Bulgaria RS Tour

This is not exactly an answer to your question but maybe more as food for thought. We have taken 5 RS Tours with our 6th coming next month. You mentioned you have not traveled in Easter Europe and I would suggest giving some thought to the Best of Eastern Europe Tour if you can take the extra time and afford the expense required for the longer trip. We did this tour in 2013 with our 18 year old son as our second RS Tour and while all the tours have been great we still think this one has been the best. We never felt compromised in any way during this trip. While Bulgaria is a tour we will definitely be taking we saw many different and interesting things on The Best of EE tour you might want to consider it if possible.

Don, Thank you for your quick response! I did look into the EE tour however, the Best of the Adriatic tour covered 3 of the same destinations (Bled, Rovinj, Plivitice). Perhaps I need amend my original response to say I went on the Best of the Adriatic tour rather than 'Croatia.' I did enjoy those 3 destinations, however since our tour was in 2014, it seems too soon to repeat those places. I'm glad you enjoyed the EE tour.

I am very biased in favor of Eastern Europe.
An issue that I have is making the most of my travel time while in a general region.
In as much as RS tours do not include air travel costs, I would suggest the following for your consideration:

1. Take the RS "Best of Bulgaria" tour.
2. Upon conclusion, travel from Sofia, Bulgaria (the start and end point of the RS "Bulgaria" tour) to Bucharest, Romania, and spend a few days in Romania.
3. Travel to Budapest, Hungary, and spend a few days, there.

Fly home.

You can thank me when you return.

There are many knowledgeable contributors on this forum to help realize this suggestion for you.

JulH, I have taken 11 RS tours since 2013, including all 3 that you have taken, and the Bulgaria Tour was in my opinion one of the very best, really outstanding. I say this for several reasons: (1) very interesting country, with many diverse and enjoyable cities, towns, and sites; (2) few other tourists at most stops and sites; (3) excellent hotels and food; (4) several interactive experiences, where tour participants interact for hours with everyday Bulgarians, people who do not generally deal with tourists; (5) very friendly and helpful people in Bulgaria; (6) this a low cost tour and Bulgaria has low costs in general; and (7) as much as anything, a really excellent, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and caring Bulgarian guide, Stefan, one of the best. Enjoy Bulgaria!

I took the Bulgaria tour in May of 2017. I can second everything that Larry said! Lovely scenery including mountains and beach, fascinating history, a nice mix of activities including a lunches with Roma and Muslim families and a wonderful dance performance, good hotels (and a night in a monastery- you won’t forget that!), delicious food, and an AMAZING guide (Stefan) whose enthusiasm for his country will rub off on you.

I don’t know what exactly you are asking in terms of safety, but Bulgaria is as safe as any other place in Europe, maybe safer. I had some time on my own in Sofia at the beginning and end of the trip with no problems. The written language is a challenge since they use the Cyrillic alphabet (which Stefan taught us was developed in Bulgaria, NOT Russia), but people were friendly and helpful.

I took the Best of Bulgaria tour last year and it was wonderful. First and foremost you will be guided by a wonderful guide, Stefan. He is simply outstanding. I always felt safe and I loved the hotels. You will see big cities, like Sofia and Plovdiv, and also small towns and beautiful countryside, like a monastery where you will stay overnight and a Roma village. The food was wonderful and I found Bulgarians to be welcoming and friendly. I smile everytime I think about my time in Bulgaria.