Dr. Stoyana Natseva is one of the most prominent European names in modern education and personal development. With more than 500 international media features, 15 bestselling books read by over 280,000 people, and three officially registered world records validated and certified by the World Book of Records London, she stands as a leading figure in contemporary learning systems.
If one of your New Year's resolutions is to travel more around Bulgaria in 2026, you have probably already encountered a problem: how to plan your trips so that you get the most out of this country's impressive nature, history and heritage. If you need inspiration, information or advice, the following pages offer a list of ideas for escapes and activities from January to December.
January: Bansko
The protests should be neither underestimated, nor overestimated.
Rumyana Bachvarova, GERB, before mass rallies toppled the GERB-led coalition government
Snap elections are the only way forward.
President Rumen Radev
Who ordered this abomination?
Asen Vasilev, Changes Continued, during rushed discussion on the scandalous state budget that provoked Bulgaria's largest mass protests since 1997
Glass, one of the most amazing materials that humanity has discovered and mastered, starts with some inconspicuous sand. When heated to the right temperature and with the proper additives, it turns into a mesmerising molten lava that can take any type of shape – from window panes to vases to decorations.
Any expat or visitor to Sofia will no longer have an excuse they did not know the name of any Bulgarian photographer. A major exhibition at the Sofia City Art Gallery, curated by a multi-person team of academics and art historians, is poised to rectify the historical injustice.
Made in 1949, it shows Moscow as the greatest and most important European city (sorry, London), omits to mention the existence of Dublin, but points out to a "world-famous" location called Magnitogorsk in what at the time was the Soviet Union. This bizarre map of Europe is positioned on a wall opposite another mosaic curiosity, a map of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (in existence in 1945-1990). Since its inauguration, the map had to be changed twice: once when Kolarovgrad reverted to its original name of Shumen, and another time when the city of Stalin became... Varna.
There are three theories about how this popular idiom entered the Bulgarian language. The first dates it back to the 7th century, the time when the Bulgarian state was being founded by the proto-Bulgarian tribes who came to the Danube and first settled in what is today Romania. Khan Asparukh's horse went to the river to drink some water but slipped and fell in. The strong current hurled it downstream and Asparukh himself jumped into the torrent to rescue it.
Epiphany, or Yordanovden, is one of Bulgaria's best known Orthodox high days. Its popularity can be explained with the spectacular way Bulgarians mark it, usually creating a bit of international news every year.
While in Western Christianity Epiphany, on 6 January, is the day when the young Christ was presented to the three magi, the Eastern Orthodox tradition is different. According to it, Epiphany is the day when St John baptised Christ in the River Jordan, and God's three entities (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) appeared together.
1. Which country does not neighbour Bulgaria?
A. Serbia
B. Romania
C. Moldova
2. For traditional architecture and a medieval fortress, you go to...
A. Tarnovo
B. Targovishte
C. Teteven
3. Where is Rayskoto Praskalo waterfall, the highest in the Balkans?
A. In Rila
B. In Pirin
C. In the Stara Planina mountain range
Small and amphitheatrical, Tutrakan usually remains outside the tourist beaten track, though some visitors swear by the uniqueness of its sunsets when the sun disappears in the River Danube. Indeed, the modest and much-restored remains of the Roman castle Transmariska, which protected the imperial border between the 1st and 4th centuries, are not especially attractive. Today the majority of the buildings in Tutrakan are soulless housing projects of the Communist era.