Level
Intermediate - Expert
Style
Enduro, shuttle supported
Location
Vitosh, Blago Enduro, Borovets bike park, Bansko
Best Period
June - October
Price
from 490 EU
ADVENTURE INFO
Pure all-mountain bike adventure in the forests and alpine zones of the highest mountains in Bulgaria -Rila, Pirin and Vitosha. This trip will take you to the best enduro trails of these mountaineering symbols, revealing Bulgaria’s alpine beauties, biodiversity and uniqueness. The riding includes mild ascents and mind-blowing descents on diverse mixture of exciting long, flowy, technical, natural and man built trails – pure mountain bike bliss!
During the leisure hours off the bikes you will have the chance to taste local specialties; experience Bulgarian folklore and traditions; relax in thermal hot pools; and feel the spirit of the untamed mountain lifestyle.
Depending on your time of arrival we either stay in Sofia for the night or drive towards our first riding destination – the famous winter and summer resort Bansko, settled in the foot hills of the highest marble peaks of Pirin Mountain. Option for short acclimatization ride.
A day full of amazing riding on the trails in the lower part of the mountain, sheltered amongst magnificent pine forest. These trails are built and taken care by the local mountain bike society and are a mixture on fast and flowy sections with some more challenging rocky and technical terrain. We use the van to drive us up the asphalt roads and pedal to the start of the trails on dirt roads. At the end of the day we can relax our bodies with a dip in one of the nearby mineral hot water pools. We spend the night in Bansko and taste the traditional local cuisine for dinner. Biking distance: 35- 40 km, Time: 5-6 hrs
A short transfer in the morning takes us to our next riding spot – Blagoevgrad, the biggest town in the area, spread out in the lower hills of the highest mountain in the Balkan peninsula – Rila. The trails here are hard to describe with words so they have to be experienced by bike! The area hosts one of the best enduro races in the country and the trails are full of natural and built features – flowy berms, technical switchbacks and rock gardens, jumps and drops, all this combined with the good soil that never gets muddy, makes Blagoevgrad one of our favorite places to ride. We can use the van to save some time on the climbs and we can repeat your favorite trails. We spend the night in a guesthouse in the Old town neighborhood of Blagoevgrad. Biking distance:40-45 km, Time: 5-6 hrs.
We continue our journey with one hour transfer to other side of Rila Mountain. The next two days are dedicated to Borovets Mountain Bike Park and some other trails high up in the mountain with views of the highest peak on the Balkan Peninsula – Mussala at 2925m a.s.l. We use the chair lift and the gondola to ride the best enduro and downhill trails in the bike park. The riding here is more technical and challenging with lots of roots, rock gardens, jumps and technical features all this flowing between the old coniferous forests of Rila National park.
Today we can explore the higher parts of Rila Mountain just below the highest peaks and ride some longer natural alpine trails. To reach those trails we have to do some uphill pedaling on the bikes but the views of the rugged peaks and the long ride down are totally worth the effort. Biking distance: 30-35 km , Time: 5-6 hrs
The last two days of riding in this epic tour will take us to a mountain called Vitosha (2300m high) located next to our capital city Sofia. Being one of the most famous and most ridden mountain bike destinations in Bulgaria, Vitosha offers great variety of trails and natural beauties. The mountain has been explored by hikers and mountaineers for centuries and is full of amazing natural singletracks as well as some man build mountain bike trails. On the first day we will explore the trails in the lower northern slopes of the mountain using our van to go up, combined with some transfers on the bike we will ride various fast and flowy trails to get used to the terrain.
The second day we will climb the highest peak – CherniVruh – 2290 m a.s.l, and do a 16km long descend all the way down to the city, shredding the flowy alpine grassy slopes through the rough and technical forest trails. The options here are almost endless so if you have the strength and desire to keep riding we can always bring you to a new trail or repeat one of your favorite. In the evening we will enjoy a nice meal followed by a night stroll in the city. Night life in Sofia during summer is also one very interesting and adventurous social experience!
Free time and transfer (30 min) to Sofia airport for departure.
Price/person
490 euro (min. 6 riders)
Included:
6 nights in 2-4 star Family hotels with in-suite facilities on BB, professional English speaking mountain bike guide, all ground transportation and shuttles, driver, lift pass for Borovets Mountain Bike park
Supplements:
Lunch: 70 euro/person
Dinner: 100 euro
Skills coaching: 20 euro/person per day
Bike rental:
Full suspension – 40 euro/day
Hardtail – 20 euro/day