Plovdiv and Hisarya

Plovdiv province takes the large chunk of the Thracian plain on both banks of the Maritza river, limited by the Balkan mountains from the North and the Rhodopes from the South.

Plovdiv

Knyaz Alexandar I is the main pedestrian street of the city with lots of shops and cafés

Hisarya

Less than an hour drive North of Plovdiv, at the foothills of the Balkan mountains lies a small town called Hisarya. Its name comes from the Turkish word for fortress, because the late Roman fortress and the hot springs it was built around are the main attractions of the town. Well, and the water that comes out of those hot springs — I, personally, consider it to be one of the best tasting waters in the world.

Hisarya bus station: the faded ghost sign on the building's fronton says: “USSR and the People's Republic of Bulgaria — friendship for centuries”