Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Voenen Klub $
(pl 20 Yuli; mains 4-9 lv; 9am-11pm)
A good place for salads and grills, as well as
evening drinks, is the Voenen Klub bar-restaurant on the opposite side of the square.
BULGARIAN
Getting There & Around
Karlovo sprawls across a long hill. The bus and train stations are at its base. From the
train station, cross the small park to where three roads go up the hill; the central one, ul
Vasil Levski stretches for 2km to the town's main square, pl 20 Yuli.
The bus station, 100m up left of the three roads from the train station, is past the yel-
lowish block of flats and to the right.
The
bus station
( 93 155)
has services to Hisar (4 lv, 30 minutes, eight daily), Sofia
(18 lv, three hours, two daily) and Veliko Târnovo (16 lv, 2½ hours, two daily). About
every hour, a bus travelling to or from Plovdiv (7 lv, one hour) stops in Karlovo, near the
Vasil Levski Museum.
The
train station
( 94 641)
has trains going on the Sofia-Burgas line, via Kazanlâk
and Sliven. Trains serve Sofia (11 lv, 2¼ hours, two daily), Burgas (19 lv, four hours, one
daily) and Plovdiv (8 lv, two hours, three daily), though the bus is quicker and more fre-
quent.
Kazanlâk
0431 / POP 46,990
A bit rough around the edges, Kazanlâk is nevertheless a fascinating town where Bul-
garia's various ethnic and religious groups commingle amicably. Life revolves around the
loud central square, pl Sevtopolis (good accommodation, eating and drinking are there or
nearby). Most famous, however, are the archaeological remains from the area's ancient
Thracian civilisation. The major site, the Thracian Tomb, is a 15-minute walk northeast of
the central square, across the small Stara Reka (Old River).
Kazanlâk is also the jumping-off point for journeys across the Valley of Roses (Ro-
zovata Dolina), a wide plain blooming with roses, responsible for more than 60% of the
world's supply of fragrant rose oil. Crossing the plain, one ascends to Shipka village and
Shipka Pass, site of a decisive showdown in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War. Today, the
