Daytrip to Rila Monastery from Sofia

The one redeeming feature of the Ramada Hotel here in Sofia, is its breakfast buffet. There is a wide choice and as the saying goes, ‘something for everyone’. We watch with amusement how one guest piles her plate with salad so high it could compete with Mount Everest. Impressive! She then goes back for seconds.

I choose some strained yogurt loaded with cherry compote, raisins, pumpkin seeds, fruit salad, and fig jam. Yum!

David has cereal followed by a small cooked breakfast from the buffet.

As soon as Tsetso arrives in the hotel lobby this morning (and while we wait for Vladimir to arrive with the car), he yet again comments on Vladimir’s driving. In fact his driving doesn’t start off very well at all as he makes an unwarranted emergency stop before we even get to the end of the road. “What happened?” asks Tsetso. No reply. Again he seems unable to stay in his own lane, causing a number of other cars to sound their horn. Twice he doesn’t notice that the traffic lights have changed to green, yet again soliciting impatient drivers behind to hoot. I think Vladimir has been on the receiving end of hooting more times in this trip than David and I have been together in our 105 years of combined driving.

Rila Monastery

Some of you may remember from my very first post from this adventure, that this trip started as a short break to Ohrid in North Macedonia, but that I got tempted by Undiscovered Destinations 'Hidden Europe' tour of the Balkans. Looking at the route on the map, it seemed to me that it was within the realms of possibility to extend the original itinerary to include Rila Monastery in Bulgaria. This amazing place has been on my wish list for quite a few years now, and today is the day!

The map shows the main Balkans itinerary with the addition of Rila (and later in the trip: Meteora in Greece)

Vladimir is able to drop us off right outside the entrance to the monastery, while Tsetso takes us inside and explains what we see.

The monastery is every bit as impressive as I hoped it would be, with a huge cobbled courtyard surrounded by beautiful buildings on all sides.

The complex is enormous, at 8km², with 365 rooms. In the 14th century 360 monks resided here, now there are only seven, and 200 of the rooms have been converted to guest rooms.

Some of the guest rooms

Almost every centimetre of the surface on the monastery is covered in colourful frescoes, depicting scenes from the bible and other religious motifs.

The monastery also housed a huge kitchen and would cook food to feed eleven villages around this area. Today they make mekitsa, a sweet doughnut-like treat only found here in Rila.

It is truly yummy, to the point I forget to take a photo of it.

Gorski Kut Restaurant

Tsetso takes us to his friend’s restaurant, which he claims is the best one in the area. It is certainly popular, with a couple of huge tourist coaches just leaving as we arrive. As it has just started to rain, we opt to sit inside, rather than on the outdoor terrace. We have a table with a large window overlooking a lively stream some metres below.

David enjoying some local red wine

We choose the recommended pork skewers, and when it arrives we are glad we decided on one to share – it is enormous (300g of meat, according to the menu)!

The meat is beautifully tender and tasty, it is so well cooked we can cut it with a fork, and there is no fat or gristle!

We also have some local bread with cheese to share.

This is a little bland and disappointing

By sharing the main meal, it also means that we have room for puddings! David notices one of his favourite desserts on the menu: pancakes with chocolate sauce.

I pick the local speciality of a mascarpone torte, which is almost like a layered cheesecake.

After a couple of glasses each of the rich and warm red wine, the journey back to Sofia goes remarkably quickly.

Thank you to Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this 2025 Balkan Adventure for us.