Bulgarian Heritage: Rila Monastery & Boyana Church

14 Ratings

Rilski manastir

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Immerse yourself in Bulgarian history and culture with a day trip to Rila Monastery and Boyana Church. Explore two UNESCO World Heritage sites, marvel at stunning architecture, and admire ancient wall paintings. Choose between a self-guided or privately-guided tour.

Duration: 10 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Rila Monastery - One of the must-see sights while in Bulgaria
Boyana Church - One of the must-see sights while in Bulgaria
St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral - One of the must-see sights while in Bulgaria
Vitosha Mountain - One of the must-see sights while in Bulgaria
Sofia - Sightseeing from the bus as we drive
Sofia Region - Sightseeing from the bus as we drive

What's Included

English speaking guide (Option dependent)
Hotel pickup and drop-off (Option dependent)
Transport (Option dependent)
E-guide (Self-guided option)

What's Not Included

Entrance fee Boyana Church

Additional Information

Discover the essence of Bulgarian cultural heritage in just one day!
This exceptional itinerary invites you to visit two UNESCO World Heritage sites: the impressive Rila Monastery, known as Bulgaria’s largest and most important monastery, and the enchanting Boyana Church, famous for its stunning 13th-century proto-Renaissance frescoes. Experience the…

Location

Rila Monastery

For the self-guided option.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

3.1

(14 Ratings)

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1 star

Worldtravelerdora

Sep 23, 2024

Excellent - Absolutely great activity. Very informative and full of hidden gems. Strongly recommend. I went with business customers and they were extremely happy which is excellent.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Ekaterina1710

Sep 16, 2024

Went with friends to these two top sights - We took this option as it gives us max flexibility qnd we were right. Recommend it as a great value for the money. Our frinds were very happy, we too.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Nick6bg

Aug 31, 2020

Brought my business partners on this self-guided trip - This operator organized us the cheapest Albena holiday ever and that's where I understood they are dealing with day tours and I had booked this tour directly with them before. This was one of the experiences I booked for my business visitors whom I drove and was with, that's why i took the self-guided option of this tour. The organization of the trip was a real gem, everything structured nicely in the several languages I requested it. It was so easy to drive around the spots and read the provided e-guide to my customers. We were waited on spot by the local people as a part of the logistics. The company helped me book the time for Boyana church which I paid on spot. Very delighted and truly recommend these guys. I took several tours with them after the released Covid measures and all of them were absolutely flawless.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Worldtravelerdora

Jan 4, 2020

I visited again the region - It's great to be back this time on an organized trip. Fortunately I was lucky that we were 5 people in that day so, it was like a private trip to the Rila Monastery which I visited before on a self-guided trip.Boyana church is only visited with reservation and in small group. It was a fantastic day, truly awesome guide!!!!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Maggievip

Dec 18, 2019

An experience you cannot miss in Bulgaria! - Rila Monastery and Boyana Church should be on your bucket list in Bulgaria. This guided tour showed them both to us no matter that we had the self-guided option on our schedule. The guide, the vehicle, the guiding itself, the pre-arranged visits were so good that we couldn't feel how the day passed and we were back to Sofia.It truly is an experience you cannot miss while you are in Bulgaria or the capital Sofia.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Joshua_s

Sep 13, 2024

None because you guys stole my money… you are scamers doing fraud. - None because you guys stole my money… you are scamers doing fraud. Want my money back. Scamers 😤😡🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Review provided by Viator

Travelergk2016

Nov 1, 2020

Worst trip - Do not choose this tour nor the operator. It's a tourist trap. The tour was named "Self Guided Tour", and our first impression was shuttle buses were provided, and guests will guide themselves in the sites. This is a common understanding of a "Self Guided Tour" in Bulgaria. However, this was not the case for this tour operator. The tour operator sent us a PDF at midnight before the tour start, and the PDF contained nothing more than public information (such as public bus and time schedule) between Rila Monetasary and Boyana Church. Every person can google by themself without any cost. The PDF has only 13 pages and with low quality of tourist site introductions, which is not worth the money at all. When I realized this tour was a fraud, it was already too late to cancel. I applied for a refund, however, the operator declined and responded like " It is clearly stated as a Self Guided tour", "It's your responsibility to choose a tour", etc. We asked the tour operator how the 13 page PDF can charge 46 euro for two people (the price is enough for people to join a guided-bus tour), but he didn't explain. Instead, he offered us a two-hour guided tour in Sofia based on a "goodwill". The tour in Sofia is not worth what we paid for and we didn't want it as well. How can anyone comfortably join a guided tour provided by an unreliable operator? I contacted TripAdvisor and received a partial refund from TripAdvisor, which was better than nothing. This is clearly the worst experience I had with tour operators in my life.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

921iriss

Oct 19, 2020

Worst ever - Didn't worth the money. We got no service at all. The price for self-guided tour only included a 13 page PDF (only contained public information)!!!! The operator refused to refund and responded very rudely. They claimed it was clients' sole responsibility to choose them.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Ewat372

Aug 14, 2020

Self guided = getting bus schedule for USD22 - I booked a self-guided trip to Boyana and Rila Monastery. What I didn't know was that self-guided means being totally on your own. You get a pdf with a lot of info about the history. As for organization, the only details you get is the name of the bus station in Sofia from which buses to Rila depart and timetable. As for reaching Boyana, there is no information. I paid USD 22 to for getting the latest bus schedule The description on the website is misleading and refers only to the guided trip.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Lorrimcc

Nov 2, 2019

The WORST tour experience - Scheduled a tour with hotel pickup. I received an email the night before and I replied to confirm I was still going and highlighted my hotel. The following morning i receive an email and I confirmed again that I'll be attending the tour and mentioned my hotel. I get a response literally MINUTES before the scheduled pickup that I would not be getting picked up at my hotel. I would have to go to a central location within the city. I paid extra for a hotel pickup. I requested a full refund and I have not heard back from this company. I'm surprised I got this link to leave a review. It must be automated. I've been to a dozen countries all over the world and this has been the worst experience! I'll never use this company again. They basically stole my money through deceptive advertising. I wish I could give a zero or negative star rating.

Review provided by Viator

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up to 15 guests

1 Adult