Rhodopean Dream offroad tour - Dreamscape Overland

Bulgaria (camping tour)

July 19-29th 2026

What? How long? How hard? How much?

Type – standard offroad tour
Duration – 10 days
Approximate length – 900 km
Technical difficulty – 2-6/10
Scratch rate – 2-4/10
Tyre type – AT tyres recommended
Maximum group size – 6 (7)
Organizer – Dreamscape Overland

Price
1390 € per vehicle
(regardless of number of passengers)

This is something closest to a true dreamscape overlanding experience that Balkans can offer you, featuring some unique highlights that no other tour offers. In the 10 days of exploring the huge Rhodopean mountains of southern Bulgaria, you experience:

Two of the three highest mountains in the Balkans, almost 3000 m high (Rila and Pirin, which are also national parks)
The highest drivable road in the Balkans, reaching an altitude of almost 2600 m at the highest pass
The highest wild campsite in the Balkans – giving you an extraordinary experience of sleeping at the altitude of 2570 m, with a simultaneous view of three highland lakes
Visiting 10 fabulous lakes, some being at altitudes above 2400 m, while others, surrounded by beautiful pinetree forests, resemble some distant, exotic landscapes (like British Columbia)
All of the most spectacular scenic viewpoints of the Rhodopean mountains, some with a vertical drop of 1000 m below the viewing platform
Traversing the largest highland plateau in the Balkans, travelling through an enchanting maze of pinetree forest trails for over 150 km without dropping below 1500 m of altitude
Visiting the biggest bear sanctuary in the Balkans
Two impressive, although diverse caves
Three natural stone arches at the altitude of almost 1500 m
Several canyons of breathtaking beauty
The Rila monastery, one of the most important places of worship and historical heritage in Bulgaria, and more cultural heritage sites
The unique sandstone towers of Melnik

… and much, much more, in one of the most picturesque landscapes of southern Europe.

I’ve seen enough, take me to the booking form!

Where?

We meet in a nice camp near Rila monastery, where we spend the first night. After a visit to the monastery on the next day, we start our journey up to the Kalin pass, where we visit four lakes before we setup camp at the very pass, at the altitude of 2570 m (for those fit there are good opportunities for a bit of highland hiking). On the next day we continue along the western slopes of Rila and Pirin mountains, towards the picturesque ethno-village of Melnik, from where we make an interesting roundtrip all the way to the Greek border, then circling Pirin mountain in the next two days. We will also reach the Bezbog lake, at the altitude of 2240 m, the northernmost of the aproximately 100 glacier lakes in Pirin!

After leaving Pirin, our trail takes us in the direction of the Rila national park and Grnchar lake, in the vicinity of which we camp, again above 2000 m of altitude. We continue along an easy, but beautiful track through the Rila national park in the direction of Belmeken lake (at almost 2000 m of altitude the highest artificial lake in Bulgaria).

I’ve seen enough, take me to the booking form!

As we venture through the Rhodopeans, we will visit more epic lakes, like Dospat, Golyam Beglik, the Chair lakes, and others. We will also see the scenic viewpoints such as Karadzhov kamak, Orlovo oko or Valchi kamak, as well as the majestic Trigrad canyon and the Chudnite mostove stone arches. Tour will end in the vicinity of Asenovgrad, south of Plovdiv, after covering approximately 900 km during the 10 days.

Our campsites will be deep in the wilderness, often on the bank of mountain rivers or at lakesides, in most cases ideal for full comfort far away from any signs of civilization. We will have firewood in abundance, so we will have an opportunity to light campfires every evening, which can also be used for grilling. We will attempt to arrive at the campsite every day no later than 17:00, so that you have plenty of time to setup your little nomadic haven and prepare for the night, enjoying the beautiful surroundings to the fullest. We usually leave the campsite at 9:00, leaving us enough time for a relaxed breakfast and packing up all the equipment afterwards (according to group preferance, we can leave later, or earlier).

Altitudes of the campsites will be in average around 1500 m, to as high as 2570 m, which means that nights can get quite fresh, with temperatures sometimes dropping below 10 C. So in order to sleep comfortably at night be sure to have warm sleeping bags!

Replenishing our food supplies will be possible 3 times during the tour, and refueling 4 to 5 times (whenever we reach some small towns). Therefore we recommend that you equip your vehicle with large capacity / good quality compressor refrigerator, so that you can keep your food fresh over several days.

Every day we will make a lunchbreak sometime between 12:30 and 14:00 lasting for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, so there will be plenty of time to prepare a decent lunch.

Tour requirements

Low range capable vehicles are highly advised

Equipment of your vehicle for the Rhodopean Quest should include

Offroad tyres (AT or MT class)
basic tools for your vehicle and camping (shovel, saw, axe, etc.)
a kinetic rope for recovery

Optional equipment that we advise

Sillicone foil protection over your paint (on the narrow Balkan forest trails you WILL BE scratching your vehicle often)
winch (we’re not planning to get stuck on the trails, but having your own winch can dramatically expedite recovery in case needed)
2″ or more of lift (will greatly improve your chances to overcome some deep ruts on our way)

Tour price coverage

Tour price includes

one adequately equipped guide vehicle with our guide, and tour guidance during 10 days
all fuel and other expenses for the guide vehicle
personal counceling before and during the tour
appropriate GPS maps and data, that can be made available to the participants, if they have compatible hardware
handheld communication radio with battery charger

Tour price does not include

individual fuel and toll costs
individual food and drink expenses
mechanical servicing expenses by third parties
individual accomodation expenses before and after the tour (on your way to Bulgaria and back)
other individual expenses

How do you know if this tour is for you?

To be able to answer that question, we first have to say…

Who this tour is not for?

It is definitely not for absolute beginners, who would like to try out offroad/overland travel to see if they like it. They will probably find the rugged Bulgarian mountains and the harsh conditions existing in them too extreme for their capabilities, and it could discourage them to try future tours.
It is not for people with cars with “virgin” paint, as occasional brushing agains vegetation on Bulgarian forest trails is inevitable. Or at least they have to come to terms with that fact in advance – either by accepting it or preparing their cars with sillicone protective foil.
It is also not for adrenaline junkies, keen on testing the limits of their vehicles by winching all day long and deliberately searching for extreme sections where they’d drive 3-4 km an entire day. That is not what we do.
It is not for people who, either due to excessive concern for their vehicle, or their own driving skills, cannot follow an efficient pace of driving, enabling them to easily cover 70-120 km per day in mixed terrain, that may include 10-20% of middle difficult trails (deep ruts, very rocky trails, steep inclines and descents, significant side angle, etc.).
Many of our trails are not suited for SUVs. Vehicles with decent ground clearance and low range are a prerequisite for your relaxed enjoyment of the tour.

Then who is this tour actually for?

It is for experienced and rational overland travellers with a preference for total wilderness tours (the tour passes through only two towns where we resupply / refuel, and several smaller villages), and under experience we don’t count the Western Alps gravel roads that can actually be driven by any 2WD vehicle. For people that can follow an active driving pace on mixed terrain with an average moving speed of about 13-15 km/h or higher, and are keen on tackling technical challenges in order to reach some extraordinary places deep in the wild. In other words, to drive as fast as possible, and as slow as necessary. We’re certainly not racers, but in order to complete the 900-1000 km length of the tour and arrive at campsite decently early every afternoon in order to enjoy the rest of the day and evening, we simply have to be capable to drive efficiently as a team, without waiting for you at every junction 15 minutes or so.

Beware that occasional technical problems (like flat tyres, various breakdowns, needs to recover from getting stuck, etc.) happen in every tour, and driving efficiently provides us with an extra hour in average every day to resolve such unexpected matters without disrupting the pace of the tour. Or simply for making more photo breaks and enjoying the nature in days when no problems occur.

What else you should know about the tour?

For this tour the meeting point will be in the heart of the Rila mountain – at the Bor camping, a few kilometres east of the Rila monastery. About one month prior to the tour start you’ll be supplied by email with detailed access instructions, coordinates, as well as GPX/KML tracks to the meeting point (on request), including also other details significant for the tour. Please secure that you have your travel insurance before starting the tour. We expect you to arrive with a vehicle in good technical conditon, which can endure 10 days of overlanding. During the tour a chance to refuel will be available each 200-300 km (petrol, diesel, LPG). All major credit cards (Visa, Master, etc.) work in Bulgaria (both on ATM machines and for paying goods), but it’s advisable to have a small amount of cash for small expenses in the mountainous areas.