National Parks allow opportunities for recreation, spiritual enrichment and contact with nature. Tourists can choose from a wide variety of activities, including:

• trekking,
• mountain biking,
• horseback riding,
• camping,
• photography,
• wildlife viewing,
• plant identification,
• rock climbing,
• mountaineering,
• and caving.

Select locations are set aside for extreme sports.

All activities are controlled to minimize their impact on the natural habitat. Typically, people walk in Bulgarian National Parks.

Visitors and Accommodation

Over 150,000 people visit the Bulgarian National Parks every year. To accommodate visitors, 57 chalets, as well as car camping and tent sites are set aside for public use within the Parks. Please check with each Park concerning access and rules governing these sites.

Visitor Centers

Information and visitor centers are generally found in communities around the Parks. They inform visitors of the Parks’ value and significance, guide visitors, and serve as venues for public awareness and local community-related activities. These centers are often coalitions between the Parks and the community.

Visitor Safety

The National Park Directorates maintain the tourist infrastructure, together with the Bulgarian Tourist Union. They develop safety and behavior rules, and work together with the Mountain Rescue Service to ensure visitor safety. The National Park Directorates also develop and maintain the tourist routes.

The management plans for the Rila and Central Balkan Parks increase tourism opportunities by improving each Park’s tourist infrastructure. Such improvements include park entrances; rest and recreation areas; scenic lookouts; sign-boards, trail markings; shelters, bridges; and other safety facilities.

Parks and Ecotourism Associations – centers of information, accommodation, and local hospitality – important partnerships

National parks and local communities registered their first private-public partnerships in two regions near Rila and Central Balkan National Parks. The Central Balkan Ecotourism Association, Kalofer, and Rila Ecotourism Association, Samokov are among the newest models of ecotourism around the National Parks. These non-governmental organizations are alliances of National Park Directorates, local authorities, and private businesses.

The Associations offer:

• Reservations for hotels, activities and transport;
• Detailed information about tourist services;
• National Park tours and mountain guides; and
• Visits to ethnographic, cultural and historic landmarks.

The ecotourism model was developed by the National Park Directorates with the support of the Biodiversity Conservation and Economic Growth Project, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

Information about the National Ecotourism Strategy and the National Ecotourism Forum is available on the following website: http://www.moew.government.bg/ecotourismforum