Shipka Memorial & Valley of Roses Day Trip

High on the Shipka Pass through the Balkan Mountains, the Shipka Freedom Monument commemorates the decisive 1877-78 battle that helped secure Bulgarian independence from Ottoman rule, and its viewing platform offers one of the widest panoramas in the country over the mountains on one side and the Valley of Roses on the other.

We descend into that valley for lunch in Kazanlak, then visit a replica of one of the region's UNESCO-listed Thracian tombs — the original 4th-century BC burial chamber is preserved intact nearby, and the replica lets visitors see its remarkable painted interior up close. Kazanlak is also the heart of Bulgaria's centuries-old rose oil industry, and the local Rose Museum explains how the Valley of Roses still produces a large share of the world's rose oil today.