Penguin Travel Launches “Day Tours From Sofia,” Putting Riders in the Saddle of the Balkan Mountains in Under an Hour
SOFIA, Bulgaria – June 17, 2026 – Penguin Travel, the Danish-Bulgarian adventure tour operator founded in 1989, today launched Day Tours From Sofia, a new brand offering guided one-day trips from the Bulgarian capital into the surrounding mountains. The brand’s flagship product is a one-day horseriding tour through the wild Teteven stretch of the Balkan range, designed for travelers who land in Sofia and want to reach the country’s real landscapes without committing to a multi-day expedition.
The horseriding tour collects guests directly from their Sofia hotel in the morning and brings them back the same evening. In between, riders spend roughly four to five hours on mountain-trained horses, climbing forested trails and open ridges before reaching the dramatically perched medieval Glozhene Monastery — one of Bulgaria’s most striking cliffside retreats. Priced at €90 per person (minimum two guests), the day is led by a born-and-raised local guide who speaks fluent English and knows the trails the way most people know their neighborhood streets.
Crucially, the tour is built for beginners as well as experienced riders. The horses are calm, sure-footed, and used to guests of all levels, and each ride opens with time in the saddle to make sure first-timers are comfortable before heading onto the trails. Groups are deliberately kept small — typically no more than seven or eight guests — so the day moves at a human pace rather than a coach-tour schedule.
“Most visitors treat Sofia as a city break and never realize that some of Europe’s most underrated mountains start an hour from their hotel. With Day Tours From Sofia, we wanted to make that country reachable in a single day — and there’s no better way into these mountains than the way they were crossed for centuries, on horseback,” said Elena Georgieva, Penguin Travel.
Horseriding anchors the new brand, which also offers two further day tours from Sofia for travelers who prefer to explore on foot or through history: a one-day trek to the Seven Rila Lakes, a chain of glacial lakes high in the Rila Mountains, and a cultural day tour to Rila Monastery, the UNESCO-listed spiritual heart of Bulgaria. All tours include round-trip hotel transfers from Sofia, an English-speaking local guide, and the necessary equipment, with no rental cars or rural bus timetables to navigate. Private tours are available on request.
As a licensed tour operator with more than 37 years in the industry, Penguin Travel runs every Day Tours From Sofia trip with certified guides and a small-group model. Bookings are open now at daytoursfromsofia.com.
Media Contact
Company Name: Penguin Travel
Contact Person: John Webber
Email: Send Email
City: Sofia
Country: Bulgaria
Website: https://www.penguintravel.com/
