What To Expect

What‘s Included

Reviews

• Truly excellent and great value for money

  John M,Apr 19, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  Great self-guided tour to Rila monastery. Totally satisfied with the e-guide and the audio guide with all the indepth information. Worth taking this activity to save money and to have everything.

  

• Gem!

  EKaterina1710,Jan 30, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  This activity gave me so much knowleage its like having your own ohysical guide. The conversational audio guide is spectacular and the eguide is with all guides notes.

• It’s mistake and couldn’t get the answer as soon as possible. Very schaam

  Tsai-luan L,Nov 12, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  1.00

  I made on a reservation for Sunday 12 November Private Day Trip Rila Monastery on Saturday in the evening late 11 November. When I recieved the confirmation I found out the date, is wrong. I made contact with local adviser the same night. It’s schaam. So I’ll get the money back. Thank you

• Totally recommended operator and tour

  EKaterina1710,Sep 30, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We chose the self-guided optionas we had transportation with us. Extremely useful and well organized tour. Our business partners had the chance to see this beautiful sight and fully enjoy it.

• IMPORTANT: BEFORE MAKING YOUR BOOKING, PLEASE CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION

  Tony C,Aug 17, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  1.00

  We feel it's crucial for you to have a complete understanding of what to expect before committing to booking the self-guided option with this provider: · The option labeled as "self-guided" does not include any form of transportation; you will need to arrange your own means of getting to the destination. · Contrary to the name, the "self-guided" option actually involves being part of a guided group tour. · The specified 9 am start time is non-negotiable due to the tour guide's commitments to the group. · While this ticket does cover “admission”, please be aware that entrance to the monastery complex itself is already free. · There are multiple museums located within the monastery premises, each requiring an additional fee. It remains unclear whether these fees are incorporated into the guided or private tour options. It's evident from numerous other reviews and our own experience that the advertisement intentionally leaves room for ambiguity. We are far from the only individuals who have been left feeling misinformed. We were sent a voucher for our “Private day tour from Sofia” the day before but it wasn’t until we tried to arrange our pickup that we were informed the meeting point was, in fact, the monastery itself at 9am This presented a significant challenge without personal transportation. We ended up getting transportation from another tour provider, hoping for museum access as advertised through our original tour. Sadly, we paid extra for museum entry (8 lev for ecclesiastical museum, 4 lev for kitchen museum). Furthermore, there is a lack of clarity regarding whether the guided tour facilitates group entry to the museums, a detail that is also absent from the advertisement. It's worth noting that the alternative provider we found offered a more economical option including transport and a legitimate e-guide. Our interactions with the provider proved challenging due to their unwavering belief in the clarity of their advertisement. Their inability to comprehend our confusion and their outright dismissal of constructive feedback left us immensely frustrated. In our opinion, the two tour options (Private and self-guided) should be distinctly separate advertisements, as their only shared aspect is the involvement of the monastery itself. We sincerely hope that this review eliminates any uncertainty for potential travellers and assists them in avoiding these mistakes.

  

  

• Second time and even better

  nick6BG,Nov 3, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  I came again on the same tour as I was super delighted. Brought the business delegation with me this time. The organizers did great again and and even better now. Thanks a million!

• Most Knowledgeable Guided Experience

  ol bumpa,Sep 6, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Wonderful experience. Nik was most knowledgeable about the area and provided a singular and enjoyable tour. I became acquainted with the monastery thru Patrick Femor’s “The Broken Road” and was looking forward to the visit. Nik provided the background information to enable a more complete picture.

  

  

  

• Do not choose self guided

  angelah10,Aug 17, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  1.00

  When i choose self guided, i thought it was without tour guide but with bus transportation, well i was wrong. Upon booking, i received an email from tripadvisor which i read and a bit confused than my understanding if self guided concept. I didnt receive any info from the tour operator so i waited until one day before the trip to call. Well i called 3 times that say at 9am, in the afternoon and at 9pm. On 9am i was told the information will be sent out within 24 hours of the trip, in the afternoon i was told there were some server? Issue so info will be shared shortly. I went to dinner, then by 9pm i checked finally info sent out to my email around 5:40pm saying to meet at Rila monastry at 9am… so basically the self guided really means no transportation but with on site guide explaining the history of the site? Just the opposite of what i need! By that time it is within 24 hours passed the cancelation timeline so i basically wasted 60 usd. Few lessons learnt here: 1) meeting at 9am arranging your own teansportatio so either you rent a car, or boom a taxi leaving sofia by 7am, or take bus or transfer few times on bus to stay near the monastry 2) taxi costs about 150 euro return trip and can wait for you for 2 hours during your visit. Each way is about 2 hours and monastry you can do within 1 hours, maximum 2 hours 3) self guided for this booking = no transportation + be at rila monastry at 9am. 4) rila monastry is free to visit. So unless you have car or taxi arrangement, and you want a local guide to explain to you while on the site, dont book self guided. 5) this operator sent out detailed itinary very late ( within 24 hours of trip time) so best to call them ( i did on my international roaming cost) to clarify what you have booked In my case, money lost, lessons learnt

• Independent tour to Rila Monastery

  EKaterina1710,Jun 27, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  I really like to travel and Bulgaria I started to discover long ago. I was interested in visiting the biggest spiritual centres in this country and, of course, the Rila Monastery, was at the top of my list. I chose to tour on my own and was very pleased, I got a detailed and interesting guide, whom I was able to get to know on my own this incredible monastery! The guide even has information on how best to get there from Sofia, even by public transport. Thank you so much for the unapologetically professionalism of the guys at this agency, who are additionally available to answer questions on the phone! Thank you, it was great and very informative!

• LA GRAN ESTAFA BULGARA

  gerardgR6983SY,May 23, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  1.00

  I never received a confirmation email until two days after of the activity date. In process to receive my refund...

• Load more reviews