Rila Monastery Tour: Explore Bulgaria's Largest Monastery

15 Ratings

Sofia

Save

View Gallery (6)

Discover Bulgaria’s Rila Monastery on a half-day tour. Explore rich history, stunning architecture, and breathtaking mountain views. Join us for an unforgettable experience.

Duration: 5 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

learn more

Highlights

Rila Monastery - We explore the beautiful Rila Monastery.

What's Included

On-board WiFi
Driver
In-vehicle air conditioning

What's Not Included

Food and drinks
Gratuities
Entrance fees

Additional Information

IMPORTANT: Entrance to the monastery requires covered shoulders and knees. Please ensure you wear suitable clothing.
The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila, commonly known as the Rila Monastery, is the largest and most renowned Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. Nestled in the Rila Mountains, it is named after its founder, the hermit Ivan of Rila (876…

Location

ul. "Iskar" 31

ulitsa "Iskar"

Iskar 31 street - Big Yellow House

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.5

(15 Ratings)

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Sonya_g

Dec 13, 2025

Rila - Amazing informative and thoroughly enjoyable tour, monastery was beautiful and then the blueberry wine from locals so tasty. Morgan was a wealth of knowledge and inspiration!

Review provided by Viator

Sofia_g

Dec 13, 2025

Amazing - The experience was unbeatable. The driver couldn't have been better. He told us a lot about the history of Sofia and Bulgaria in general; he was clearly a very cultured person. He was incredibly kind and attentive to us, he adapted to our needs. I don't usually leave reviews, but this time he 100% deserves it.

Review provided by Viator

Gerhard_b

Nov 2, 2025

Great experience - This should definitely be visited when you are in Sofia. Very worth seeing in the middle of the mountains😉

Review provided by Viator

Lisa_c

Sep 29, 2025

A Fabulous late afternoon experience Rila Monastery - Our leader was Nikolay on the 1/2 day trip from Sofia to the Rila Monastery. I cannot say enought about what a great and knowledgeable tour guide he was. It was a small group (7) in a van. We were on the 3:30 PM, so when we arrived, we had the place to ourselves; there were zero tour buses there. He also took great photos for us. He talked the perfect amount and pointed out areas of interest. Highly recommend this experience! And the Monastery cannot be missed.

Review provided by Viator

Gennadiy_d

Aug 8, 2025

Half-Day Tour to Rila Monastery - Due to lack of time we had decided for the half-day tour to Rila monastery. Our expectations were not disappointed.

Review provided by Viator

680amayag

May 5, 2025

Amazing! - Amazing, Vicent was our guide and we had an amazing time thanks to him, absolutely amazing views in the car ride and Vincent was super attentive with everything, gave us recommendations and great talk!! Would absolutely go back to bulgaria and take this tour again with a bit more time

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Denise_j

May 2, 2025

Amazing - Amazing trip from start to finish. The Rila monastery was beautiful. Vincent our tour guide was brilliant and full of knowledge

Review provided by Viator

Milind_s

Apr 21, 2025

Half Day Rila Monastery Trip - We selected this tour as we had limited time to do anything else that day due to evening return flight . Had a great time with Guide Vincent - He was very professional , enthusiastic and punctual. We were very lucky to spot Storks on the way ( Again thanks toVincent who knew where to look out for them ) . Storks come in specific time of the year . Rila Monastery is very good

Review provided by Viator

Harriet_t

Apr 21, 2025

Perfect for a half day - Perfect for half a day. Vincent was very friendly. Not much more to say still need to type some more characters

Review provided by Viator

Sara_r

Nov 2, 2025

First of all, we knew... - First of all, we knew only in the evening that the trip was cancelled and had changed. However, we were available for the whole day on sunday so they asked us if we were up for the same trip with an addition at no cost, which was nice but we were lucky we were available for whole day. The driver was quite rude and looked like he didn’t care about the trip; a lady asked for coffe and he kicked her out of the van. On top, he did not come in the mountains to do the hike and part of the goup and myself got lost and started paniking but he just sayd follow google maps that he could come up and help. Fortunately after a while i found the path again, but it was so scary. Time and pick up were respected, but not the best experience overall.

Review provided by Viator

Check Availability

From $57

up to 12 guests

1 - Adult