God's Eyes and Two Easy Eco Trails in 2 Days! Departing from Aytos, Sliven, and Karnobat!

UPDATED 2025!

Prohodna Cave - Krushuna Waterfalls - Zlatna Panega Eco Trail - Golden Park - Russian Church Nativity of Christ, town of Shipka - Devetashka Cave

From this excursion, you can collect the following number of stamps from the 100 National Tourist Sites: 3

Total length of the route - 1010 km

• Difficulty level: 2 out of 10 - The rating is subjective and is based on accumulated experience during the excursion. For example: 10 is the highest level of difficulty with the greatest load (like climbing Mount Vihren), 1 is without transition and additional physical load.

Price: 106€ (99€ with included mountain insurance for holders of the Eliteclub DIAMOND card)

See more about the Eliteclub Cards here: ELITECLUB

This adventure participates in the game "Every 13th excursion is on us" - you can read more here.

Program description:

Day 1

07:00 Departure from Burgas via Aytos, Karnobat, and Sliven with short breaks during the trip;

10:30 Visit to the memorial church Nativity of Christ;

11:00 Departure towards Prohodna Cave / God's Eyes /;

14:00 - 15:30 Arrival at the cave and time for photos and free time;

16:00 - 17:30 Visit to the beautiful and easy Zlatna Panega eco trail, duration 2 hours and difficulty 02/10;

18:00 Departure to the town of Lukovit or the region and accommodation in a hotel, with the possibility of a group dinner;

*Stops for picking up clients in cities:

Burgas - Plaza Mall

Aytos - The Roundabout

Karnobat - Lukoil

Sliven - Train Station

Day 2

07:30 - 08:30 Packing luggage and heading to Golden Park near the town of Lukovit;

08:30 - 09:30 Visit to Golden Park, town of Lukovit;

09:30 - 11:30 Departure towards Devetashka Cave;

11:30 - 12:30 Visit to the cave, group entry 2 lv/person;

12:30 - 13:30 Departure to the natural landmark Krushuna Waterfalls;

13:30 - 15:30 Walk along the short eco trail to Krushuna Waterfalls, difficulty 03/10;

15:30 - 19:30 Departure to Burgas via Sliven, Karnobat, and Aytos;

22:00 Arrival in Burgas.

The times indicated above are approximate, delays may occur for reasons beyond the organizer's control. A change of tourist site may occur due to bad weather conditions!

Description of the visited sites:

Cave "Prohodna"

Prohodna is one of the most famous and easily accessible caves in Bulgaria. It is located 2 km from the village of Karlukovo and 112 km from Sofia.

The cave represents a natural rock bridge with a length of 262 m. It has 2 entrances - big and small. From the small entrance, about 35 m high, a path leads through the entire cave and exits through the big entrance (the largest cave vault in Bulgaria - 45 m).

Prohodna is naturally lit by the huge entrances and by natural openings in the ceiling - "windows". It is these "windows" that make the cave unique. Positioned next to each other, with an almond shape, the windows remarkably resemble huge eyes that seem to gaze at visitors. It is no wonder that the locals call them "God's Eyes", and sometimes also "Devil's Eyes". Viewed from a certain angle, they even resemble a face looking down, and in humid weather, it seems as if "tears" are flowing from them. Faced with this natural phenomenon, one remains amazed and slightly excited - the incredible symmetry and arrangement of the windows evoke awe and a sense of mystery. The cave was declared a natural landmark in 1962. Several Bulgarian and foreign films have been shot here. One of them is "Time of Parting" (1987).

Krushuna Waterfalls

Krushuna Waterfalls are among the most attractive sights in the country. They are located 35 km northeast of the town of Lovech, in the area of Maarata. For the convenience of tourists, an eco trail has been built, including more than 15 bridges located in the picturesque area. On both sides, the eco trail is surrounded by beautiful vegetation and bigor rocks. The bridges are divided into several routes to ensure access to the entire area.
At the highest point at the end of the eco trail is the Waterfall Cave, from where the water flows down from a height of over 15 m, creating numerous thresholds and pools. The cave is not equipped, and entering it without special equipment and preparation is prohibited.

Zlatna Panega (karst spring)
The karst spring Zlatna Panega is located near the village of Zlatna Panega, municipality of Yablanitsa. Its water temperature is between 8 and 15 degrees. The color of the water is interesting, which is blue-green due to the dissolved calcium carbonate in the water. Locals call it the Blue due to its color. From ancient times to the present, the water of the spring is considered healing.

Devetashka Cave

Devetashka Cave is one of the largest caves in Bulgaria. Its total length is 2,442 m, its total area is 20,400 m2, height - 60 m. It is located 16 km north of Lovech, near the village of Devetaki - on the right bank of the Osam River. The cave was described as early as 1877. Discoveries of some of the most interesting remains from the Neolithic period in Bulgarian lands have been made in it. In the past, the cave was a classified military facility and was used for the storage of oil until the early 90s.

Devetashka Cave is a cultural property of national significance, a natural landmark, and a protected area. The good living conditions that the cave offers - large sizes, lighting at great depth, defensible, adjacent to springs and rivers, forests with game, pastures, and fertile land - have attracted human attention since ancient times. Traces of human presence have been found in the cave from the Paleolithic era (about 70,000 years BC).

Devetashka Cave is among the cave sites with the richest cultural remains from the Neolithic era - VI millennium BC.

The largest settlement in the cave is from the Copper-Stone Age - V millennium BC. At that time, people settled almost its entire area. Devetashka Cave was inhabited during the Bronze, Iron, and Roman ages. Later, during the Middle Ages, the cave was not permanently inhabited. The discovered materials indicate that it was likely used as a refuge in times of danger.

In addition to archaeological finds, the cave is also known for its diversity of inhabitants. Here live 12 species of protected amphibians, 82 species of birds found in the area, 13 of which are included in the Red Book, 34 species of mammals (4 of which are included in the Red Book of Bulgaria, and 15 - in the global red list) and 9 species of bats.

The cave is of international importance as a refuge for bats and is included as a priority site in the list of the Agreement for the Conservation of European Bat Species - EUROBATS.

Due to the breeding period of the mammals inhabiting the cave, a permit regime has been introduced in the two galleries of the cave by order of the Minister of Environment and Water. The water gallery is closed to visitors from November 1 to April 1, and the dry gallery - from May 25 to July 31. The light part of the cave is open to visitors year-round.

In 2014, at the initiative of the Municipality of Lovech and with the help of experts from the NGO "Green Balkans - Stara Zagora", National Museum of Natural History - BAS, Bulgarian Federation of Speleology, Regional Historical Museum - Lovech, etc., a Management Plan for the Protected Area "Devetashka Cave" was developed for a period of 10 years, aiming for sustainable management and conservation of its natural and cultural values.

Since 2014, Devetashka Cave has been part of the movement "The 100 National Tourist Sites - Explore Bulgaria" of the Bulgarian Tourist Union.

The offer includes:

• Transport with a licensed bus;

• 1 night in a 2 or 3* hotel;

• Guide from the travel agency during the trip;

• Travel insurance with a liability limit of 500€ for persons up to 70 years old (persons over 70 are not insured).

The offer does not include:

• Entry fees for the visited sites;

• Personal expenses;

• Single accommodation in a hotel is charged to the tour operator 20€ /night;

• Travel cancellation insurance (covers the prepaid expenses under the contract for organized travel that cannot be refunded by the Tour Operator in case of events due to which the Insured cannot undertake the trip, up to the agreed limit);

• Note: The company reserves the right to change the price in case of: changes in transportation costs /fuels/, airport, port, and other fees; changes of more than 5% in the exchange rate between the signing of the contract and departure; unforeseen price increases from our partners, as well as in other objectively necessary cases. In case of fuel price increases, the company reserves the right to raise the transport price for upcoming trips, regardless of when they are reserved and paid. Notification period in case of the above-mentioned circumstances - 7 days.

For more information +359 889 150 480