Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For Romania, three daily trains serve Bucharest (25 lv, 3½ hours). Show up at least 30
minutes before the train departure time for customs and passport checks.
In the station, the
Rila Bureau
( 828 016; train station; 9am-5.30pm)
sells inter-
national train tickets. It's best to buy a Bucharest ticket on the day of travel as there are
sometimes delays. The train station's
left-luggage office
( 6am-1.30pm & 2-8.30pm)
is
past the main buildings and in a smaller one up the hill. There's another branch of the
Rila
Bureau
( 834 860; ul Knyazheska 33; 9am-noon & 1-5.30pm Mon-Fri)
in the city
centre.
Rusenski Lom Nature Park
This 32.6 sq km nature park, sprawling south of Ruse around the Rusenski Lom, Beli
Lom and Malki Lom Rivers, is a superb spot for birdwatching; 172 species are recorded
here, including Egyptian vultures, lesser kestrels and eagle owls. It's also home to 67 spe-
cies of mammals and 24 types of bats.
Most visitors, however, are drawn first to the park's cliff churches. While around 40
medieval rock churches exist in and around some 300 local caves, only a handful are ac-
cessible, the most famous being those of Basarbovo and Ivanovo. The park also contains
the second-longest cave in Bulgaria, the Orlova Chuka Peshtera (Eagle Peak Cave),
between Tabachka and Pepelina villages. Thracian and Roman ruins are also found here.
