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Plovdiv, Bulgaria, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
▶ Video · Plovdiv on Foot
Video guide · 43:41
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Top 10EuropeBulgaria

Top 10 Things To Do in Plovdiv

Country
Bulgaria
Best months
May · Jun · Sep
Population
~334K
Language
Bulgarian
Budget / day
€55–100
Quick answer

The best things to do in Plovdiv are the Roman theatre above the Old Town, the cobbled reserve of Revival houses around it, the Kapana creative district, the exposed end of the ancient stadium on Dzhumaya Square, and the Bishop’s Basilica with its 2,000 square metres of late-antique mosaic. Two days covers the centre on foot, and a third buys the monastery at Bachkovo or the ridge road into the Rhodopes.

Plovdiv on Foot

▶ Video guide Open the film page (43:41) →

Plovdiv is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, and it wears the evidence at street level. A Roman theatre sits in a saddle between two hills and still takes a full opera season. A stadium built for 30,000 runs the length of the main shopping street, with only its curved end dug out.

The 10 best things to do in Plovdiv

Sit in the Roman theatre of Philippopolis, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
1

Sit in the Roman theatre of Philippopolis

Ancient site· ul. Tsar Ivaylo 2A, 4000 Plovdiv

Built in the 90s of the first century AD in the saddle between two hills, and lost under the hillside until a landslide in the early 1970s brought it back. What was excavated is one of the best preserved Roman theatres anywhere, and it is a working venue rather than a ruin: Opera Plovdiv runs its open-air season here.

Time45 min
CostTicketed at the entrance
Best atFirst thing
TipCheck the Opera Plovdiv calendar before you book a daytime ticket
Map↗ Website
Walk the Old Town cobbles, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2

Walk the Old Town cobbles

Neighbourhood· ul. Saborna, Old Town, 4000 Plovdiv

The architectural reserve covers the three hills above the centre, and it is the reason most people stay a second night. Nineteenth-century merchant houses lean out over the lane on their upper floors, painted ochre, blue and oxblood. Small enough to cross in twenty minutes and dense enough to lose an afternoon in.

Time2 hr
CostFree to walk, houses ticketed
Best atLate afternoon
TipThe lanes are river cobble laid on a slope
Map↗ Website
3

Spend an evening in Kapana

Neighbourhood· Kapana district, between Rayko Daskalov and Gurko streets, 4000 Plovdiv

Kapana means the trap, which is what the artisans quarter earned by its grid of short streets that never quite line up. It fell derelict, then came back as a creative district for the 2019 Capital of Culture year. Six pedestrian blocks of galleries, roasters and enough bars to make the best crawl in Bulgaria.

Time3 hr
CostFree to wander
Best atFrom about 7pm
TipStart at the Dzhumaya Square end and work north
Map↗ Website
Look down into the ancient stadium, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
4

Look down into the ancient stadium

Ancient site· Dzhumaya Square, 4000 Plovdiv

Philippopolis built its stadium in the early second century AD, roughly 240 metres long with seating for something in the order of 30,000. Almost all of it is still down there, under the pedestrian shopping street. What you can see is the northern curve, excavated in a sunken court at Dzhumaya Square, with the marble starting blocks.

Time20 min
CostFree from the square
Best atAny time
TipThe square-level view is free and open
Map↗ Website
Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopolis, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (Wimup)
5

See the mosaics at the Bishop’s Basilica

Museum· Knyaginya Maria Luiza Blvd, beside the Catholic cathedral, 4000 Plovdiv

The newest of the city's ancient sites and the most surprising. The cathedral of late-antique Philippopolis carries two layers of mosaic over more than 2,000 square metres: geometric panels, and above all birds, dozens of species picked out in stone. The shelter with walkways at the original level opened in 2021.

Time1 hr
CostTicketed at the entrance
Best atMidday
TipThe upper walkway is where the bird panels read properly
Map↗ Website
Climb Nebet Tepe for the view, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
6

Climb Nebet Tepe for the view

Ancient site· Nebet Tepe, north end of the Old Town, 4000 Plovdiv

The hill at the top of the Old Town is where the city started. Thracians fortified this rock in the second millennium BC, and the walls are a stack of periods: Thracian blocks at the base, Hellenistic and Roman above, medieval repairs on top. What everyone comes for is the platform on the edge.

Time30 min
CostFree
Best atSunset
TipThe last stretch is uneven rock with unfenced drops
Map
Tour the Ethnographic Museum in the Kuyumdzhioglu house, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
7

Tour the Ethnographic Museum in the Kuyumdzhioglu house

Museum· ul. Doctor Stoyan Chomakov 2, Old Town, 4000 Plovdiv

The house was built in 1847 for the merchant Argir Kuyumdzhioglu, and it is the most photographed facade in the Old Town: a dark timber front with a curved gable above a walled garden. The museum has been here since 1938 and holds the second largest ethnographic collection in Bulgaria.

Time1 hr
CostTicketed at the entrance
Best atMorning
TipThe garden is open to ticket holders and mostly empty
Map↗ Website
Step into Dzhumaya Mosque, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
8

Step into Dzhumaya Mosque

Landmark· Dzhumaya Square, 4000 Plovdiv

The mosque anchors the square above the stadium and is one of the oldest Ottoman buildings still standing in the Balkans, generally dated to the fifteenth century. Nine domes outside, a painted interior of floral and calligraphic panels within. It is active rather than a museum, so entry is around prayer times.

Time20 min
CostFree, donations accepted
Best atMid-morning, between prayers
TipAsk before photographing anyone inside
Map
9

Walk up Bunardzhik to Alyosha

Viewpoint· Hill of the Liberators (Bunardzhik), 4000 Plovdiv

Bunardzhik is the western hill, wooded and laced with paths, and the concrete soldier on top is the most argued-over object in the city. The monument to the Soviet Army was unveiled in 1957 and campaigns to remove it have run for decades. The walk up through the pines is the best half hour of exercise here.

Time1 hr 15 min
CostFree
Best atAn hour before sunset
TipGo up the stepped path from Ivan Vazov street and come down the looping road on the far side
Map
Take the road south to Bachkovo Monastery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
10

Take the road south to Bachkovo Monastery

Day trip· Bachkovo, 4110, about 30 km south of Plovdiv

Bulgaria's second largest monastery sits in the Chepelare valley thirty kilometres south, an easy half day by bus. It was founded in 1083 by Gregory Pakourianos, a Byzantine commander of Georgian origin, whose ossuary is the one original part still standing. Zahari Zograf's frescoes are the reason to look up rather than ahead.

TimeHalf day
CostFree to enter, museum ticketed
Best atWeekday mornings
TipBuses to Smolyan and Chepelare stop at the turning below the monastery
Map

6 of the 10, mapped

Plovdiv · 6 spots
AllAncientMuseumsViewsFree

Plovdiv travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Plovdiv?+
Two. The first is the ancient city: the theatre, the stadium, the Bishop's Basilica and the archaeological museum. The second is the Old Town at a slower pace, two or three house museums, Nebet Tepe for the view and Kapana for the evening. A third day buys Bachkovo Monastery and Asen's Fortress.
When is the best time to visit Plovdiv?+
May, June and September. The Thracian plain gets genuinely hot in July and August, regularly into the mid thirties, and the Old Town cobbles hold that heat into the evening. Spring and early autumn give comfortable walking weather and the best of the festival calendar. Winter is cold, quiet and cheap.
How do you get to Plovdiv from Sofia?+
By bus, in a little over two hours, with departures at least hourly from Sofia's central bus station and direct services from the airport. Trains take two and a half to three hours and are more scenic. Driving is ninety minutes on the A1. Plovdiv's own airport handles a handful of flights a week, so Sofia is the practical arrival point.
What currency does Plovdiv use?+
The euro. Bulgaria left the lev behind on 1 January 2026 at a fixed rate of 1.95583 leva. Dual pricing is required until 8 August 2026, so tags printed before the changeover still show two numbers. Cards work almost everywhere in the centre, and cash is useful at small museums.
What is Plovdiv known for?+
Three things. Its age, as the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, with roughly 8,000 years of settlement on the same hills. Its Roman remains, above all a theatre still used as a stage. And Kapana, the artisans quarter reborn as a creative district, which is where the city now goes out.
Roman Plovdiv

Best ancient sites in Plovdiv

Six sites beyond the theatre and the stadium, most of them free and all of them central.
Centre

Roman Odeon

2nd century AD

The small semicircular hall where the city council met, built in the second century AD and restored with its stage wall. In the open on Tsentralen Square.

Map
Roman Forum of PhilippopolisTsentralen Square

Roman Forum of Philippopolis

Free, always open

The civic centre of the Roman city, excavated behind the main post office and left open. Column bases, shop rows and paving over about eleven hectares.

Map
Small BasilicaKnyaginya Maria Luiza Blvd

Small Basilica

Mosaics and baptistery

Found in 1988 during work on an apartment block and dated to the fifth century. Geometric mosaic floors, and a cross-shaped marble baptistery with a stag and doves.

Map
Tsar Boris III Obedinitel underpass

Trakart Cultural Centre

Mosaics in situ

A late-antique residence uncovered in 1983 when the underpass was dug. About 160 square metres of mosaic preserved where it was laid, under the boulevard.

Map
Old Town

Hisar Kapia

Free, always open

The eastern gate of the old fortress, Roman at the foundations and medieval above, rebuilt in the Revival period with houses grafted onto both sides.

Map
Eastern Gate of PhilippopolisEast of the centre

Eastern Gate of Philippopolis

Roman road and colonnade

The main entrance on the road in from Byzantium, excavated with its paving, drainage and colonnade. The least visited of the Roman sites.

Map
Revival architecture

Best old town houses in Plovdiv

Five merchant houses in the reserve, each a museum, and all within a ten-minute walk of each other.
Balabanov Houseul. Konstantin Stoilov 57

Balabanov House

Concerts and exhibitions

Rebuilt on the footprint of the early nineteenth-century original and now the reserve's concert and exhibition house. The upper salon is the largest here.

Map
Hindliyan Houseul. Artin Gidikov 4

Hindliyan House

Painted interiors of 1835

Built in 1835 for an Armenian merchant, and the most complete interior in Plovdiv. Travelling painters covered the walls with the cities the owner traded in.

Map
Nedkovich Houseul. Tsanko Lavrenov 3

Nedkovich House

Furnished interior

A symmetrical merchant house of 1863 that kept its furniture, so the rooms read as a home rather than a display. The walled garden can be sat in.

Map
ul. Todor Samodumov 3

Klianti House

National monument of culture

Dated to 1816 and asymmetrical in the older Plovdiv manner, with painted decoration that survived because the building was left alone for a century.

Map
ul. Arhitekt Hristo Peev 2A

Danchov House

Carved ceilings

A late eighteenth-century house of national significance, later home to the painter Georgi Danchov. The carved ceilings are the reason to go in.

Map
Collections

Best museums and galleries in Plovdiv

Five, from the Thracian gold downstairs at the archaeological museum to a hangar of Soviet aircraft outside town.
Saedinenie Square 1

Regional Archaeological Museum

Thracian and Roman collections

The place to put the ruins in order. Thracian metalwork, Roman sculpture from the theatre and the forum, and coins from a city that minted its own.

Map
Saedinenie Square

Regional Historical Museum

Unification of 1885

Its Unification exposition occupies the 1885 building where the union of Bulgaria was declared, which makes the setting part of the argument.

Map
ul. Saborna 14A

City Art Gallery

Bulgarian painting and icons

Bulgarian painting from the Revival onward, in a Saborna Street building the collection has outgrown. The separate Icons exposition is the stronger half.

Map
ul. Hristo G. Danov 34

Regional Natural History Museum

Aquarium in the basement

A municipal museum with a serious freshwater aquarium in the basement. The one reliable rainy-afternoon answer for anyone travelling with children.

Map
Krumovo

Museum of Aviation

Krumovo airfield, 12 km

Bulgaria's national aviation museum, on the edge of the airfield at Krumovo. Soviet-era fighters parked in the open, plus a hangar of engines.

Map
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Plovdiv

Six tables that hold up, from a Kapana bistro to a cellar dug into Roman foundations.
ul. Zlatarska 7

Pavaj

Modern Bulgarian

The Kapana address people name first: a small room and a pavement terrace, doing modern Bulgarian cooking at a price that still surprises visitors. Book.

Map
ul. Kozhuharska 3

Aylyakria

Modern Bulgarian

Named for aylyak, the local word for unhurried living, in a century-old Kapana building with brick and beams left bare. Bulgarian dishes rebuilt.

Map
ul. Zhelezarska 13

Smokini

Vegetarian options

A broad menu with a proper vegetarian and vegan half, which is rarer in Bulgaria than it should be. Handy for a group that cannot agree.

Map↗ Website
ul. Otets Paisiy 12

Hemingway

Fine dining

The formal end of the city's dining, on Otets Paisiy, with a long wine list weighted to Bulgarian producers. For the meal meant to last three hours.

Map
ul. Knyaz Tseretelev 8

Puldin

Traditional, in a cellar

A restored dervish lodge in the Old Town whose cellar is built into Roman foundations, with a garden for the warm months. Traditional Bulgarian cooking.

Map
ul. Doctor Stoyan Chomakov 20

Rahat Tepe

Garden with a view

A garden restaurant on the Old Town slope, on the same street as the Ethnographic Museum, with grill plates and a view over the roofs. Long tables.

Map
Drinking and coffee

Best bars and cafes in Plovdiv

Five in and around Kapana, all within five minutes of each other on foot.
ul. Hristo Dyukmedzhiev 14

Kotka i Mishka

Craft beer

Cat and Mouse in English, and the bar that made the case for Bulgarian craft beer here. More than a hundred labels and a crowd across the street from May.

Map
ul. Yoakim Gruev 5

Monkey House

Cocktails and terrace

The most social terrace in Kapana, with house lemonades in the afternoon and cocktails after dark. The district's centre of gravity on a warm evening.

Map
ul. Otets Paisiy 38

Artnews Cafe

Coffee, books and art

Coffee bar, bookshop, plant shop and exhibition space in one room on Otets Paisiy, open since 2008. The unofficial office of everyone in Plovdiv without an office.

Map↗ Website
ul. Bratya Pulievi 6

The Family Coffee Roasters

Specialty roaster

A small Kapana roastery working through single origins with the tasting notes written up properly. The best flat white in the district.

Map
ul. Abadzhiiska 6

Dukiana Coffee Craftex

Roasted on site

A roastery and cafe on the edge of the pedestrian zone, roasting its own blends daily. Quieter than the Kapana core, which is exactly the point at nine in the morning.

Map
Green Plovdiv

Best parks and hills in Plovdiv

The city is built on hills, and four of them are how residents actually spend an evening.
Centre

Tsar Simeon’s Garden

Singing Fountains

The central park, laid out by a Swiss gardener in the 1890s, with a lake and the Singing Fountains at the far end. The show runs on summer evenings.

Map
Above ul. Gladston

Sahat Tepe

Clock tower

Also called Danov Hill, and topped by a clock tower among the oldest in the Ottoman Balkans. Five minutes up from the centre, and the quietest viewpoint.

Map
Dzhendem TepeWest of the centre

Dzhendem Tepe

The highest hill

The highest of the surviving hills, wooded and steep, with a path to a bare summit and the widest view over the plain. Take water.

Map
Rowing CanalNorth bank of the Maritsa

Rowing Canal

Regatta course

A two-kilometre regatta course north of the river, used by the city as a running loop and, in July, the site of the Hills of Rock festival.

Map
Out of town

Best day trips in Plovdiv

Six trips within two hours, from a cliff-top church to a Thracian sanctuary carved out of bedrock.
Asen’s FortressAsenovgrad

Asen’s Fortress

20 km south

A medieval stronghold on a cliff above Asenovgrad, of which the church of the Holy Mother of God survives largely intact. Combine it with Bachkovo.

Map
Rhodope Mountains

Wonderful Bridges

80 km south

Two marble arches in the Rhodopes, the remains of a collapsed cave, the larger high enough to walk under. Eighty kilometres south, and a drive.

Map↗ Website
PerperikonKardzhali region

Perperikon

100 km southeast

A Thracian sanctuary cut into the rock above the Arda, with rooms, cisterns and stairs carved out of solid stone. About a hundred kilometres, under two hours.

Map
HisaryaNorth of Plovdiv

Hisarya

Roman walls and springs

A Roman spa town whose fortress walls stand to full height in places. The mineral springs are still the local industry, so it works as a half day with a swim.

Map
Sredna Gora foothills

Starosel

45 km north

The largest Thracian cult complex found in Bulgaria, two temples dug under burial mounds forty-five kilometres north. Wine country, and the cellars know it.

Map
KoprivshtitsaSredna Gora

Koprivshtitsa

Revival town, 2 hr

A preserved Revival town in the Sredna Gora, two hours by road, where the 1876 April Uprising began. Six of the merchant houses are museums.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Plovdiv (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Feb

Agra and the winter fairs

The largest agricultural show in the Balkans, five days in February. Beds in the city get tight that week.

Sep

Night of Museums and Galleries

Bulgaria's original museum night, first held here in 2005 and now across dozens of venues on one September weekend.

Sep

Kapana Fest

The creative district closes to traffic for concerts, dance and a hundred-odd craft stalls.

Jun–Sep

Opera Open

Opera Plovdiv takes the Roman theatre for the summer, staging opera and ballet in the open air. Marquee nights go early.

Jul

Hills of Rock

Bulgaria's biggest rock and metal festival, three days at the Rowing Canal north of the river. Camping on site.

Sep–Nov

Autumn Salon of the Arts

The umbrella over the city's autumn programme: theatre, street arts, chamber music and film. Three months, cheaply ticketed.

Oct

One Dance Week

The country's main contemporary dance festival, built around international companies, staged across the theatres in October.

Nov

Plovdiv Jazz Fest

Three nights of Bulgarian and international jazz in early November, with a smaller summer edition in recent years.

Getting around

Plovdiv transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
PDV

Plovdiv Airport

The airport sits at Krumovo, twelve kilometres southeast, and it is small: a handful of weekly flights and no domestic service. Most visitors arrive through Sofia instead.

Map
Bus

Intercity buses

Yug bus station, beside the railway station, handles Sofia, the coast and the routes south into the Rhodopes. Sofia takes a little over two hours and runs at least hourly.

Map
Rail

Trains

Plovdiv Central is on the main line between Sofia and Burgas. Bulgarian State Railways runs Sofia in roughly two and a half to three hours, slower than the bus.

Map↗ Website
Walk

On foot, buses and taxis

The centre is walkable end to end and its spine, Knyaz Alexander I, is pedestrian. City buses cover the outer districts, tickets bought on board. Taxis are metered and cheap.

Map
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

The classics to order before you leave.
Shopska salad, Plovdiv (Wimup travel guide)

Shopska salad

Tomato, cucumber, raw onion and roasted pepper under a heavy grating of white brine cheese.

Patatnik, Plovdiv (Wimup travel guide)

Patatnik

The Rhodope contribution: grated potato with onion and savoury herb, baked flat until the crust darkens.

Tarator, Plovdiv (Wimup travel guide)

Tarator

Cold cucumber and yoghurt soup with garlic, dill and walnuts, often poured into a glass not a bowl.

Banitsa, Plovdiv (Wimup travel guide)

Banitsa

Filo layered with white cheese and egg, baked in a coil and eaten at any hour. By the slice at breakfast.

Lyutenitsa, Plovdiv (Wimup travel guide)

Lyutenitsa

A thick relish of roasted red pepper and tomato, cooked down in autumn and jarred for the year.

Kavarma

Meat, peppers and onion cooked slowly in a clay pot and brought to the table still sealed.

Kebapche and kyufte

The grill order: a spiced minced-meat roll and its patty sibling, both cooked over charcoal.

Mish-mash

Eggs scrambled through peppers, tomato and cheese until the whole thing collapses together.

Plovdiv fact sheet

Plovdiv at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Bulgaria
Region
Upper Thracian Plain, on the Maritsa
Population
About 334,000 in the municipality (NSI, 2025)
Founded
Settled from about 6000 BC; Philippopolis from the 4th century BC
Nickname
The City of the Seven Hills
Language
Bulgarian (Cyrillic script)
Currency
Euro (EUR), adopted 1 January 2026
Time zone
EET (UTC+2), EEST in summer
Calling code
+359, area code 032
Airports
Plovdiv (PDV), 12 km; Sofia (SOF), about 150 km
Power
230V, plug types C and F
Emergency
112
Ideal length
2 days
Getting around
On foot, by city bus, by taxi
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • Plovdiv is generally called the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, with roughly 8,000 years of settlement on these hills.
  • The city is nicknamed for seven hills and has six. Markovo Tepe was quarried away in the twentieth century for paving stone.
  • The Roman theatre was found by a landslide in the early 1970s, and within a decade of being dug out it was staging performances.
  • The ancient stadium is roughly 240 metres long and almost all of it is still buried under the main pedestrian street.
  • Plovdiv was European Capital of Culture in 2019, the first Bulgarian city to hold the title. That programme remade Kapana.

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