Mountain
Rila
The highest range on the Balkan Peninsula: glacial cirques, some 200 lakes including the Seven Rila Lakes, and Rila Monastery in its valley.
- Region
- South-west Bulgaria
- Highest point
- Musala · 2925 m
- Musala
- Seven Lakes
- monastery
Height
The mountains
A third of Bulgaria is mountain. Two ranges break 2 900 m, glacial lakes fill the cirques by the hundred, and the Kom–Emine trail crosses the whole country along the Balkan spine — with thermal water waiting at the bottom of nearly every valley.
Mountain
Pirin
Sharp marble ridges, a UNESCO national park and the Baikushev pine, one of the oldest trees in Europe.
- Region
- South-west Bulgaria
- Highest point
- Vihren · 2914 m
- UNESCO
- UNESCO park
- marble ridges
- Vihren
Mountain
Stara Planina
Балкан
The 550 km Balkan range that gave the peninsula its name, crossed end to end by the Kom–Emine long-distance trail.
- Region
- Central Bulgaria
- Highest point
- Botev · 2376 m
- Kom–Emine
- 550 km
- waterfalls
Mountain
Vitosha
Sofia's home mountain and the first nature park in the Balkans, with stone rivers of boulders and a summit reachable after work.
- Region
- Sofia
- Highest point
- Cherni Vrah · 2290 m
- Sofia
- stone rivers
- first nature park
Mountain
Osogovo
Broad grassy ridges above Kyustendil, superb for long gravel rides and empty sunset ridgelines.
- Region
- West Bulgaria
- Highest point
- Ruen · 2251 m
- gravel
- ridges
- quiet
Mountain
Slavyanka
Remote marble ridge on the Greek border with Bulgaria's largest juniper and black-pine reserve, and almost no people.
- Region
- South border
- Highest point
- Gotsev Vrah · 2212 m
- remote
- reserve
- border ridge
Mountain
Rhodope Mountains
Rounded, forested and endless — the mythic home of Orpheus, riddled with gorges, caves, mineral springs and stone villages.
- Region
- South Bulgaria
- Highest point
- Golyam Perelik · 2191 m
- Orpheus
- caves
- mineral water
Mountain
Belasitsa
Chestnut forests and a three-country ridge where Bulgaria, Greece and North Macedonia meet above the warm Struma valley.
- Region
- South-west border
- Highest point
- Radomir · 2029 m
- chestnuts
- tri-border
- warm valley
Mountain
Sredna Gora
Gentle wooded hills between the Thracian plain and the Balkan range, packed with Thracian mounds and vineyards.
- Region
- Central Bulgaria
- Highest point
- Bogdan · 1604 m
- mounds
- vineyards
- easy riding
Mountain
Vrachanski Balkan
Limestone plateau of karst cliffs, the Ledenika cave and the Vratsata gorge — Europe's tallest sheer limestone wall.
- Region
- North-west Bulgaria
- Highest point
- Beglichka Mogila · 1482 m
- karst
- climbing
- caves
Mountain
Lozenska & Plana
Low forested ridges between Sofia, Rila and the Iskar reservoir — the quickest gravel escape from the capital.
- Region
- Sofia region
- Highest point
- Manastirishte · 1338 m
- gravel
- near Sofia
- reservoir
Mountain
Strandzha
Bulgaria's largest protected area: relict oak forest, fire-dancing villages and a wild coastline where the range meets the sea.
- Region
- South-east Bulgaria
- Highest point
- Golyamo Gradishte · 710 m
- nature park
- nestinari
- wild coast