Rila National Park

Like cobalt blue eyes the Seven Lakes gleam out of the Rila Mountains. The Tear, the Eye, Kidney, the Eye, the Twin, the Three Leaves, the Fish and the Lake Beneath - each lake is named after its characteristic shape or distinct striking feature.  

Trekking Rila’s mountain landscape is like stepping back in time, with traces of the Ice Age present everywhere: 200 glacial lakes, deeply carved out cirques (valleys), and large moraines lie scattered throughout the park.  Many plant species growing here have survived the Ice Age.

Hiking trails lead from the park’s highest peak, Mount Musala into the heart of some of Europe’s wildest mountain ecosystems, where the bear and the wolf roam in the thickets in the forests of the mountains,  but are rarely seen. The chance of catching a glimpse of the red Balkan chamois the national parks’s emblem, is greater.

Culture buffs can take a trip to nearby Rila monastery, one of Bulgaria's biggest cultural treasures or visit the remains of ancient Roman settlements, just a stone’s throw away.

Step back in time and look for plants that have survived the Ice Age

Hike from “the Kidney” to “the Eye” around the cirque of the Seven Lakes

Visit the Rila Monastery- Bulgaria’s most important cultural monument