It was a great tour.... - It was a great tour. Alexander took us safe and comfortable. Filled us with a lot of history. Definitely a reliable option to go. I booked a tour on booking.com and they cancelled it last minute and I quickly booked this one on Viator. Unfortunately we could not hike upto the Rila lakes due to the bad weather and the snow storm. Will come back again next year, May or September to do the tour again with this company.

Highly recommended adventures - I am grateful that I spontaneously found such a great offer. The Price quality ratio is right. The guide is very personable, has an enormous knowledge repertoire and humor. This combination makes the tour a unique experience in addition to the beauties of Bulgarian nature. The group quickly found connections through the guide and we became a good team. The hike is more beautiful than you could imagine in photos! Thanks for everything!

Beautiful scenery must see in Bulgaria - We had an amazing day at the monastery and lakes. It was the highlight of our trip. The scenery was fantastic. Alexander was our guide and he was so knowledgeable and helpful. He gave us so much info and he made the trip really enjoyable. The hike to the various lakes wasn't easy but I think most people could make it to the first lake. I had enough time to hike 5 of the 7 lakes which was stunning. Even if you just got to see the monastery and take the ski lift up the mountain the views are well worth it. Highly recommend this trip.

Easy day trip to must see sights - Must see excursion while in Sofia. Monastery is magical and the lakes are the perfect nature hike. We got lucky with amazing weather. Apostolos was our guide, nice roomie Van, good driver, provided a lot of free time to see what we needed and provided guidance for anything we wanted, great for independent travelers. Oh and such cute dogs that love him when we arrived at the Rila lakes ski lift.

Please make sure to check... - Please make sure to check the weather. We started the day with a visit to the Rila Monastery. The monastery is beautiful. Bring cash so you can try some of their delicious snacks. The 7 Rila Lakes hiking portion was canceled due to significant snow and mud on the ground. The tour leader was kind enough to replace this with an excursion to see a waterfall followed by free time in a thermal spa. Overall it was a very good experience.

It started with frustration but ended well - The services provided were very good -- safe transportation to the sites, good management of time to visit everything, and an excellent guide/driver, Alexander, who is a great resource for information on any number of subjects. (He made a fantastic restaurant recommendation, Satsanga, an Indian/vegetarian spot near the corner royal palace.) This company wasn't my first choice, but the less expensive alternative canceled my booking with no explanation the afternoon before the trip. Dealing with the company I rebooked with was a little frustrating at points. I had read one bad review that scared me away a little. This tour company needs to provide up-front all the disclaimers and contingency plans that they currently send you in a text at midnight the night before the trip, when most people who've paid for the trip have gone to sleep for the early start. Yes, it's common sense that, in the off-season when the weather is unpredictable, conditions may mean that it's not possible to take the lift. The tour information currently only states that the tour can be canceled for weather. But in their midnight message, the company warns you that you may need to bring a bathing suit for a never-previously-explained Plan B -- swimming at a spa. Most people visiting Bulgaria in the autumn, like me, are probably not prepared for (or interested in) swimming. But if I had known this contingency plan when I was looking to purchase the excursion, I at least could have prepared and decided accordingly. Just put all of this information in the tour description -- people will know exactly what to expect, and you'll save a lot of frustration, disappointment, and mixed reviews. My second recommendation: make the pickup spot somewhere more easily reached. The current pickup location is not convenient. Those gripes aside, the monastery and the lake are absolutely worth the time, money, and effort!

Great trip and tour guide but uncomfortable ride - Apostolos was very kind, funny and informative and very good tour guide. The reason why we will give this a 4 is the lack of legroom where we were sitting at the front and was not ideal post 4 hour hike. The front seats were tight and not ideal for people planning to hike, comfort or taller individuals. Better off having one individual at the front as opposed to two in the future and reducing tour size.

Good trip, best with good weather - Nice monastery, we were warned about the weather at the meten, were offered alternatives, decided to go anyway. Despite the elevator not going we were able to get upstairs with a jeep. Great driver, walking encyclopedia.

Great experience made... - Great experience made amazing by the tour operator Alexander. He was so full of knowledge about the culture and history of Bulgaria which was brilliant. When we got to the site of the Rila mountains we found that there was reduced visibility due to the weather so Alex gave us the option to go to a mineral spa instead. When we decided we still wanted to see the lakes he was so helpful providing info on routes, showing us the live camera of the mountain etc. The Rila monastery is also a must see site although would have liked more time to explore its museums and other attractions. Overall Alex made the day and although the visibility was so bad we couldn’t see any of the views on the mountain it was still fun. I would recommend to people to book when the weather is better though so as not to miss out on the views and hike.

Disaster - Disastrous and disappointing excursion. We hire from Spain visit to the Rila Monastery and the 7 lakes. The night before we were sent a wassap warning that we should wear very warm clothes and mountain shoes... and also swimming trunks in case the weather was adverse have an alternative... all this a few hours into the excursion, unable to react. In the morning we arrived at the meeting point and commenting all this to the guide, he with a high-handed attitude tells us that as we go it will be impossible to go to the lakes... we replied that all this should be warned in advance, when hiring and paying for the tour, but the guide continued with his chulesque attitude saying that we had already been told the night before! We boarded 25 people in an old and uncomfortable minibus and on the way to Rila Monastery the guide did not give us any information about history or characteristics of it. Also when he spoke to us his microphone was inaudible and it was only to tell us that there was the monastery .. that we managed and that he was waiting for us outside. After the visit that each one made as they could they rode us to the minibus and the guide told us again that the conditions in the lakes were very adverse and that if we suffered an injury or something happened to us he would not take care! All this to deter us from visiting the lakes that we had CONTRACTED. He offered us as an alternative to go to a few SWIMMING POOLS prior purchase of swimming trunks ( 20 levs plus each) and payment of admission to them (€ 30 plus each). To all this the sun shone in the sky, the temperature was 10 degrees, the wind was not blowing or raining, or snowing, that is an ideal day to visit the lakes (which was what we intended and they had SOLD us! ). Dining in a restaurant in Sofia we met some Spaniards who had visited the lakes on another excursion and enjoyed its wonderful landscape. I don’t understand how Trip Advisor can broker and recommend this kind of sloppy excursion. At least I hope it will serve so that if someone reads it they can choose other options to visit the splendid lakes of Rila.