Leshten

Leshten is a hamlet of around twenty stone houses on an open slope in the western Rhodopes, which had emptied almost completely by the late twentieth century and was then bought up and restored house by house, largely as holiday accommodation, so it now functions as a small village of guesthouses with a permanent population in single figures. The restoration was careful and the buildings keep their stone walls, timber balconies and slab roofs, with an open view across the valley to the Pirin range. There is a church, a small chapel on the hill and very little else: no shop, one or two places to eat, and the appeal is the quiet and the view rather than anything to do.

What you actually see

• Twenty restored stone houses - the hamlet rebuilt as guesthouses.
• The view to Pirin - the range across the valley from the slope.
• Timber balconies and slab roofs - the western Rhodope building kept.
• A hamlet with almost no residents - restored rather than lived in.

When to go

May to October, with autumn colour the best. Half a day, better overnight since staying is the point. Weekends and Bulgarian holidays book out. Winter is snowy and quiet.

Honest expectations

There is nothing to do beyond sitting and walking, which is either the appeal or the problem. There is no shop and few places to eat. It is a holiday village rather than a living one. The road in is narrow.

Nearby

Kovachevitsa is a short drive; Gotse Delchev lies below.