THE KINGDOM OF THRACIANS

This trail will take you into the Bulgarian Rose Valley and Sredna Gora Mountain – land of Thracians, mineral springs, roses and fine wine. The main goal of this carefully designed holiday is to  give great pleasure  to your body, senses and mind. It is awonderful combination of unique nature, ancient culture, healing springs, delicious food and wine. Galloping through gorgeous valleys and Sredna Gora’s untamed nature, then relaxing in hot mineral pools with a glass of fine wine – this trail offers marvelous landscapes, good horses & equipment, luxury hotels, tasty food and more!
We understand that enjoying your horse and  feeling safe are some of the most important things for a riding holiday. That is why we carefully select our horses and train them to be reliable, easily controllable and brave. Your horse will be carefully chosen, according to your requirements and abilities. The guides will prepare the horse for you every day, so you can just relax and enjoy your holiday.

This trail goes for 4 days in the Thracian valley and 2 days into the Sredna gora mountain. The valley offers opportunities for lovely long canters between rose gardens and endless fields, and an amazing 360-degrees view from Sredna gora mountain. You will get to explore the deep, century-old beech forests while marveling at the mountain’s breathtaking sights.

The required level of experience for this ride is Intermediate + or higher

You should be a strong and confident rider, capable of all paces and fit enough for long canters through rough terrain.

Key information

• Rider weight limit: 187 pounds / 85 kilograms
• Ability: intermediate and higher ability riders
• Number of riders: 4-10
• Average hours in the saddle: 4-6
• Tack type -Western and Endurance high-quality saddles – Ortho-Flex and Podium. Some of the horses are ridden in bitless bridles.
• Horses – Shagya and pure-bred Arabs, East-Bulgarian breed, and cross-bred with Arab horses – all very well-trained, spirited and easily controllable. The height of the horses varies from 150 to 165 cm.
• Guides-experienced and professional, they perfectly know all the horses and routes. They will take care of the horses and your good mood.
• They will take care of the horses and your good mood.
• It is obligatory to have a riding helmet.We also recommend: riding boots or chaps, raincoat and warm clothes, insect spray, sun protection cream.
• Meeting point: Sofia Airport.
• Pace-varying from walk on steeper slopes to a fast pace in open spaces.

  Riding consists of 40% walking, 30% trotting and 30% cantering. This proportion could be changed according to the requirements and the abilities of the riders or weather conditions.

You will be accommodated in luxury hotels, the majority of which have hot mineral water. There are swimming pools and opportunities for Spa treatments in nearly all places. Rooms are mostly twin with an en-suite bathroom. One night is in a wooden cabin at the foot of the mountain with common bathrooms and rooms for 2-3 people, offering homemade food, a campfire and a hot tub with mineral water. Meals and soft drinks are all-inclusive, except for hard alcohol; the hotels and houses provide breakfast and dinner, offering delicious traditional dishes, fruits and vegetables from the local farms and our garden. Lunch is in the open-air during the passages and they consist of warm homemade food, beer, cold and hot drinks. We offer ecologically clean food, international and traditional Bulgarian cuisine.

Single rooms are available in all other hotels except for the wooden cabin on day 5, where rooms are shared between 2-3 people. For an additional payment of 50-60 Euro, you could get a single or double room in a nearby hotel.

Dates for 2026:

April – fm 18 to 25 
May – fm 02 to 09 – Fully booked
May – fm 16 to 23 – Fully booked
Sept. – fm 05 to 12 – Fully booked
Sept. – fm 19 to 26 – Fully booked
Oct. – fm 17 to 24 – Fully booked
Oct. – fm 31 to 07 Nov. – 1 spot available

Price: 2180 EUR per person in a double room. + 250 EUR for a single accommodation.

Dates for 2027:

April – fm 10 to 17 
April – fm 24 to 01 May 
May – fm 8 to 15  
Oct. – fm 02 to 09
Oct. – fm 16 to 23
Oct. – fm 30 to 06 Nov.

Price: 2180 EUR per person in a double room. + 320 EUR for a single accommodation.

What’s included

• 6 days of riding
• All meals and soft drinks 
• 7 nights’ accommodation
• Entry fees as per the itinerary
• Professional guides’ assistance
• Luggage transfers
• Jeep vehicle support
• Airport transfers from and back to Sofia
• Destinations full of historical values

• Additional activities:visit of the ancient Roman town Diocletianopolis in Hisarya; cultural tour of the Panagyurishte Golden Treasure; visit of the Thracian Temple Complex, Starosel.
• Accompanying children and young people:over 12 years. All accompanying non-riders could participate in the above-mentioned additional activities

What’s not included:

• International flights to and from Sofia
• Medical insurance (mandatory)
• Alcohol
• Personal expenses
• Tips
• Wine tasting
• Extra SPA treatments

Additional conditions and prices:

1. Minimum number of riders- 4. A trail for 2 or 3 riders will be confirmed to run if the clients agree to pay the small group supplement in case the minimum of 4 is not reached.
2. If a single rider wants to share a room with somebody else, but there is no other suitable person to share, then he/she will have a single accommodation and has to pay its additional tax.
3. The routes and the dates could be changed upon the desires of the customers. If a group of min.4 riders wants to change a planned for one date trail to another one, this could be done in case there are no other bookings for this period.
4. Prices can be changed in case of some extreme change of the fuel price.
5. Additional prices:

• Private transfer from/to Sofia – 220 EUR net price.
• Small group supplement (2 or 3 in the group)

– 350 EUR net price – “The Wild Land of Central Bulgaria” & “Balkan National Park”

– 400 EUR net price – “Magic gallops in the Devetaki Plateau” & “The Kingdom of Thracians

• Wine tasting with 7 wines and special food for each of them – available in all the trails against 25 EUR per person net price.

7. Arrival time required: between 12:00 and 16:00 h or something very close to this time. The clients, arriving outside the appropriate time should have a special transfer.
8. Departure time required: between 11:00 and 15:00 h or something very close to this time. The clients, departing earlier than the appropriate time, should have a special transfer. The clients, departing later than the appropriate time will not have to pay for a special transfer, but they will be left at the airport together with the earlier departing riders.
9. The standard packing list is:

– helmet and riding pants,chaps

– good raincoat

– sun-protection cream

– spray against insects

– flat comfortable shoes for walking, while visiting the landmarks (there is an old pavement on few places)

– swimsuit and slippers

– other stuff depends on the riders- clothes, etc. Good to have some light jacket even in the Summe

Itinerary:

From the town of Hisarya to Zhitnitsa, Krasnovo village, the town of Koprivstitsa, the town of Strelcha, to Starosel, and back to Hisarya

Day 1:

• Pick up from Sofia Airport and transfer to the town of Hisarya – famous Spa Resort, placed 180 km southeast from the capital.
• Accommodation in a Spa hotel “Chinar” with jacuzzi and sauna.
• Welcome dinner, briefing and rest at the hotel.

Highlights:
Hisarya is a small resort town in central Bulgaria, located in Plovdiv province. It sits at an elevation of 368 m. Hisarya has 22 hot water springs that have been actively used since ancient times. Water temperatures vary from 44-55˚C. This area has always attracted settlers due to the abundance of water. Thracians first settled here IV-III century BC. Later, the Romans arrived to these lands, transforming the town. They built a marvelous city, wide streets, stunning courtyards, villas, marble baths, aqueducts, sewage systems and an amphitheater. Ruins from the Roman period are still well-preserved in the modern city of Hisarya.

Day 2:

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Arrival at the stable. Introducing the horses to the riders, final preparations and instructions by the guides.
• Riding south crossing along the vineyards and sandy lakes.
• Picnic in the meadows near Staro Zhelezare village.
• Afternoon offers a lot of canters across the fields to the village of Zhitnitsa.
• Accommodation and dinner in a Boutique Hotel Trakiets with a relax center including Jacuzzi, a sauna and a steam bath, an outdoor and indoor swimming pool.
• About 32km (4.0 hours) of riding.

Day 3:

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Beautiful, long gallops among meadows, riding near Pyasachnik artificial lake – the biggest in the area – with a panoramic view of the mountain.
• Picnic near the Pyasachnik lake.
• Afternoon ride to Krasnovo village, famous for its mineral baths situated on the southern slopes of Sredna Gora Mountain.
• Accommodation and dinner in the Spa Hotel Aqua Termi. Before dinner you can have aquatic relaxation procedures and massages, and swim in the mineral water pool.
• About 31 km (4 hours) of riding.

Day 4:

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Start from Krasnovo village, ride through rose gardens and up into the heart of the mountain.
• Lunch at the beautiful Buntovna Hut at 1180 m altitude. It is located in an old beech forest in the historic area of Konska Polyana, Kulata and Kanara, offering an amazing view.
• Afternoon ride through the deep beech forest and the lovely open mountaintop, ending up near the town of Koprivshtitsa.
• Accommodation in the new hotel ”Eagle Rock”, situated in the middle of the mountain hills, where you can hear the sheep’s bells playing a song. The hotel has a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi and a sauna.
• Dinner of local meals and wine.
• About 32 km (5 hours) of riding.

Day 5:

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Ride through an untouched forest to the town of Strelcha and reach the very top of the beautiful peak “Wolf” – 1240m, with an amazing panoramic view of the Upper Thracian Plain and the surrounding mountains.
• Lunch at the wooden cabin.
• Accommodation in the wooden cabin of Nomad with common bathrooms and rooms for 2-3 people.
• After the ride you will be taken by car on a guided tour to the Historical Museum in the town of Panagyurishte. The museum complex includes the vault hall of Panagyurishte’s treasure, the Historical Exposition dedicated to the April Uprising, the Dudekova House, the Jounova House, the Sinia Hadjidimitrova House, the Byala Hadzhidimitrova House, the House of Raina Knyaginya, the Tuteva House, the Lekova House, the Drinova House
• Dinner with homemade food and local wine. Drinks around the camp fire and hot pot after dinner.
• About 20 km (3.5-4 hours) of riding.

Highlights:
The museum serves the Apriltsi Memorial Complex, dedicated to the participants in the April Uprising of 1876 and the historical site “Oborishte”. The Panagyurishte treasure is by far the richest and most brilliant gold hoard yet discovered which was unearthed by accident by three brothers – Pavel, Petko and Michael Deykovs in 1949, during clay digging near the town of Panagyuriste. The Panagyurishte gold has been dated to the 4th century BC.

Day 6: 

• Breakfast at the camping.
• Long gallops through the fields and nice vineyards, and along sandy lakes.
• Picnic in a cherry garden next to the village of Krastevich.
• Accommodation in the luxurious Wine & Spa Complex Starosel.
• Before dinner you can enjoy the nice Spa centre or join a wine tour.
• Dinner at a nice restaurant in the complex.
• About 28 km (4-4.5 hours) of riding.

Highlights:

Wine tasting of 7 different wines, each of them accompanied by special food – available for 25 EUR per person net price.

Day 7:

• • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Visit of the Starosel Thracian Cult Complex. It is the largest preserved Thracian King Complex with a temple-mausoleum in Southeast Europe. It dates back to the 5^th century BC. You will get to learn about the mysterious Thracians and their amazing cultural heritage and historic significance.
  • Long gallops among meadows and fields.
  • Picnic at the foot of the mountain near Panicheri village.
  • Afternoon ride across forests, meadows and along lakes, doing a full circle which ends in Hisarya.
  • Accommodation in a Spa hotel “Chinar” with jacuzzi and sauna.
  • Farewell dinner in the evening.
  • About 30km (4 hours) of riding.

Day 8:

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Leaving for Sofia.
• Departure from Sofia Airport.