Day trip

From Sofia: Rila Monastery and Boyana Church Day Trip

Activity provider: City Tour Sofia
Day trip

From Sofia: Rila Monastery and Boyana Church Day Trip

Activity provider: City Tour Sofia
Save up to 10%

From US$ 27.09 US$ 24.38 per person

Discover 2 UNESCO World Heritage Listed religious sites on a day trip from Sofia. Choose to have a guided tour or explore the Rila Monastery on your own before admiring the frescoes of Boyana Church.

About this activity

Free cancellation
Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
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Covid-19 precautions
Special health and safety measures are in place. Check your activity voucher once you book for full details.
Duration 8 hours
Check availability to see starting times.
Live tour guide
English, Spanish
Optional audio guide
Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian

Experience

Highlights
  • Take the chance to explore 2 UNESCO World Heritage sites
  • Choose a guided tour of Rila monastery or discover it on your own
  • Dive into the authentic countryside of Bulgaria on the way
  • Gain a fascinating insight into the history of Eastern Orthordoxy in Bulgaria
  • Admire beautiful examples of medieval frescoes in the church of Boyana
Full description

Experience the religious history of Bulgaria on a day trip to the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Rila Monastery and Boyana Church from Sofia. Follow your guide around the monastery to learn about this epic site or choose to explore it on your own before viewing Boyana Church's ancient frescoes.

Meet your friendly group for the day near Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Settle down in your seat and set off out of the city as you drive along scenic roads with picturesque views of rural Bulgaria.

Arrive at Rila Monastery, the largest Eastern Orthodox monastery in the country. If you've booked the tour, follow your guide around the historic site and learn about the main frescoes. If you're an explorer you can visit the museum, take photos, and check out the church at your own pace.

Then start your journey back to Sofia with one more important stop along the way. Enter the medieval Boyana Church and stroll within the ancient walls, studying the artistic frescoes which make this place so special.

Includes
  • Trip to Rila Monastery and Boyana Church
  • English-speaking guide or driver
  • Comfortable transportation
  • Parking fees
  • Entry to Boyana Church (10 BGN per person)

Select participants and date

Participants

Date

Meeting point

Meet your guide next to cafe La Cattedrale behind Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Ask for the City Tour travel agency. The van departs at 9:00 AM and will not wait for you if you are late.

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Important information

What to bring

  • Cash

Not allowed

  • Short skirts
  • Sleeveless shirts

Know before you go

  • Visits within Boyana Church are limited to 10 minutes
  • The Boyana church is closed on the 1st of January, on the Sunday of the Orthodox Easter, on the 24th of December and the 25th of December ─ on such days the tour is done only to the Rila Monastery
Customer reviews

Overall rating

4.6 /5

based on 165 reviews

Review summary

  • Guide
    4.5/5
  • Transportation
    4.6/5
  • Value for money
    4.6/5
  • Service
    4/5

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Star rating:

Very nice and kind guide and driver. Meeting point was easy to find. The guide explained about the trip and took entrance fee for the church in cash. Left from there on time.The drive to Rila Monastery was scenic but tiring(2 hours). First stop is around 2 hours into the trip so it is better to be prepared when you leave in the morning. The monastery was beautiful and you get to spend about 2 hours there. You can go on a stroll outside the monastery. The weather was great which made it possible. Lunch was at a local restaurant near the monastery. The food was nice. Although they had card readers, they preferred cash payment. So it’s a good idea to keep cash. The trip from the monastery to the church is around 2 hours again. The time at the church is limited. It is historic. Very small portion of the church is intact. The tour guide did speak english but majority of the group spoke spanish. The guide was kind to repeat things in english. All in all it was a well worth day trip.

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March 24, 2023

Both the Rila monastery and Boyana church are very interesting and beautiful, absolutely worth a visit. Unfortunately the time in Boyana church is very limited, we could have admire a little longer. The bus was comfortable. The only thing that was not great for us, that half of the group was Spanish speaker, so on the bus the tour guide spoke most of the time in Spanish, and very little information were given in English, however on my booking it said that the language of the tour is English.

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March 24, 2023

This tour was very informative and a great day trip to see the monastery. We did the English tour and were not aware we would be on a bus with the Spanish tour too. This meant that our guides were sharing the microphone, with the Spanish guide definitely having more time to share his tour. We also found that when the English guided was talking, a lot of people on the bus were talking over him, making it quite hard to hear what he was saying. The guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of interesting information at the monastery. It was a good mix of guided tour with enough free time to wander around at our own pace too

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March 24, 2023

Product ID: 417180