Rila Monastery & Boyana Church: Cultural Heritage

Embark on a captivating 8-hour day tour to the Rila Monastery and Boyana Church, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Explore ancient frescoes, learn their history, and enjoy free time in the picturesque mountains.

Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Vasil Levski Monument - The tour begins at the Vasil Levski Monument, located at Yanko Sakuzov Blvd 7, at 8:40 am. Departure is scheduled for 9 am. Please ensure punctuality!
  • Rila Monastery - Rila Monastery is the largest monastery in Bulgaria, founded in the 10th century. The current structures date back to the mid-19th century, with a…
What's Included
  • Visit Boyana Church and Rila Monastery (depending on option)
  • Comfortable bus/minibus transportation
  • Parking fees included
  • English-speaking guide or driver (depending on option)
What's Not Included
  • Boyana Church – Adults 6.14 EUR. Children over 7 years and students - 1.53 EUR
  • Rila Monastery museum & monk room entrance ticket- 4 EUR
  • Food and drinks
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel pick up and drop off
Additional Information

Participate in an 8.5–10 hour guided group tour to explore two UNESCO World Heritage sites – Rila Monastery and Boyana Church. Experience a 40-minute guided tour at Rila Monastery, followed by 2.5 hours of leisure time for taking photos, visiting museums, shopping, or enjoying lunch. At Boyana Church, marvel at its remarkable 800-year-old frescoes…

Location
bul. "Yanko Sakazov" 7
bulevard "Yanko Sakazov"
The meeting point for the tour is Vasil Levski Monument, Yanko Sakuzov Blvd 7 . Ask for travel agency City Tour. Please be there at 8:40 am. The van/bus departs at 9am and will not wait for you if you are late.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.6
(1099 Ratings)
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Charliev2011
Jul 12, 2026
Another Excellent City Tours Excursion! - The City Tours trip to Rila Monastery and Boyana Church was my second booking with City Tours and it was another excellent trip! Ornella was our guide and she did a wonderful job as a guide. The bus is comfortable and is equipped with WIFI. On the way to the monastery, you will be provided with one toilet break. Upon arrival, the guide will give you about one hour history of the monastery followed by two hours free time. With the visit to Boyana, all participants have the option to visit and if you opt to visit, you will have to pay an entrance fee in cash of 6 Euro. The Boyana Church only allows a limited amount of guests for a ten minute period. There are free toilets here. Overall, City Tours provides a super easy, fun, and interesting way to see the monastery and church!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elsa_a
Jul 11, 2026
Good experience - Good experience. María is an exceptional guide, well prepared, a good communicator, and always attentive to the travelers' needs. We have learned a lot and we have enjoyed it.
Review provided by Viator
Mark_s
Jul 9, 2026
Perfect tour while in Sofia! - The monastery was absolutely beautiful! The murals were phenomenal! The frescos is Boyana Church were incredible. Our young lady tour guide was well spoken, extremely knowledgeable and very passionate!
Review provided by Viator
596sebiv
Jul 9, 2026
An excursion not to be missed. - Great experience, aside from the beauty of the monastery, the organization, preparation, and kindness of our guide Ornella, who added that extra touch with her explanations.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Richard_m
Jul 6, 2026
First rate - worth every euro! - Our guide Pavel (Pablo) was excellent: I learned so much from him. He was thoroughly well prepared and he shared a deep and passionate knowledge and understanding of the history and culture not only of the sites we visited but of Bulgaria as a whole. The monastery at Rila is astounding and Pavel explained it all from the unique and colourful frescoes to the origin and the development of the whole institution. If you don't go on any other tours you should certainly go on this one.
Review provided by Viator
Antonio_c
Jul 5, 2026
Nice excursion and a very good experience - Nice excursion and both the guide and the driver (Simo) were wonderful, everything on time and enough time to see the monastery and everything that surrounds it. We ate something at the bakery and then went to have something at the restaurant they recommended to us and we regretted having eaten sweets and bread, the meat looked great and was very affordable.
Review provided by Viator
Elena_d
Jul 4, 2026
A very interesting tour - We liked the tour a lot, both the Monastery and the Boyana Church. The guide Pablo was fantastic, he told us everything in great detail and his explanations were very enjoyable. I would dedicate 1 more hour of free time to it, or at least half an hour, because with 1 hour and a half it is very tight to see the museums and eat. Otherwise everything was perfectly organized.
Review provided by Viator
Grazia_s
Jul 2, 2026
wonderful excursion well... - wonderful excursion well organized with the amazing guide Ornella, who is knowledgeable, kind, and friendly. The guided tour is really well done. Highly recommended.
Review provided by Viator
Milkana_n
Jul 1, 2026
Great experience - Our tour guide, Pavel, is very knowledgeable and personable. I highly recommend this tour if you are ever in Sofia for more than a day. The trip itself is very pleasant and, of course, the Rila Monastery and Boyana church are second to none!
Review provided by Viator
Edgar_v
Jul 8, 2026
Day trip to Rila... - Day trip to Rila Monastery with City Tour in Sofia. Minivan arrived well before departure time and was snug but comfortable enough. Initially, the guide was hard to understand due to loudspeaker issues, but these were eventually more or less resolved. Drive took about 2 hours to Rila Monastery where we had about 3-4 hours time to explore. I thought that was a bit too long. We could have left later in the morning or depart earlier. We were back in Sofia after 6 pm. The tour guide had a wealth of knowledge and made the tour of the monastery so much more interesting. The main church is beautifully decorated but unfortunately the interior was under construction. I thought that the history museum of the monastery was excellent and I recommend paying the extra 5 euro or so. On the way back we stopped at Boyana Church. Again, the tour guide provided an excellent background story to the church while showing photographs of the frescos. The interior of the church is breathtaking. Overall an interesting, worthwhile tour but with some minor issues.
Review provided by Viator
From $23
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).