Veliko Tarnovo: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
From 1185 to 1393 Tarnovo was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, one of the great powers of the Balkans, built on hills inside the tight loops of the Yantra river. Its fortress hill, Tsarevets, held the tsar’s palace and the patriarch’s cathedral. Two hours, with climbs.
A short history of Veliko Tarnovo
In 1185 the brothers Asen and Peter rose against the Byzantines here, and the city, then called Tarnovo, became the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire. For more than two hundred years the tsars resided in the Tsarevets fortress on the hill, and the city was a religious and cultural centre of the Balkans. In 1393 the Ottomans took it after a siege, beginning almost five hundred years of foreign rule. In 1879 the Constituent Assembly met here and adopted the Tarnovo Constitution, the first constitution of modern Bulgaria, and in 1908 Bulgaria's full independence was proclaimed in the city. It received the title "Veliko", meaning "the Great", in 1965.
The ten best sights in Veliko Tarnovo
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1Tsarevets
The fortress hill of the medieval tsars
2Patriarchal CathedralA medieval church rebuilt with dark modern frescoes
3Baldwin’s TowerWhere a Latin emperor of Constantinople died a prisoner
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4Trapezitsa
The second fortress hill, of boyars’ churches
5Forty Martyrs ChurchA church of 1230 with columns carved by khans
6Sts Peter and PaulA church of frescoes under Tsarevets
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7Revival and Constituent Assembly Museum
Where Bulgaria’s first constitution was adopted in 1879
8Sarafkina HouseTwo floors on the street, five over the river
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9Asen Monument
Four horsemen in the river bend, facing the old town
10ArbanasiA village of merchants’ fortress-houses on the plateau
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Veliko Tarnovo →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Veliko Tarnovo:
Free walking tours in Veliko Tarnovo
The city of the tsars
From 1185 to 1393 Tarnovo was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, one of the great powers of the Balkans, built on hills inside the tight loops of the Yantra river. Its fortress hill, Tsarevets, held the tsar’s palace and the patriarch’s cathedral. Two hours, with climbs.
- Tsarevets · A hill almost surrounded by the river, walled all round, reached by a single narrow causeway. In 1185 two brothers, Asen and Peter, raised a revolt against Byzantium here and founded the empire. After a three-month siege the Ottomans took it in 1393, and Bulgaria disappeared from the map for almost five centuries.
- Patriarchal Cathedral · At the top of the hill the patriarch’s cathedral was rebuilt in 1981 for the 1,300th anniversary of Bulgaria, and the painter Teofan Sokerov covered its walls with dark, expressionist frescoes of the fall of the empire instead of saints — still a controversial church, never re-consecrated.
- Baldwin’s Tower · In 1205 the Bulgarian tsar Kaloyan defeated the crusaders at Adrianople and captured Baldwin of Flanders, the first Latin emperor of Constantinople. Baldwin was brought to Tarnovo and died in captivity; this rebuilt tower is said to be where he was kept.
- Forty Martyrs Church · Tsar Ivan Asen II built this church in 1230 after his great victory at Klokotnitsa, and carved the story on a column inside. Two older columns stand beside it, inscribed by the pagan khans Omurtag and Krum, a thousand years old. Tsar Kaloyan was buried here.
- Sts Peter and Paul · A church at the foot of Tsarevets, where the Orthodox patriarchs lived under Ottoman rule, with layers of frescoes painted from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries.
- Trapezitsa · The second fortress hill across the river, where the nobles of the empire built their houses and churches — archaeologists have found the remains of seventeen churches on it. It looks straight across at Tsarevets.
The town over the river
The town of the nineteenth century clings to the cliffs above the bends of the Yantra, its houses stacked so that their front doors are on one street and their back windows high over the river. Here Bulgaria wrote its first constitution after independence. An hour and a half.
- Revival and Constituent Assembly Museum · The old Ottoman government house, rebuilt in 1872 by the Bulgarian master builder Kolyu Ficheto. In 1879, after the Russo-Turkish war freed Bulgaria, the Constituent Assembly met here and adopted the Tarnovo Constitution, one of the most liberal in Europe at the time.
- Sarafkina House · The house of a wealthy moneylender of 1861, built on the cliff edge: from the street it has two floors, but on the river side it drops five. It shows how the merchants of the town lived in the nineteenth century.
- Asen Monument · In the meadow inside a loop of the river stand four bronze horsemen around a tall sword — the founders of the empire, Asen, Peter, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II — put up in 1985 for the eight hundredth anniversary of the revolt.
- Tsarevets · On many evenings the fortress hill is lit by the Sound and Light show: coloured lights, lasers and bells tell the story of the empire’s rise and fall across the walls, seen from the square below the gate.
- Baldwin’s Tower · From the southern tip of the hill, near the tower, the cliff drops to the river; it was called the Execution Rock, from which traitors were thrown.
- Trapezitsa Station · The little station under the hills is on the line that winds through the gorge of the Yantra, one of the scenic railways of Bulgaria, with tunnels through the loops of the river.
Merchants’ villages and the Balkan range
Around Tarnovo are a village of rich merchants, monasteries under cliffs, a Roman city, and to the south the Balkan mountains with their villages of craftsmen and the pass where the war of independence was decided. A full day and a car.
- Arbanasi · A village on the plateau above Tarnovo where rich merchants, given privileges by the Ottomans, built houses like small fortresses in the seventeenth century: thick stone walls, iron doors, and inside, carved wooden ceilings and hidden rooms.
- Church of the Nativity, Arbanasi · From outside a long, low, plain building, as Christian churches had to be under the Ottomans; inside, every surface is covered in frescoes of the seventeenth century, thousands of figures, including a great Wheel of Life with the signs of the zodiac.
- Transfiguration Monastery · A monastery on a ledge under the cliffs north of the town, rebuilt in the nineteenth century. Its walls were painted by Zahari Zograf, the great painter of the Bulgarian revival, including another Wheel of Life showing the ages of man.
- Nikopolis ad Istrum · A Roman city founded by the emperor Trajan around 102 AD to celebrate his victory over the Dacians, with a forum and paved streets in the fields. Near here the Gothic bishop Wulfila settled with his people and translated the Bible into Gothic.
- Etar · An open-air museum of the crafts of the Balkan mountains, where water from the stream still turns a wool mill, a lathe, a fulling mill and a grain mill, and craftsmen work in a street of old wooden shops.
- Shipka Memorial Church · Under the Shipka Pass, where in 1877 Russian soldiers and Bulgarian volunteers held the pass against the Ottoman army through months of battle and winter, a church with golden onion domes was built in Russian style in memory of the dead. The war led to Bulgaria’s independence.
Getting to Veliko Tarnovo and getting around
- Trapezitsa Station · The small station under the hills; Sofia is about three hours by bus
Cheap eats in Veliko Tarnovo
In the old town the food is Bulgarian home cooking: kavarma, pork or chicken stewed with onions and peppers in a clay pot; shkembe chorba, tripe soup with garlic and vinegar, the cure after a night out; banitsa and ayran for breakfast; and wines from the nearby town of Lyaskovets. A clay pot of kavarma costs a few euro.
- Sarafkina House · Kavarma on a balcony over the river
- Lyaskovets · Wine and the gardens of the gardeners’ town
- Arbanasi · Village taverns in merchants’ houses
- Etar · Bread and sweets from the old bakery
- Asen Monument · Banitsa and ayran by the river
Museums in Veliko Tarnovo
Tarnovo is Bulgaria’s history in one place: the medieval empire, the Ottoman centuries, the Revival, and the first constitution.
- Revival and Constituent Assembly Museum · The hall of the first constitution
- Tsarevets · The fortress of the tsars
- Etar · Water-powered workshops
- Nikopolis ad Istrum · Trajan’s Roman city
- Tryavna · A museum of woodcarving and icons
Nature and day trips near Veliko Tarnovo
The Yantra river winds in loops through limestone cliffs, and around the town are canyons, waterfalls and the green Balkan range.
- Emen Canyon · The boardwalk trail in the canyon
- Hotnitsa Waterfall · Blue pools under the fall
- Transfiguration Monastery · The cliffs over the gorge
- Bozhentsi · Walks in the Balkan hills
Things to do in Veliko Tarnovo with kids
With children: a castle hill to explore, a light show at night, water mills and a waterfall.
- Tsarevets · Walls and towers to climb
- Etar · Water mills and craftsmen
- Hotnitsa Waterfall · A short walk to a waterfall
- Asen Monument · Horsemen by the river
Holy places in Veliko Tarnovo
Tarnovo was the seat of the Bulgarian patriarch, and its churches and monasteries hold some of the finest frescoes of the Orthodox world.
- Church of the Nativity, Arbanasi · Thousands of painted figures
- Forty Martyrs Church · The tsars’ church
- Transfiguration Monastery · Zahari Zograf’s Wheel of Life
- Shipka Memorial Church · The golden domes
- Patriarchal Cathedral · The modern frescoes
Nightlife in Veliko Tarnovo
Tarnovo is a university town, so its old-town bars are lively, and on many evenings the fortress hill is lit by the Sound and Light show.
- Tsarevets · The Sound and Light show
- Sarafkina House · Bars on Gurko street over the river
- Revival and Constituent Assembly Museum · Student bars around the centre
Frequently asked questions about Veliko Tarnovo
What is there to see in Veliko Tarnovo?
The top sights in Veliko Tarnovo are Tsarevets, Patriarchal Cathedral and Baldwin’s Tower. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Veliko Tarnovo?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Veliko Tarnovo without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Veliko Tarnovo?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Veliko Tarnovo, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The city of the tsars.
How do you get to Veliko Tarnovo and get around?
The main ways are Trapezitsa Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Veliko Tarnovo, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Veliko Tarnovo that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Veliko Tarnovo for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.