Rila Monastery and Boyana Church Day Trip from Sofia

A wonderful tour - the guide Lubo was exceptional, positive and enthusiastic all day. Rila monastery is beautiful. The scenery en route is beautiful. The only thing I would add is there is not much in the way of eating options there, so would recommend bringing your own snacks/drinks with you.

This tour was just what I was looking for - a small group (we were on a mini-bus), knowledgeable guide (thanks Martin!), and really interesting sites. The Boyana church is basically in the suburbs of Sofia; the Rila Monastery is about a 2 hour drive away--and well worth the journey! Our guide was great and I learned so much history about the sites themselves as well as Bulgaria overall. Definitely recommend this trip!

This tour was the highlight of our Bulgaria trip. Our guide [Shashi?] was very informative and energetic and led the tour through Boyana and Rila, explaining all the details and history of each place. The Rila Monastery was as great as it appeared on all the photos and there was time for lunch and a few optional museums on the monastery grounds. Bus was comfortable and the guide checked frequently to see that the aircon was good for all. Highly recommended

A very easy way to make a full day trip to the out of the way Rila monastery. Worth it and the guide had good English.

Martin the tour guide is awesome! His explaination was details and clear! Appreciate that makitsa that he treated everyone! Highly recommended as it save you lots of time of figuring out the transportation!

Me and my friend took this day trip from Sofia however my friend sprained her ankle and had to drop out last minute. Although the trip overall was quite okay, our bus started out 1 hour and 15 mins later. There was a group of 12 that was late and the bus did not want to leave without them because this tour company was “good business”. On one hand, they were accepting walk ins, on the other my friend was refused even a partial refund (which I think is a bit unfair if you are selling the same seat to other people). The place itself is beautiful and must advise you to visit if you’re in Sofia.

This tour was a nice way to get out of the city for a few hours and experience the countryside. The bus was good and the roads were a little curvy but not terrible. Fall colors were gorgeous. The monastery was full of pillars, arches and intricate murals...a real treasure. I had a salad for lunch at a restaurant behind the monastery which can get busy depending on how many tour groups are present. There was still time to walk down to the river and around the old graveyard before heading back.

On 24 May 2018 we took this tour with Daffy. This is the best tour that we have taken with Viator. Boyana Church and Rila Monastery are a definite must if you visit Bulgaria. Daffy was fluent in English, entertaining, and knowledgeable about the church and the monastery. She had an expansive knowledge of the history and culture of Bulgaria and especially Sofia.

Both Rila and Boyana are rather small monasteries, so the transport takes up most of the tour. However, they are both really nice places to visit, the Bulgarian countryside and mountains are really beautiful so I recommend the tour.

Great day out lovely lunch what more can I say highly recommend

I would recommend this day trip. The bus was easy to find behind Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Our guide, Marina, was very friendly and very knowledgable. Our first stop was at Boyana Church where Marina schowed us the inside of the church and gave us great information about its history and the frescos. I enjoyed the tour of the monastery the most as we got a lot of important information about the frescos and the history of the monastery. It was great that we had some free time. So, we could have a wander around the museums, have some food, and just enjoy the sights.

Great guide, great food, amazing location! My only complaint is that I would like more time at the monastery. But the food was delicious and Boyana church was very interesting! Enjoyed it very much!