Founded in 681, Bulgaria is the oldest state in Europe, but its roots reach far deeper into history. In the Valley of Kings, in tombs adorned with frescoes and bass reliefs, archaeologists continue to discover mankind's most ancient gold treasures -- the beautifully worked objects buried with Bulgaria's Thracian forebears, some dating as far back as 3000 B.C. Uncovering the countless burial mounds dotted throughout Bulgaria's central "belly" -- a process only started in earnest less than a decade ago -- has revealed that this was home to the world's most sophisticated goldsmiths, and prompted local claims that it was here, in the shadow of the Balkan Mountains, that Europe's first civilization was birthed.
Traversing Bulgaria's mountain ranges -- carpeted with ancient forests and carved by mineral-rich rivers -- you can see why these sophisticated warrior-artists chose to settle in its fertile plains. It's a magnificent country, rich in natural resources, with a climate that is more southern European than eastern. It is this temperate climate -- along with a sweeping coastline of sandy soft beaches, lapped by a gentle, warm Black Sea -- that continues to attract new visitors, the vast majority of whom arrive in high summer. Thank heavens. For Bulgaria's treasures lie elsewhere, hidden in the ancient tombs of the Valley of Kings, in the mixture of Bulgarian Renaissance architecture and ancient Roman ruins that line the cobbled streets of Plovdiv, in the views of Bulgaria's medieval capital, the university town Veliko Tarnovo, that rises precipitously from limestone cliffs that guide the winding Yantra River below, and in the architectural museum towns that lie scattered throughout Bulgaria's mountains. It is particularly the latter, their narrow cobbled lanes and alleys lined with 19th-century stone-and-timber homes, that define Bulgaria as one of the most exciting destinations on the Continent. It's not just exploring the villages themselves, with picture-perfect opportunities around every corner, but getting to them -- snaking your way along empty roads, through high embankments laden with red poppies and blowsy white elder flowers; past women in patterned headscarves tilling fields by hand, and toothless old men pulling hillocks of hay so huge you can't see their cart wheels. It's Bulgaria, Eastern Europe even, at its unspoiled best, relatively undiscovered and offering a combination of natural beauty and ancient history, comfortable accommodations, and wonderful fresh cuisine, in surroundings that show little sign of the so-called advances of the 21st century. It's no surprise then that tourism here is on the increase, albeit it slowly, with (at last count) almost 6.5 million visitors now including this rough Balkan jewel in their Eastern European itinerary. With a lack of tourism infrastructure, shocking service levels, and a foreign alphabet, Bulgaria may not be the easiest destination to master, but -- armed with our information -- it will provide you with some of the most authentic experiences that Eastern Europe has to offer.
The Lay Of The Land -- Situated on the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria is sandwiched between Greece and Turkey to the south and the Danube River that denotes most of its border with Romania to the north. West lies Macedonia and Serbia; east the Black Sea. Over half the country is mountainous, with the Sredna Gora and Balkan range slicing the country in half, and the south-central plains (known as the Valley of Kings) flanked by the Pirin, Rila, and Rhodope mountain ranges.
