Of the 7 days necessary for this route, we recommend that Romanian tourists spend 4 days in Bulgaria and that Bulgarian tourists spend 4 days in Romania.
The localities included in this route offer both locations for recreational fishing and also tourist attractions that can be discovered during a walk. For those who want to enjoy nature but also facilities offered by cities, this route is ideal because it blends perfectly rural and urban areas.
Both ends of this route are natural areas renowned for their beauty and visited annually by thousands of tourists (Comana and Park Lipnik). #comana appears frequently in searches on Instagram and more than 6,000 photos from this locality are tagged. Almost all of these pictures show natural landscapes from Comana.
The town of Comana is very attractive for tourists. There are 7 tourist attractions in Comana. Here, we find the Comana Monastery, the Neajlov Delta Monastery, the Heroes Mausoleum from Comana, the Comana Nature Park, the Neajlov Delta, the Walnut Fountain, the Paper Mill, the Comana Airport, the Gellu Naum House, Comana Adventure Park and the recreational fishing grounds on the Neajlov banks.
There are 3 accommodation units in Comana: a hotel, one guesthouse, an inn and a restaurant where tourist can dine. It is a 4-stars hotel with a capacity of 30 sits; the inn has a capacity of approx. 15 sits, and the 3-daisies guesthouse a capacity of 10 sits.
Comana Nature Park – is the largest protected area in the Romanian Plain and consists of three forests. It was declared a natural reserve in 1954 in order to protect the species of flowers – blue thorns, may lilies and the Romanian peony. Tourists arriving in Comana Nature Park can opt for touristic tours through the forest or for boat rides and sport fishing. The Neajlov Delta – is the second biodiversity after the Danube Delta. Here, a place that can be considered a corner of heaven, are housed over 141 species of birds and 13 species of fish. The fishing fee is 85 Ron per person / 12h.
The Peony Reserve from Comana Forest offers the perfect pretext for organizing the „Peony Feast” or „The Blooming of the Paeonia Peregrina” Spectacle. It is an event that wants to achieve three objectives: preserving traditions, preserving biodiversity and protecting the Romanian peony.
Comana Adventure Park features an adventure park with trails for children and adults, a zip line across the lake, restaurants, places where fauna and flora can be admired, boat rides options, archery and even conferences or other events.
The next location within the proposed package holiday is Giurgiu, a city with lots to offer in terms of the number of tourist attractions which can be enjoied here. There are 81 attractions classified as historical monuments of different categories and at both levels (national and local). Among them, Giurgiu Fortress stands out (14th-18th centuries), located west of the Port Road, and the site of „Malu Roşu”, where two settlements from the upper and lower Paleolithic were found. Remnants of the Turkish Fortress Wall (18th century) also stand out, situated behind the lots on Danube and Clock Tower streets (1771) in Union Square, a building based on a minaret of an ancient mosque. Two other historical monuments of national interest are public monuments: the 19th-century statues „Diana” (from the Railway Square) and „Apollo Belvedere” from Park Street, corner-shop with Călugăreni Street.
Tourists can fish on Danube’s Ara Arm (6 km from Giurgiu): asp, roach, perch, crucian carp, chub, carp, beluga, barbell, bream, zander, common nase, catfish, pickerel. Other fishing locations in the area are the Slobozia Ramadan pond where you can fish zander, catfish, pickerel; Bălănoaia pond, where you can fish carp, crucian carp; the Oncesti ponds where you can fish carp, crucian carp, zander. All these ponds are located 8 km away from Giurgiu. Fishing fee is 30 Ron per person / 12 hours.
There are 9 accommodation units in Giurgiu: 5 hotels, 2 motels, 1 guesthouse and 1 apartment for rent and 28 dining units. Of these, 4 units offer 3-stars conditions, 4 units offer 2-stars conditions and 1-star unit (the apartment) and a capacity of up to 150 sits. Tourists can dine in 28 units.
The city of Rousse in Bulgaria has 16 tourist attractions (Renaissance Park, Renaissance Pantheon, Youth Park, Kurting, National Transport and Communications Museum, Monument of Freedom, Art Gallery, City Life Museum, Zahary Stoyanov Museum, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Prince Batenberg Palace / Regional History Museum, Sexaginta Prista (Citadel), Levente Tabia, Riding Center, West Park Prista, Lesopark Lipnik – Rousse) and 74 accommodation units.
The next point within the proposed package holiday is Park Lipnik, 12 km away from Rousse, Bulgaria. Lipnik Park covers an area of approximately 20,000 hectares. It is considered the largest forest-park in Bulgaria. It is intended to be a recreational natural park. Around it, on the hills, many holiday villas and permanent dwellings were built, and even companies from Rousse have built buildings in the vicinity of the lake. We also find here many restaurants, hotels, playgrounds, facilities for various sports, camping sites, and a zoo.
With all the facilities and all the modern comfort, this area is the preferred place for relaxation and tourism for many Rousse inhabitants and not only. Lipnik Park and Lipnik Lake offers them, but also to many other tourists who come here from various areas (even from other countries), recreation areas, rest, entertainment, well-preserved nature, an artificial lake filled with various species of fish. Fishing is very common, but it is well controlled by the authorities. The fishing fee is 3 leva. Sports such as kayak-canoe can be practiced on the lake, as the lake is quite long; swimming is strictly forbidden. Alleys and walking paths are set-up through the dense forest covering the main hill, and on the right bank of the lake – the one with the forest – very pleasant camping spots are set-up from place to place, hidden in the forest, but with superb views of the lake.
The park is also accessible by bus from Rousse, and the journey takes about 20 minutes.
To visit Park Lipnik, tourists can spend the night in the city of Rousse. There are 74 accommodation units here, thus over 1,500 accommodation sits and hotels with up to 4-stars accommodation conditions, so that tourists can find an option accessible and suitable for their personal wishes. There are also 10 restaurants and 16 tourist attractions in Rousse, that tourists can visit in the city center. Tourist who don’t want to spend the night in Rousse after visiting Park Lipnik, can go to Nikolovo.
After visiting Ruse, we recommend visiting the locality of Ivanovo together with the tourist attractions in this area: the Templars Cemetery, „St. Constantine and Helena” rock-built monastery, the medieval Bulgarian town of Cherven, the rock-built churches from Ivanovo, the Orlova Ciuca Cave, the Royal Thracian Necropolis „Svestari” and the Saint Dimitrie Basarabov rock-built monastery.
The Templars Cemetery – A Necropolis of the Early Christianity Age, located in the immediate vicinity of the Nisovo commune, where an ancient road used to pass there. It is said it dates back to the XVI – XVIII century. Each funerary stone has a templer’s cross and inscriptions about the age, social status and even about the deceased’s occupation. In 2008, during the archaeological excavations of the necropolis, the team led by the renowned archaeologist, Professor Nicolai Ovciarov and Reader Bony Pentrunova, the tomb of a mother with a child was discovered, where the position of the skeletons completely copies the position of the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus from the Christian icons. According to Professor Ovciarov, the discovery is unique, and so far in Bulgaria no other similar discovery was found.
The „St. Constantine and Helena” rock-built monastery is the largest in the Lomian basin. It probably dates back to the 9th century. Legends talk of Father Paul, who was searching for young painters in the area and giving them shelter at the monastery, where they were painting icons. Under his guidance, the monks would copy books and send them to distant countries to celebrate the Bulgarian scriptures. His toil even got to the ears of King Ivan-Asen the Second, who visited the monastery and honored him with the title of bishop.
The monastery is composed of a church and a row of sanctums. Inside the church were preserved parts of two stone-carved trays, which are the remains of tombs and traces of some medieval frescoes.
The monastery is at a two-hour walk from Nisovo, on the valley of Mali Lom river. From here, a great view opens up towards Rousse Nature Park.
The medieval Bulgarian town of Cherven was one of the most important military, economic and ecclesiastic centers in the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (XII-XIV century). In 1235, it became the residence of the Bulgarian Medieval Metropolitan Church of Cherven.
Several edifices were discovered during archaeological excavations: a large castle, fortress walls, underground water supply systems, public and administrative buildings, 13 churches, a network of streets, housings and workshops. One of the towers, a three-story tower, was preserved entirely.
The fortress is a national archaeological reserve and is a very popular tourist destination with a very good infrastructure.
The Ivanovo rock-built churches and monks’ cells near Ivanovo commune in the Rousse region, form a rock-built complex called „St. Michael the Archangel”. It was founded in the ’20s of the 8th century by the monk Ioachim, who later became a patriarch. During the entire period of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom, the monastery maintained close ties with the royal court from Târnovo. King Ivan Acen himself was the donor of the monastery. This unique monument is different from the other rock-built monasteries in Bulgaria, by its well-preserved frescoes, which is why UNESCO included it in the list of world-wide cultural heritage.
The Orlova Ciucă Cave is 28 km away from Nisovo village, north of Pepelina commune, in the rocky mountain pass of the Cerni Lom river. Its name comes from the crown-shaped cliffs above the entrance of the cave. In the recent past, eagles used to live on this cliff. The total length of the galleries is over 13,500 km. By the length of the galleries, the cave ranks second in Bulgaria. It impresses with the special beauty of its formations. Over 10,000 bats of the common small-bat and the large and small horseshoe-bat species live in the cave.
In 1962, the cave was declared a monument of nature.
The St. Dimitrie Basarabov Monastery is located in the valley of the Rusenski Lom river, near the village of Basarbovo, 23 km from Nisovo. The first historical testimonies of the monastery date back to the 15th century. Its most important habitant, and eternal Abbot of the monastery, is St. Demetrius of Basarabov. The monastery preserves a small part of the holy relics of the Saint who founded the monastery. The Basarabov Monastery is the only rock-built monastery in Bulgaria that still functions.
The Sveştari Royal Thracian Necropolis was discovered in 1982 during excavations made at Hill no. 7 which is part of the eastern necropolis of the „Sborianovo” archaeological-historical reserve. It was built in the first quarter of the third century BC., and is a unique monument of the Thracian necropoleis architecture.
Due to its remarkable architecture and artistic beauty, the Necropolis at Svestari is included since 1985 in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
In recent years, other necropolises dug in the ground were discovered in the hills surrounding the Great Svestari Hill.
Another place to fish near Rousse is the Shtraklevo pond. It is about 17 km away from Rousse, and the fishing fee is 12-15 leva. This pond is the ideal place where tourists can spend their last day from the 7-days route. Here, they can rest and relax on a fishing trip after having visited all attractions in Comana, Giurgiu and Rousse. Before or after fishing in Shtraklevo pond, tourists can spend the night in Rousse, where they benefit from the accommodation and dining units mentioned in the previous paragraph.
It is necessary that this package is promoted during periods when prohibition is not declared, so that fishing enthusiasts can enjoy the specific activities without legal constraints. Thus, the package holiday will not be promoted between April 26th and June 9th inclusive.