This week I’m in a travel mood and I want to share with you another idea for a small trip in Bulgaria. I named this article, as you can see in the title, Trip to tripple “K”. It comes from the first letter of the destinations, they all start with “K” – Koprivshtitsa, Karlovo and Kalofer.
These towns are popular tourist destinations, because of their history and their authentic bulgarian architecture. Last summer we decided to visit them in time frame of 1 day. I should admit that few hours wasn’t enough time to see all the interesting things around. But if you have good organizational skills, you can still see a lot, so don’t worry.
The first place we visited was Koprivshtitsa.
The name of this town comes from the plant “nettle”, in bulgarian we call it “kopriva”. That moment you enter this place, you can breathe the characteristic atmosphere for this kind of towns. You look around and you see old traditional Bulgarian houses, built in typical Revival style.
The feeling is great, because not every day you are surrounded by so much history. I should note that many of the houses have been preserved and restored to their original appearance, which is very commendable.
You can take a walk, starting from the town centre. In Koprivshtitsa you can see a lot of architectural monuments, collections of ethnographical treasures, old weapons, National Revival works of art, national costumes and typical Bulgarian jewelry, etc.
After you finish sightseeing, you may want to try some typical Bulgarian food. If you don’t want to sit on a restaurant , I recommend you to sweeten your day with pancakes with homemade jam from strawberries or blueberries. I promise you won’t regret it – these pancakes are super tasty!
We have no time for waste, so let’s go to the next destination – Karlovo!
It is another really beautiful town, full of history. One of the most famous things about Karlovo is that it’s the birthplace of Vasil Levski (18 July, 1837 – 18 February, 1873). Levski was a Bulgarian revolutionist and is a national hero of Bulgaria. I recommend you to visit the museum (which is actually the house he lived in) and the large monument, dedicated to him.
Karlovo is also popular with the worldwide-known Rose oil, which is grown there. Rose oil is extracted from the petals of roses. It’s an essential oil that is used in cosmetics and perfumes.
And here’s a little friend we met along the way. It’s so cute, I couldn’t not share it!
And the last stop in this trip is Kalofer!
This town is located near Karlovo – only 17 kilometers away. A lot of authentic bulgarian houses can be seen here. You really feel the athmosphere of the past.
This town is also a birthplace of a famous national revolutionist and bulgarian poet – Hristo Botev (6 January, 1848 – 1 June, 1876). You can visit the National Museum “Hristo Botev”.
Here’s a photo of me and my boyfriend on that trip and behind us you can see the monument of Botev:
To be honest, we didn’t have enough time for this town, but we’ll be back for sure! However, I remember we sat in a tavern (in bulgarian we call it – mehana,) in the town centre, where I ate the most delicious, finger-licking barbecued pork ribs!!! I remember it was located close to the monument and on the fence there was a wodden sign with the insciption “Механа”. Here’s a photo from there:
Oh God, I still remember the taste of that ribs…
P.S. All photos in this article are taken by me.