Food and Culture Tour Veliko Tarnovo

Experience Veliko Tarnovov’s culinary world through its diverse neighborhoods and charming small streets. Along the way, pop into lively markets, specialty shops, and cafes to sample the best of artisan Bulgarian cuisine like local cheese and cured meat and Bulgarian salami - Lukanka, homemade bread with Bulgarian vegetable relish - Lutenitsa, Kebapche - like a skinless sausage - and traditional salad, street-food snacks, and experience what Banitsa taste like with Airyan or Boza, taste local craft beer and wine. Enrich your cultural and culinary world from the suburbs, through the modern urban area, to old Tarnovo. End your experience with captivating sweet flavors dating back to the centuries.

Оne of the most picturesque streets of the Renaissance town, with many renovated old houses built in the XVIII-XIX centuries. They are in a cluttered mess, stacked on top of one another, but in their amphitheater location, they all look at the large meanders of the Yantra River, Boruna with the monument of Asenevtsi and the Stambolov Bridge. The street is an embodiment of the romance and beauty of the old Turnovo. At the western end of the street are one of the oldest taverns of the town The Quiet Corner Tavern near the monument of Ivan Panov Semerdzhiev, and at its eastern end it reaches the Sarafkin House Museum and the monument of Hristo Ivanov - the Great under the temple "St. Constantine and Helena ”..

Meet your local guide at a desired place and set your feet through the heart of the city while learning the stories of the local architecture and history. While we were introduced to the stories, we will end up seamlessly in the colorful scents of the central market. It offers a wide range of fruits and vegetables, honey, marinades and is dotted with small local taverns where marketers eat. Here they sell homemade wines and brandy under the counter, which they hide from an unknown eye, because it is forbidden to sell them without a license. Don’t worry, we will taste some. At that unique place we will find out what the locals eat, especially in the morning, while hurrying to work - Banitsa is a delicious local pastry filled with eggs and cheese and it goes pretty well with sweet drink Boza or sour Аirya.

Next, we’ll enter indoor a small shop where locals buy home-made bread. Here is the time to try the bread with Bulgarian ketchup, also known as Lutenitsa. Lutenitsa is a vegetable relish or chutney and it goes really well together with a typical Bulgarian white cheese and parsley. Here we will also try a plateau of Bulgarian cheeses with a glass of wine or beer.

With full eyes and a sharp palate, we embark on public transport and head for Buzludzha Market. The market is located in the largest quarter of Veliko Tarnovo with the same name. The old name of the neighborhood is Pishmana and is associated with a legend from the Ottoman invasion. It is a typical example of the construction and architecture of the totalitarian machine under communism, with typical panel blocks, built in months, that housed thousands of people. The market is the heart of the neighborhood and here it has everything needed to keep the locals staying in the neighborhood for months. Here you will taste a variety of street food such as corn with cheese, katma and sample local wine, which the local residents take home in large bottles.

We hop on again on the bus and head towards the old part of the city to explore the Bulgaria’s 19th-century National Revival beauty with its Ottoman style houses, Orthodox churches and modernist monuments. Here we will find off the beaten path restaurant/tavern, where we can enjoy a delicious Bulgarian salad and a traditional Bulgarian brandy - Rakia. Every self-respecting Bulgarian drinks that brandy in small sips while having a salad or cured meat. The same Bulgarian should have in his house a home-made brandy made by his father, his grandfather or by himself. And there must be a bottle of brandy for uninvited guests. Here we will add and a plateau of sliced cured meat, salami and ‘’kebapche’’ (a type of skinless sausage) with a glass of wine or beer.

The tour would not be complete without trying a local dessert. We will find ourselves visiting a small pastry shop stocked with typical Bulgarian sweets like Gabrovski chocolate, Sweet Kiss or Halva, which goes with a coffee heated in a sand. If you prefer different, we can always jump for a strong espresso with a baklava sweet.

• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
• Please notify at least 24 hours in advance as to whether you have any food allergies, sensitivities, or other dietary needs, such as vegetarian/vegan or gluten intolerant.

• Food and Culture Tour Veliko Tarnovo
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• This Tour is Provided by Veliko Tarnovo Day Tours.
• Tour Timezone & Starts at Europe/Sofia.
• Mobile or paper ticket accepted.
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
• Minimum 1 Travelers is required to book.
• Maximum 12 Travelers is accepted for booking.