Bulgaria's Soul: Rila Monastery & 7 Lakes Self-Guided Adventure

Phillip and driver were excellent in taking us safely and on time to locations. Phillip was very knowledgeable and happy to be our guide. Thank you for making this tour a fantastic time

Philip’s communication before the day and via the WhatsApp group was incredibly helpful. Phillip texted us throughout the day with reminders of timing and it made the entire experience feel extremely organized, well thought out and attentive. I also really like the fact that we were in a small bus van, and we purposely arrived an hour after the big bus companies at the monastery so this way, we could have a much more quiet and authentic experience. We were also given paper maps of the hiking trails and also of the monastery, which made for a very easy day to get around. I encountered other people on the mountain trails from the big bus companies and they were given basically no guidance and ended up asking for my help since I had a map from this company. I was very impressed and would absolutely recommend this trip and company to everybody.

Awesome hike. Thank goodness it was I guided as that would have made it tedious as the slowest person would have set the pace. Very clearly marked. Otherwise just follow the person further in front of you. Limited roads in Sept

It was a very good experience, I had sufficient time for Rila lakes n Rila monastery. I would like to recommend to everyone going to Bulgaria.

It was a perfect day !! Nothing to think, good organisation and just easy ! If you want to go to sofia you have to visit the lakes and Rila monastery

Was very nice to go two destination in the same day! Enough time to hike and also look around Rila monastery! I felt like the time for Rila monastery is a bit long, I think one hour is enough to look around. But overall, its just shuttle bus but the guide told us some tips and also kind!! If you do solo travelling and wanna go to Rila area, its good to use this shuttle tour!! Very flexible!

It was a perfect day! Although we didn’t have a personal guide, we received very important and practical information throughout the day from the tour organizer via WhatsApp. We got exactly what we expected! We were very lucky because our fellow travelers were great, and thanks to that, the bus was able to follow the itinerary precisely—no one was ever late. It was especially fortunate and practical that in the morning we were given a printed outline map and guide with distance markers. This was a fantastic idea and helped us plan exactly how much time we could spend at the Rila Lakes and how long a section we could cover. I believe this was also part of the reason why everyone got back to the bus on time. If we had had any issues, we could have contacted the tour organizer immediately

Yes of course, I found myself very well! It was a really interesting and beautiful experience. Thanks to your suggestions we have greatly appreciated the things to see. Thank you very much. Have a good evening.

A very nice hiking trip, with enough time to make the 7 lakes hike at tour own pace. A must if you have a sunny day in Sofia and want to get out of the city and see the mountains.

Although it is self guided tour, Philip the tour guide, guided us through a group chat on what's app whenever we reached our destination. We were given detailed instructions both on paper and verbal. The Rila lakes walk is quite steep at first but the views were awesome. One has to think that you need about 3.5 hours flat without break. Afterwards, we headed to the monastery which was quite an experience. Although it's a long journey, it was very satisfactory.