The ranges

The highest range in the Balkans. Glacial lakes, long approaches, and weather that turns without warning above the treeline.

Marble and granite, sharp ridges, and the most serious terrain in the country. Koncheto is a scramble with real exposure, not a walk.

The spine of the country, running coast to border. The Kom to Emine traverse is the long walk every Bulgarian hiker measures themselves against.

Sofia's mountain, reachable by city bus. The stone rivers are unique, and the fog is the reason people still get lost forty minutes from the capital.

Broad grassy ridges and long open horizons. Quiet enough that you can walk a summer day and meet nobody.

Limestone, and almost no surface water. Carry everything you intend to drink — this is the range where people misjudge that badly.

Forest, karst gorges and villages that still cook the way they always did. Gentler underfoot than Rila or Pirin, and far emptier.

Ancient chestnut forest on the lower slopes, a long border ridge above. Warm early and late in the season when the high ranges are shut.

Low, wooded and forgiving. The right place to build hours in your legs before committing to Rila or Pirin.

Not alpine at all. Some of the oldest surviving forest in Europe, running down to the Black Sea, walkable all winter.