Rila Monastery Afternoon Half Day Tour

Explore Bulgaria’s Rila Monastery and Boyana Church. Discover rich history, stunning architecture, and cultural heritage on this half-day tour.

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights

Rila Monastery - Visit to the Rila Monastery

What's Included
  • On-board WiFi
  • Driver
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

IMPORTANT: Entrance to the monastery requires covered shoulders and knees. Please ensure you wear appropriate clothing.
The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila, commonly known as the Rila Monastery, is the largest and most renowned Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. Nestled in the Rila Mountains, it is named after its founder, the hermit Ivan of Rila…

Location
ul. "Iskar" 31
ulitsa "Iskar"
Iskar 31 street - Big Yellow House
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.3
(27 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Ilz_ted2024
Mar 12, 2026
Excellent - Amazing experience! Thank you, Aleksandar! Our trip from Sofia to the Rila Monastery and back was absolutely perfect. We really enjoyed everything. The atmosphere was friendly, we felt completely safe, and Aleksandar helped us with everything we needed. He shared a lot about the history, the monastery, the city — and he seems able to talk about absolutely anything! He also gave us great recommendations on what else to see and do. A truly excellent guide and driver — we recommend him to everyone! 10/10.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Fan
Sep 14, 2025
Great trip to Rila Monastery - Our guide is super friendly and informative. Talk us thru the history of Bulgaria. Patiently answers every questions we have along the way. Gave us great recommendations about the local food etc.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hornbond
May 1, 2025
It was a very good... - It was a very good experience with the local Viator representative this time. He was the best one who I had with the Viator for the past many years.
Review provided by Viator
Andrewwb6817eb
Mar 9, 2020
Rila Monastery and Boyana Church - Excellent trip well worth while to see outside Sofia. My wife and I were picked up by a great young guide/driver in a yellow taxi and had a great day out.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alex_m
Oct 8, 2025
Experience with a trip... - Experience with a long journey, and on arrival at the monastery it was all closed except the church. He deserves a picture but I had longer expectations. Better go in the morning.
Review provided by Viator
Asier_e
Aug 20, 2024
Afternoon trip to Rila Monastery - The driver took us to the Rila Monastery mountains with nice driving, however we would have expected better guide type explanations at the site. It was a very short reading of the monastery architecture and religion.
Review provided by Viator
Viking
Jan 6, 2020
Great Tour of Rila Monastery - The tour was great! We were happy to join this tour. Flexible time and private also! The guide also speak in english and explain to us. On time and well prepare.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
R81eenicholasd
Mar 25, 2026
Very messy company - Originally booked this tour but it was cancelled the evening before, I booked a half day because I wanted a half day tour. I actually booked two half day tours with this company over the week and both were cancelled due to broken buses. The replacement offered was either a full day tour of the monastery with a stop in a spa town or a hike. We went for the spa day which was actually really good but the only challenging thing is you were dropped in the town for about 5 hours 15 minutes when the tour guide originally said 4-4.5 hours. This was annoying because you timed the spa so you also had time for lunch after but you could probably spend an extra hour in there. Also the tour company when I rescheduled said we'd be back 5-5.30pm so I made plans accordingly but you actually return around 6.30pm. Also one to note, the spa is 41 euros per person upgrade. Personally I'd say it's worth it but it's a bit of a shock if you moved from this half day tour to a full day one which now has a massive upcharge in it. Overall the tour was good but the experience of the company was bad so I would probably avoid them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Steven
Sep 12, 2024
Not a tour, just a shuttle!!! - No onboard wifi, no knowledgeable driver. The guy wasn't even Bulgarian, and knew absolutely NOTHING about the place. Better book an actual tour with a guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mobile531917
Mar 8, 2026
Fatal - We took a half-day trip to the Rila Monastery, we paid 49€ per person, when there is excursion for 20€ for not getting up early and not being so long hours, we were confirmed and charged, the night before the excursion at 21 hours they wrote to us informing us that it had been cancelled, the option they gave us was between two excursions, a treking and Rila or Rila and spa. I told him that we did not have appropriate clothes for any of the excursions, the answer is that it was what there was, no return or anything, we had scheduled everything according to the excursion that we had bought, we had to go at 8 in the morning visit Rila in 45 minutes and then we were taken and abandoned in the village of the resort that has nothing to the two alone, the other six travelers did the treaking, we left two people alone dead disgusted from 12 hours to 17.15 hours. The driver tried to get us down to Sofia but his boss wouldn't let him. Watch through which local agency they send their clients, we feel very scammed and abandoned at the end of the day the excursion we bought from you thinking they were serious and safe
Review provided by Tripadvisor