Bulgaria and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions describe them, which is about as close to "famous" as open data gets. 5 are on UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Madara Rider World Heritage

Madara Rider

Medieval rock-cut relief in Bulgaria

Also called the Madara Horseman, a large early medieval relief cut into the rock of the Madara Plateau, east of Shumen, near the village of Madara, in northeastern Bulgaria. It is dated to the very end of the 7th or, more often, the very start of the 8th century, in the reign of the Bulgar Khan Tervel.

Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Dom2002 assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain

Srebarna Nature Reserve World Heritage

Srebarna Nature Reserve

UNESCO World Heritage Site

A nature reserve in the northeast of Bulgaria, named after the nearby village, lying west of Silistra by 18 kilometers (11 mi), and south of the Danube by two kilometers (1.2 mi). It covers Lake Srebarna and its surroundings, an important wetland on the Via Pontica, a route of birds migrating between Africa and Europe.

Photo: Zhivko77, CC BY-SA 4.0

Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari World Heritage

Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari

3rd-century BCE tomb in northeastern Bulgaria

Probably the burial place of Dromichaetes, around 300 BC king of the Getae on either side of the lower Danube, and of his wife, whose father was Lysimachus, a general of Alexander the Great and one of his successors. The tomb lies 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) southwest of Sveshtari, a village of Razgrad Province, 42 kilometers (26 mi) northeast of Razgrad itself.

Photo: Unknown, CC BY 2.5

Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak World Heritage

Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak

UNESCO World Heritage Site in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria

A "beehive" (tholos) tomb of vaulted brickwork near the town of Kazanlak in central Bulgaria. It belongs to a large royal burial ground of the Thracians in the Valley of the Thracian Rulers, close to Seuthopolis, their old capital, where more than a thousand tombs of Thracian royalty and nobles lie.

Photo: Roweromaniak, CC BY-SA 3.0

Vitosha

Vitosha

Mountain massif in Bulgaria

Called Scomius or Scombrus in ancient times, a mountain massif on the edge of Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. It is one of the city's symbols and the nearest place for skiing, climbing and hiking.

Photo: podoboq from Sofia, Bulgaria, CC BY 2.0

Pobiti Kamani

Pobiti Kamani

Rock formation in Varna, Bulgaria

A desert-like rock phenomenon on the north-western edge of Bulgaria's Varna Province: tube-shaped concretions formed around "rising methane-bearing fluid plumes".

Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0

About Bulgaria

Officially the Republic of Bulgaria, a Southeastern European country in the eastern Balkans, directly south of the Danube and west of the Black Sea. Romania lies to its north across the Danube, Serbia and North Macedonia to its west, and Greece and Turkey to its south.

Officially The Republic of Bulgaria. Known locally as Bulgariya, Π‘ΡŠΠ»Π³Π°Ρ€ΠΈΡ.

Based on the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0: the facts are Wikipedia's, the wording is this site's.

Questions travellers ask

What is worth seeing in Bulgaria?

This guide lists 10: Boyana Church, Madara Rider, Srebarna Nature Reserve and Musala and others. Boyana Church, Madara Rider, Srebarna Nature Reserve, Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari and Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

How were these places chosen?

By machine, from open data, with no human ranking them and nobody able to pay for a place on the list. Everything Wikidata records in Bulgaria that is a building, a landform, a protected area or a tourist attraction, has coordinates, a photograph and an English Wikipedia article, is ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions wrote about it. Provinces, cities, airports, stations and stretches of sea shared with the neighbours are filtered out.

Which places here are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

5 of the 10 in this guide: Boyana Church, Madara Rider, Srebarna Nature Reserve, Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari and Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak. That is not the full count for Bulgaria, only the listed sites that made this guide.

What language is spoken in Bulgaria, and what currency?

Bulgarian. The currency is BGN.

How do I get mobile data in Bulgaria?

A travel eSIM is usually the cheapest way, and avoids a roaming bill. The plans suggested at the foot of this guide start at $1.81 for 2GB per day. The eSIM is data-only and sits alongside your normal SIM, so calls, texts and WhatsApp keep working on your own number.

Which networks would my phone use in Bulgaria?

A1, Vivacom and Telenor. Your phone picks whichever has the best signal where you are, the same way a local phone does.

One practical note: staying online

Maps, tickets and translation all want data, and roaming is the expensive way to get it. A Computatus eSIM eSIM connects to A1, Vivacom and Telenor once you land, and installs by QR code before you leave.

See 12 Computatus eSIM plans for Bulgaria from $1.81
Prices as exported 2026-07-31. Tap a plan to open its order page.
Plan Data Valid Price Order
2GB per day Cheapest 2 GB 1 day $1.81 Get it →
2GB per day 2 GB 1 day $2.15 Get it →
3GB for 15 days 3 GB 15 days $2.69 Get it →
3GB for 30 days 3 GB 30 days $2.86 Get it →
3GB per day 3 GB 1 day $3.04 Get it →
5GB per day 5 GB 1 day $3.67 Get it →

No app needed. Install by QR code before you fly, keep your own number for calls, and it connects the moment you land.

A1 4GVivacom 4GTelenor 4G

Open the $1.81 plan →

A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this guide. Nothing above depends on it: the places are chosen before any price is looked up.