Plovdiv
Bulgaria · Plovdiv Province · 164 m
Description
Plovdiv (Пловдив) is the second city of Bulgaria and claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, built across six syenite hills above the Maritsa. Its Roman theatre still seats an audience for opera under the open sky, and a stadium for thirty thousand runs buried beneath the main shopping street with one end excavated. The old town climbs in cobbled lanes lined with painted merchant houses whose upper storeys overhang. Below it the Kapana quarter has turned old craft workshops into galleries, bars and coffee roasters. The city is flat enough to cross on foot and the hills give the only climbs.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 2 to 5 days (optimal 3 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: April – June or September – October
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Roman theatre of Philippopolis
- Old town and its painted revival houses
- Kapana creative quarter
- Roman stadium under the main street
- Ethnographic Museum in the Kuyumdzhioglu House
- Nebet Tepe hill and its viewpoint
- Church of Saints Constantine and Helena
- Dzhumaya Mosque and the covered bazaar street
- Bachkovo Monastery(Day trip)
- Regional Archaeological Museum
- Tsar Simeon Garden and the singing fountains
- Hisar Kapia gate
- Asen's Fortress and the Rhodope foothills(Day trip)
- Thracian tomb and sanctuary at Starosel(Day trip)
- Wine cellars of the Thracian Valley(Day trip)
Getting there
- Airports:
- PDV
- Train stations:
- Plovdiv