Ruse

The town of Ruse is located on the right bank of the Danube river, approx. 320 km north-east of Sofia , 200 km north-west of Varna and 100 km north-east of Veliko Tarnovo . Ruse is an old Bulgarian town with traditions in culture, art and education and with very developed industry and trade. The greatest and the most important town on the Danube River, it is also known as “The Little Vienna”, because of its ancient architecture which dates back from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. There are 19 museums worth visiting, number of hotels and restaurants, cafes and clubs.

Ruse is a town with rich history. In 19th century Ruse is considered the most European Bulgarian town with flourishing economy. The first Bulgarian newspaper, printed in Bulgaria was published there. In 1866 was completed the first railway road in Bulgarian lands Ruse – Varna . The first navy school and the first weather service were established in this town. It was also a centre of the struggle for spiritual and national liberation. A lot of foreign and Bulgarian celebrated architects, arts and writers did their creative work there. Nowadays Ruse is a big economic, transport, cultural and tourist centre.

The excellent geographical and transport location, the culture-historical heritage and the beautiful natural resources provide good potential for diverse forms of tourism including cultural, rural and ecological tourism.

Other interesting places to visit are the archeological reserve “Ivanovo rock churches”, the archeological reserve “Tcherven”, the Bassarbovo rock monastery, the Wooden park “Lipnik”, the Park zone around the hut “Prista”, the island “Ljuljak”, the Cave “Orlova tchuka”. In the eastern part of the Danube plane, just about 20 km south of Ruse, is situated a unique and picturesque site of Bulgarian nature – the Natural Park “Rusenski Lom”. Its name comes from the river Rusenski Lom - the last right tributary of The Danube and spreads over 3,260 hectares of land situated along the banks of the rivers Mali, Cherni and Beli Lom with length of approximately 42 kilometers. It characterizes with rich biological diversity to a priceless cultural heritage, combined with pleasant climatological conditions. Excellent opportunities for bird watching, hiking, riding and biking tourism /marked routes for hiking, cross-country riding and biking, as well as eco-educational trails are available/.

Bassarbovo monastery is the only active rock monastery in Bulgaria today. It is situated in the canyon-like valley of the river Lom, home of another three hundred rock premises, forty of which has been used as churches. Most of the monasteries were inhabited after XIIth century AD and some of them even before that. Part of them was naturally formed, while the local people cut others out. Nowadays the monastery is very beautiful and well preserved. The green yard is decorated with lots of flowers, bushes and fruit trees. The path in the yard leads to a well, dug out by St. Dimitar. The water within is healing and many of the visitors after tasting it come back to the monastery again. Bassarbovo monastery is visited by a lot of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. Ivanovo rock churches are situated 15 km from Bassarbovo monastery. They have been included in the List of UNESCO protected historical monuments as ones of worldwide significance.

Some of the most significant annual festivals are being held in Ruse, including the International festival for symphonic music “March days of Music” (17 – 31 March); The International Jazz Festival (November), The International Theatre Festival “Danube – European River, Danube – Balkan’s river”.

You can reach the town of Ruse with regular bus, railway and river transport. Ruse is the initial or the final station of 2 railway lines and is connected to the national railway network. The river station is a big one with cruises solely along the international route Ruse – Belgrade – Novi Sad – Budapest – Bratislava – Vienna – Linz – Pasau. Since 1993 the ferryboat line Ruse – Giurgiu has been in operation too.