Visiting Melnik – Bulgaria’s Smallest Town

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, I paid for this trip myself. All recommendations and opinions are my own.

We visited Melnik on our 11 day self-drive holiday around Bulgaria. We had been staying in the Rila Mountains where we hiked the 7 Rila Lakes trail. The following day we drove down to the town of Melnik with a stop at Rila Monastery. Melnik is the smallest town in Bulgaria and is in the heart of Bulgaria’s wine growing region. It sits at the foothills of the Pirin mountain range and is famous for its ‘Melnik Earth Pyramids’, sandstone rock formations formed by erosion from rainfall and wear. We were keen to sample the Bulgarian wine and explore the beautiful countryside and medieval Rozhen Monastery.

Bulgaria has a long history of wine production (we’re talking 1000’s of years). In more recent times, it reached its peak popularity in the 1970’s when it was one of the largest exporters of wine. However, under communist rule, they made wine in bulk but it wasn’t considered high quality. Following the fall of communism, wine producers have been focusing on improving the quality of their wine. We drank a lot of wine during our stay in Bulgaria, and there is some really good wine to discover.

It was cool up in the mountains by the Rila Monastery, but as we drove down towards Melnik it really started to get hot at over 30°C. We drove to Melnik via the E79 which was a very busy, mostly single lane road with a lot of traffic and trucks. However, we eventually got to the multi-lane well sealed motorway which was much faster. We turned off to Melnik via the 109. The road was a bit rough in some places, but definitely not the worst road we drove on during our holiday and at least it was reasonably wide and quiet.

This is wine country, so our drive took us through little villages with locals selling wine at road side stalls, and vineyards, many of which you can visit and enjoy a tasting. We eventually arrived at our accommodation, the Elli Greco Hotel which was located at the entrance of the town. It was very hot so we decided to spend our afternoon relaxing by the swimming pool which was overlooked by the jagged sandy clay cliffs. It was surprisingly quiet by the pool, as this was just prior to the European school holidays starting. The hotel also had an outdoor bar by the pool where could enjoy drinks and home cooked food. It was wonderful to relax after such a busy start to our holiday. (Note: For a small fee, the hotel also let non-guests use the pool, so even if you don’t stay here, you can still come and use the pool to cool off).

In the evening we headed out to explore the town centre which was only a short work from our hotel. Melnik is a very pretty town with a small centre. It is geared for tourists with restaurants, wine shops and several shops selling everything from local wine, honey, pottery, and traditionally weaved materials. Most of it had closed for the evening, so we headed off to find some food. It was just after 7pm and surprisingly quiet, as restaurants don’t really start to get busy until around 8pm.

We ended up eating at Механа “Алексовата къща”. It was very hot so we got a table by the stone wall which was nice and cool to lean on. Each restaurant sells its own locally produced wine and we loved how light and easy drinking their house white was. We cooled off with a Tarator soup which we both absolutely fell in love with, it is so light and refreshing on a hot day. Tarator is a cold soup made with watered down yoghurt (Bulgarians love with their yoghurt) with grated cucumber, garlic, walnut, dill and a splash of sunflower oil. They grow sunflowers in abundance here, we saw fields of them everywhere we drove. Similar to the way that olive oil is placed on your table in Greece, here you always are provided with a bottle of sunflower oil. As well as our soup we had a large plate of tomatoes which were deliciously sweet and in season, and some fried meats with home made fries. When ordering in Bulgaria they serve singular dishes – e.g. plate of tomatoes, plate of meat, plate of cucumbers. So when ordering, select several dishes to create your meal.

Hiking to Rozhen Monastery

 Tips

• Before heading out, make sure you take plenty of water with you as it gets very hot in the summer. Wear a sunhat and sunglasses and slather on plenty of sunscreen. Also ensure you have covered shoulders for the monastery.

It was going to be a hot day, so we got up early and enjoyed a cooked breakfast in the hotel restaurant and headed off on our walk to Rozhen Monastery. There is a hiking trail you can take which I found on the Trevelswhere website, however, you can also just walk on the road from Melnik. We ended up taking the road as it was mid summer and I knew that the stinging nettles would be out in full force and we wanted to wear shorts.

If you are planning on driving to Rozhen Monastery, then I can tell you that the roads are pretty good and reasonably wide. There was a couple of places where the road had eroded due to the soft sand base, but you can drive around it the holes to avoid them. Note that the road in Melnik at the start of the drive up there (beside the town car park on the right and the park on the left) is rather rough with lots of potholes, but don’t let that put you off, as it is only like that for a short part, then the road smooths out. There is a car park at the monastery.

The road was quiet as there is only local traffic to the small village of Rozhen and visitors to the monastery. There were a couple of logging trucks on our way back but there was room for us to move over and they drove slowly. One of them even asked if we wanted a lift back to town, so we must have looked hot and bothered! It was still reasonably cool when we started out and thankfully both sides of the road had trees so provided some shade. It was a beautiful walk as the wildflowers were in full bloom along the roadside.

Eventually we arrived in the small village of Karlanovo which is roughly half way to the monastery. There is some accommodation and a restaurant here. It was here that we met with what was to become our ‘Tour Guide’ for the rest of our journey, a yellow Labrador looking dog. We thought he must live in the village as we met him walking down the main street, however, by the end of our walk we didn’t actually know where he belonged. He walked with purpose along the road and stopped to wait for us if we fell behind walking too slow or taking photos. The strange thing was he didn’t crave affection from us or food. We didn’t actually have any food on us as we had had a large breakfast. The funniest part was when he tried to show us a short cut via a path through the bush. We didn’t follow him (as we didn’t get his hint), so he ended up turning back from the path and following us around the road. It wasn’t until we got to where the path would have returned onto the road that we realised he was trying to show us a shortcut.

Eventually we got to the village of Rozhen and the dog met up with another dog that was clearly an old friend and they went off to play as we continued on through the village. There are several restaurants in Rozhen and some accommodation. Where the road heads up to Rozhen Monastery, there is a steep walking path that cuts up the side of the hill and is more direct than taking the road. As we made our way up the path, suddenly our tour guide was back by our side and leading the way. At the top of the path we came to St. Cyril and Methodius, an orthodox church that was built in 1912 – 1914. We stopped to sit on the bench seat out front and admired the beautiful country side and mountains around us. Our faithful companion waited with us and then continued to show us up to Rozhen Monastery. It took us under 2 hours to get there walking at a relatively slow pace.

The dog must know he is not allowed into the monastery, because he lay himself in the shade of the tree out the front whilst we went in to explore. It wasn’t very busy, but the monastery must attract a reasonable amount of visitors as there were some stalls set up outside the entrance selling local wares. The monastery was built before the 15th century and painted in 1597. The south facade was painted in 1611. Some of these frescoes you can still see today. The monastery was devastated by fire between 1662 and 1674, destroying the library and damaging the buildings, but it was restored over the next century.

It is a small monastery and the buildings are open for visitors to view. There was a peaceful central courtyard and beautiful frescoes on the walls and in the small church. Please note that you cannot take photos inside the church. After exploring the church, we walked up the stairs to explore the second floor of the surrounding buildings which were open. We got to see the monks dining room with its very long dining table. There are clean flushing toilets available for use at the monastery.

After our visit to Rozhen Monastery, we headed back to Melnik. We waved goodbye to our tour guide who seemed to have decided to stay at the monastery for a while. On our way back through Rozhen we grabbed an ice cream to cool down as it was getting very hot. The walk back to Melnik was a bit quicker as it was mostly downhill.

Melnik Wine Museum

When we arrived back in Melnik, we decided to explore the town and visit the wine museum so we could relax by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. The small museum has a small exhibit of the traditional equipment that they used to produce wine. I enjoyed looking at the old photos. For a small fee, we tried three locally produced wines which they served with buttered bread. We then chose our favourite and they filled a wine bottle for us (for a small cost) and I got to use the corking machine to cork it. The host then labelled it and sealed it with wax.

If you want to try more wines, there are several wine stores in Melnik offering tastings. The prices are very reasonable. They even sell very cheap wine in large plastic bottles. We would love to have had another day in Melnik to visit some of the vineyards. If you are keen to visit them, then here is a map of the Melnik wine routes. Our next stop on our self-drive holiday was the city of Sofia. Click here to join me on my next post where I explore Sofia.

Accommodation Options in Melnik

Search available accommodation in Melnik

Budget

• Узуновата къща
• Toni’s Guest House
• Guest House Biser

Moderate

• Elli Greco Hotel – We stayed here. The rooms were basic, but the breakfast was good and the well maintained swimming pool and outdoor bar was amazing on a hot summers day.
• Hotel Melnik
• Chavkova house
• Guest House Holiday in Melnik – A large apartment available as well as rooms.

Luxury

• Manoleva House

Practical Tips for Visiting Melnik

• How long should I visit Melnik for? Melnik is small, but there are a variety of things to do. We only spent two nights here, but didn’t get time to visit any of the vineyards. On reflection, I wish we had spent another night in Melnik so we would have had more time.
• How to get to Melnik: As I’ve described in my post, you can easily drive to Melnik. However, if you don’t want to drive, you can get there by bus from Sofia. However, it does take over 4 hours to get there which is twice as long as driving. Check the bus timetable on this Bulgarian public transport website.
• Language: Bulgarian. It can be difficult to understand signs when they are in Bulgarian, as it looks nothing like the English version. Many of the areas we visited in Bulgaria only limited people spoke English, so we tried to make an effort with some Bulgarian. I encourage you to try a little Bulgarian too. Fun fact – Bulgarians nod when they say no and shake their head when they mean yes.
  • Yes = да (da)
  • No = не (ne)
  • Please = моля (molya)
  • Thank you = благодаря (blagodarya)
  • Hello = добър ден (dobar den)
  • Where is the toilet? къде в тоалетната (kade e toaletnata)
• Currency: Bulgarian Lev, or Leva, which is the plural. Most places had card machines and there were plenty of ATM’s. However, you will need small change for the buses.
• Electricity: The electrical current is 220-240 volts, 50-60 Hz. Wall outlets take the European two round prong plugs. However, you are better off purchasing a worldwide adaptor that can be used in Bulgaria as well other countries. At least then you can potentially get some further use out of it on future vacations. If you’re taking a number of electronics with you, then I would recommend purchasing a couple of these adaptors.
• Driving: In Bulgaria they drive on the right hand side of the road with speed signs in kilometres per hour (km). The speed limits are 50 km (31 mph) within towns; 90 km (56 mph) outside towns; 120 km (75 mph) on expressways; and a rather scary 140 km (87 mph) on motorways. Some of the roads we drove on were very old with huge pot holes and the paint had long since faded, so we had to drive slower in these areas.
• Navigating: We used Google’s free Offline Maps. Google Offline Maps allows you to access free maps for navigating that can be used offline i.e. you don’t need WIFI, data, or roaming to be able to use them. Follow this detailed guide on how to use Googles Offline Maps. Using your phone as a GPS will drain your battery quickly, so use a portable battery charger which you can use to charge your phone and any other USB chargeable devices. If you prefer a paper map, then purchase a Bulgarian road map before you go. At least it’s reliable and won’t run out of battery or malfunction like the electronic options!