9:00 Pick-up from your hotel in Sofia and 2-hour transfer to Rila Monastery (UNESCO). Tour of the monastery with entry to its history museum. Have lunch and try local dishes at a restaurant recommended by your expert guide and then continue with the scenic drive along the foothills of Rila and Rhodopi Mountains to Plovdiv. Arrival in the late afternoon. The city standing on 7 hills by the river Maritsa has an exceptionally vibrant and joyful center worth exploring and enjoying. Overnight in a 3-star hotel in the center of Plovdiv.
9:00 The Old Town of Plovdiv is filled with pastel-colored Revival Period homes with flower boxes at their windows, picturesque cobbled streets and charming coffee and antique shops. Practically there you will see monuments from antiquity, medieval times, Ottoman and Bulgarian Renaissance and the communist period. Visits to the Revival Period museum-house, the Ethnographic museum-house, the Roman Theater are included. Lunch and free time for shopping. Transfer back to Sofia.