The archaeological complex Provadia - Solnitsata (Salt Pan), in northeastern Bulgaria, is in fact a prehistoric tell settlement, over which a Thracian tumulus, or burial mound, was built. The prehistoric settlement is considered to be Europe's earliest salt works and oldest fortified prehistoric city.

The hunting palace Krichim, one of the pearls of Bulgarian architecture from the early 20th century, is situated close to the northern foothills of the Rhodope Mountains, about 25 kilometres to the west of the city of Plovdiv. The construction of the building was started in 1905, at the time of Tsar Ferdinand's rule, by arch. G. Fingov, and was completed in 1936 according to the final plan of arch. Yordan Sevov, at the time of Tsar Boris III.

The Kladnitsa monastery of St Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra is located at the western foot of the Vitosha Mountain, 29 kilometres away from Sofia, on the outskirts of the village of Kladnitsa. It is settled in a beautiful place, and it has a rich history - in the Middle Ages it was a part of a sacred complex of Bulgarian monasteries around Sofia, called Sofia Mala Sveta Gora (Sofia's Small Holy Mountain).

Balchik is a small town on the north Bulgarian Black Sea coastline, standing on picturesque white hills sloping down to the sea. The first settlers in the region were the ancient Thracians, and evidence of their presence in these lands (vessels, adornments and weapons) has been found in the town and its surroundings.

Bulgaria's largest island in the Black Sea is called St Anastasia and stands just 6.5 kilometres off Burgas, in the gulf enclosed by the cape of the same name and Athia Cape. This volcanic islet is about one-hour drive away onboard a fishing boat and barely 15 minutes on a scooter from the port of Burgas. Until 1944 and after 1990, the island's name was St Anastasia, and in-between it was called Bolshevik.

Located some 60 kilometres to the northeast of Bulgaria's 'seaside capital' of Varna, the picturesque rocky cape of Kaliakra (from the Greek - beautiful cape) protrudes more than two kilometres into the sea. Its oldest name - Tirizis, dates back to the 4th century BC and is derived from the name of the local Thracian tribe, the Tirizi.

Varna, the third largest Bulgarian city, is often styled as 'the seaside capital' of the country and is famous throughout the world for its wonderful beaches and thermal water springs. Less known, however, is the fact that the city has been built over the vestiges of an ancient Greek colony, which grew in an earlier Thracian place.

The Vladayski Monastery is situated at the southeastern foot of Mount Lyulin, some 25 kilometres away from the capital Sofia. The existing buildings of the cloister are relatively new, but it is believed that the monastery was founded back in the 10th century, or during the Second Bulgarian Empire at the latest - a time when more than 100 monasteries were built in the Sofia area. Since then, it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times.

Just 50 kilometres south of Sofia and near the village of Belchin is located a fortress that was consigned to oblivion until a couple of years ago. The locals call the St Spas hill, which overlooks the village, Tsari Mali Grad, or the Small Tsarigrad (Tsarigrad means “city of kings” and is how Bulgarians used to call Constantinople - editor's note), as according to local legend there used to be a large settlement on that spot.

The St John the Theologian Monastery of Zemen is situated amid a scenic locality at the foot of the Koniavska Mountain, in the gorge of Zemen on the Struma River and merely 70 kilometres south of Sofia. The monastery is among the earliest surviving sites of Bulgarian medieval architecture, construction building and wall painting.