OUR DESTINATIONS
Let us help you find your perfect holiday by phoning us on
We offer holidays to the four corners of the globe. If you want specialist advise please phone our travel team and we will be happy to help.
Alternatively, check out some of our holiday offers below.
- Destinations
- Europe
- Bulgaria
- Mountains
- Borovets
- Rila Monastery
Rila Monastery
The biggest and most famous of Bulgaria's monasteries is
situated in the northwestern part of the Rila Mountains and is one
of the most significant monuments on the Balkan Peninsula. Rila
Monastery was founded by a hermit, St John of Rila, in the 10th
century, and eventually became a monastic complex that played an
important role in the spiritual history of medieval Bulgaria.
Having survived fire, abandonment and plunder, the monastery
fascinates visitors today with its exquisite architecture, rich
murals and icons and valuable museum collection, including old
manuscripts, jewellery, textiles, church treasures and a library
containing thousands of books. Photography is not allowed inside
the Monastery.
Information & Facts
Language
Bulgarian is the official language, which uses the
Cyrillic alphabet, but English, German and French is spoken in
resorts, hotels and restaurants.
Money
The official currency is the Lev (BGN), which is divided into
100 stotinki. The Lev is tied to the Euro at a fixed rate of EUR1 =
1.955 lev. Bulgaria has strict currency regulations. If you enter
Bulgaria with cash of any currency amounting to the equivalent of
8, 000 leva or more, you must declare it to customs officials.
Foreign currency may be exchanged in banks, hotels or at one of the
numerous bureaux de change, however due to a common practice of
misleading rates of exchange it is better to go to banks or hotels
to change money. A receipt called a
bordereauxis issued when exchanging currency, indicating
the amount that will be given, and it must be kept until departure.
Not all banks accept travellers cheques and those that do usually
charge a 5% commission. Major international credit cards are
increasingly becoming accepted by tourist hotels, upmarket shops
and restaurants, travel agents and car rental agents, but Bulgaria
is still largely a cash economy. There are ATMs in the main cities
and at Black Sea resorts.
Opening Times
Gates are open daily from dawn to dusk, but some
sights within the monastery complex have shorter opening hours.
Services are from 7 or 8am, and 4 or 5pm, depending on the time of
year
Time
Local time is GMT +2 (GMT +3 from last Sunday in March to
last Sunday in October).