Strandzha Nature Park

Strandzha covers about eleven hundred square kilometres between the Black Sea and the Turkish border and is the largest protected area in Bulgaria, a low forested range whose interest is botanical: it holds relict Colchic vegetation, an evergreen understorey of Pontic rhododendron, cherry laurel and holly beneath oak and beech, a survival from a warmer period that occurs nowhere else in Europe on this scale. The park also holds Thracian sanctuaries and dolmens, villages with a distinct architecture, and the fire-dancing tradition of nestinarstvo at Bulgari. It was a closed border zone for decades, which is why the forest is in the condition it is, and it remains thinly populated and little visited.

What you actually see

• Relict Colchic understorey - rhododendron and cherry laurel under the oak.
• Thracian dolmens and sanctuaries - prehistoric sites through the forest.
• Traditional village architecture - the Strandzha building style.
• A former closed border zone - the reason the forest survived intact.

When to go

April to June for the rhododendron in flower, September and October for colour. A day to several. Roads through the park are slow. Facilities are limited to a few village guesthouses.

Honest expectations

Infrastructure is thin: few marked routes, little signage and almost no visitor facilities. Roads are poor and public transport minimal. Ticks are a real problem in the forest. Some areas near the border have access restrictions.

Nearby

Bulgari and its fire dancing are in the park; Sinemorets lies on the coast.