Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
The
bus station
( 622 558)
is 200m east of the train station. Buses travel hourly to/
from Sofia (8 lv, two hours) and more frequently between 6am and 9am. One or two buses
daily serve Gabrovo, Pleven and Lovech, plus four to Vidin.
Inside the
train station
( 624 415)
, the
Rila Bureau
( 620 562; 8am-4.30pm
Mon-Fri)
sells tickets for international trains and advance tickets for domestic services.
Services include Sofia (five daily), Montana (six daily) and Vidin (four daily); the latter
passes through Gara Oreshets, from where you can get to Belogradchik.
For more distant destinations, connecting to the nearby Mezra train station (20 minutes
south) and changing there is recommended. From Mezra four daily trains serve northern
Bulgarian destinations such as Pleven, Ruse (11.50 lv, seven hours) and Varna (15.70 lv),
plus Silistra (18.20 lv, one daily). There are also frequent trains to Sofia (4.50 lv, two
hours).
Getting Around
Vratsa itself is easily walkable, though the gorge is 2km south of town; however, taxis are
plentiful and cheap. Taxis are also useful to reach Ledenika Cave and Cherepish Monas-
tery.
Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park
Numerous species of birds, 700 types of trees and about 500 caves distinguish this nature
park of 288 sq km, southwest of Vratsa. While some of the rocky outcroppings are fragile,
they're still open to rock climbers and hang-gliders. Unfortunately, the park's more ac-
cessible parts are marred by abandoned hotels and a disused chairlift.
Named after the Bulgarian word for ice
(led)
, the
Ledenika Cave
(guided tours per
person 5 lv; 8am-6pm summer)
is indeed sheathed in ice for much of the winter, but
thaws out in summer when visitors on guided tours arrive to explore it. While most come
on a sunny summer afternoon, a unique time to see Ledenika is for the periodic concerts
held within its chilly confines.
The cave is about 15km (or three hours on foot) from the road that starts by the former
Hotel Tourist in Vratsa, where it's signposted. The hourly bus from Vratsa to Zgorigrad
