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johngayton Says: As you wander around Karlovo you'll notice various wall plaques, in Bulgarian, at all sorts of odd places. These seem to be a work-in-process of developing a Levski Heritage Trail inspired by a local historian Stoyan Kichev. As yet there seems to be no published guidebook...
johngayton Says: Whilst much of the town is dominated by Levski-inspired historical markers it does have a rich history and culture in its own right. Evidence dates it back to Stone Age times and through the Thracian and Roman periods it was a local trade and manufacturing centre. During the...
Levski's Birthplace and Museum
johngayton Says: Vasil Levski was born Vasil Ivanovich Kunchev, the eldest son of Ivan and Gina Kunchev, here in Karlovo on the 18th July 1837. His father was a wool dyer by trade at a time when the town was one of the Ottoman Empire's main suppliers of woolen braid.The house where he was...
johngayton Says: This is probably the Bulgarian people's best known monument and every year on February 19th, the anniversary of his execution, thousands come to pay homage from all over the country. The monument is situated, appropriately enough, on Vasil Levski Square in the old town. To...
Riverside Restaurant and Complex: Still the best around
young.chris82 Says: I have just returned from another visit to Bulgaria and made many visits to this restaurant during my stay. I am glad to report that standards have not slipped and the restaurant still provides excellent food, service and entertainment. It is now summer and the dining has...
Riverside Restaurant: Excellent food and atmosphere at great prices
young.chris82 Says: I revisited the Riverside restaurant in Karavelovo this summer. In fact I spent every single evening of my 4 week holiday enjoying their food and atmosphere. I have a holiday villa close by and it is a Godsend! The restaurant has now opened a beautiful garden area to the...
River Side: Best in local dining and entertainment
young.chris82 Says: The area around Karlovo and Sopot has suffered in recent years with a very distinct lack of decent quality restaurants. This has now been remedied with the opening of ‘River Side’ restaurant in Karavelovo on the 8th of April 2010. This is a very high specification...
Club Bahad ??: In Search Of Lunch!
johngayton Says: One of my observations during my travels around Bulgaria is that there seems to be very few places where you can go just to have a few drinks. Even places that look like they should be pubs, with proper bars and barstools etc, often turn out to be restaurants and you do get...
johngayton Says: For a day out from Plovdiv buses run from the city's South (Yug) bus station every hour with a journey time of 1 hour 15 minutes. Karlovo town's bus station (Avtogara) is south of the town centre but the buses stop and pick up from a stop in the centre itself. The service is...
johngayton Says: ...then you can always try hitching a lift on the local's transport.OK Just gratuitous use of the pics! Karlovo actually does have a good local public bus system. However unless you want to visit somewhere out of the town everywhere of interest is in easy walking distance.
johngayton Says: ...take the train!The single bus fare (Jan 2010) to Karlovo from Plovdiv was 4.60 leva (no matter which company you use) but the train is only 3.60 and the track follows pretty much the same route as the bus.The drawbacks though are that the trains take about 20 minutes...
Karlovo's main fresh produce market is located in its own square in the new part of the town, just across from where the buses stop (as opposed to the bus station proper). This is where you can get your local fruit and vegetables at very reasonable prices.
What to buy: Out of season this is still a colourful market, even if most of the produce is imported. The local crop in January seems to be a sort of bright-orange clementine, of which every stall had mini-mountains. At first I had thought that these variously-sized, and sometime knobbly-shaped, fruits would have been good only for marmalade (and at 1.20 leva per kilo were certainly cheap enough). However, on getting a chance to taste them a couple of days later, for breakfast in Bansko, they are in fact sweet and juicy.
The other thing that seemed to be popular are hand-made brooms at 3 leva each - though I don't know whether the gloves come as freebies? (pic #2)
Updated Jan 21, 2010
mirchica Says: The Day of Roses in Karlovo is celebrated on the first Saturday of June. Then Karlovo becomes the capital of the most beautiful and fragrant flower – the rose. It is an opportunity to show the beauty of the regional heritage.The holiday begins with the ‘Rose picking’ ritual...
mirchica Says: The date of Vasil Levski’s birth it is celebrated on 18 of July. A national fair Vasil Levski’s Day is organized on this day with a traditional literary morning in the birth house of Levski.Also there are variety of performances, scientific conferences, sport and tourist...
Helpfulness
If you are at the town centre bus stop waiting for the Plovdiv bus you'll probably be approached by a taxi driver who'll offer to take you into Plovdiv for the same price as the bus. There's no con here but it's up to you whether or not to take him up on the offer.
Once he's got your money and you're sitting comfortable in his cab he'll continue touting until he's got a full cab - at least four passengers, five if he can squeeze them in.
On the other hand it may be a driver who's got a pick-up in Plovdiv (or has just come from there) and so anything extra he can make is a bonus.
It's your decision but remember that the bus is going to be just as quick and is perfectly comfortable.
Written Jan 20, 2010
Balkanski Rozi mountain chalet
lillyia Says: The hostel is at 1100m on the trail along Stara reka - from Karlovo – Hubavets to Levski hostel/mountain house and Botev peak. I've never stayed here, as the buildings are deep into the forest just next to the river. Balkanski rozi is about 1 hour from Hubavets (3h from...
lillyia Says: A nice place on the Stara reka. The chalet is about 2 hours from Karlovo on one of the most beautiful hiking trails in Central Balkan National Park. It's a good choice for one day trip or, you could stay here overnight and continue on the next morning to Levski challet/hut...
There's More Than One Levski Stadium In Bulgaria
johngayton Says: Sofia's "Vasil Levski Stadium" is Bulgaria's largest sporting arena and home to the Bulgarian National football team as well as being host to many other National sporting events.Here in Karlovo the local stadium is, unsurprisingly, also known as the "Vasil Levski Stadium"....
johngayton Says: Rose oil has been one of the Karlovo region's main livelihoods for well over 150 years. It seems that the valley has ideal growing conditions to maximise the yields. Even in winter there's still cultivation in greenhouses and polytunnels and as the bus travels through you'll...
johngayton Says: When I first noticed this statue in Karlovo's 20th July Square I assumed it was a tribute to the heroes of Bulgaria's Nationalist Liberation Movement. Not so. The curator at the town's History Museum informs me that it is just "Komunista Propoganda". Perhaps this is why I...
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Karlovo is a city situated in the foot of Stara Planina Mountain. It is 60 km away from Plovdiv and 147 km from Sofia. Bulgaria is the world’s largest supplier of rose oil and related products, such...
Levski's Birthplace and Much More
The first thing that struck me about Karlovo was that every scene I caught in the viewfinder of my camera had mountains as its backdrop (with the exception of the one of the tripe soup in the cafe!)....
Karlovo is located in a valley surrounded by the highest part of the Balkan Mountain (the Troyan's Balkan and the Kalofer's Balkan) to the north, Central Sredna Gora to the south-east and the mountain...
Karlovo is a beautiful small town in the Roses' Valley. Not many foreign tourists hanging around yet, only local people, warm and friendly people. If any of you may ever go to Karlovo, then he must...
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