Mogilovo Hills

In Stara Zagora (35 minutes’ drive), the Samara Flag Monument is an imposing memorial honouring the soldiers who fought in the 19th-century Russian-Ottoman War. It’s possible to delve deeper into this event at the Regional Museum of History Stara Zagora, while the Neolithic Dwellings Museum displays archaeological artefacts. If it’s antiquities you’re after, Plovdiv (an hour) delivers in spades, with a Roman forum, the ruins of an ancient stadium and the splendidly preserved Ancient Theatre of Philippopolis. The Tsar Simeon Garden Park has shaded paths and a large pool with water jets. A hill to the west of the city is topped by the huge Monument of the Red Army ‘Alyosha’. It’s worth the drive to the Central Balkan National Park (an hour and a half) to walk its shaded trails, climb the Golyam Kupen Peak for spectacular views of the surrounding mountains, and see waterfalls like Suchurum and Karlovsko Praskalo tumble down granite walls.