Bulgaria’s extensive 1300-year history along with the presence of migrating tribes has made the cuisine of Bulgaria extremely diverse. Many of the daily meals include traditional dishes and customs.
Historically, Bulgarians have flavored stews, roasts, and boiled fresh vegetables with lots of garlic, onions, oils and spices in terracotta cookware. Roasting food on charcoal embers is also common, which leaves the meat tender and moist. During a Bulgaria cruise you will notice that many of the local meals almost always include meat, potatoes and cheese. Food tends to be spicy, filling and tasty. A wide variety of national dishes, such as cold yogurt soup with cucumbers, peppers or aubergines stuffed with meat, or kebabcheta (small, spicy, minced meat rolls) are popular. And many dishes also include influences of the neighboring countries of Turkey and Greece. Visitors will also find fruit is particularly delicious and inexpensive throughout the year.
There are plenty of places to try the local cuisine while on a trip to Bulgaria, with many attractive restaurants and cafes throughout the country. The main meal is eaten in the middle of the day. Dinner is a social occasion, with dancing enjoyed before and after the meal. A salad and a rakia (Bulgarian spirit/schnapps, usually made from grapes) traditionally precede a meal at a leisurely pace, lasting up to an hour. Desserts are not a strong focal point of Bulgarian cuisine, although cafes usually have a wide selection of pastries and cakes. Most restaurants offer only pancakes or crème caramel.
Ayran, a beverage of yogurt and water, is drunk by Bulgarians on a daily basis. Heavily sweetened coffee is also particularly popular. Many drinks are also made from infusions of mountain herbs and dried leaves, particularly lime.
Bulgaria offers excellent, world-famous red and white wines that are not only superb but inexpensive as well. Sample the large variety of wines during your Bulgaria cruise. White wines include Evksinograde, Karlouski Misket and Tamianka. Heavy red wines include Mavroud and Trakia. Liquors include the rather potent mastika and rakia (grape or brandy). Bulgarian beers have recently gained popularity and are much cheaper than imported beers.
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
7 hours ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
22 hours ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
5 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
6 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.