Snowshoeing in Eastern Europe

USA Today, By Josh Roberts, SmarterTravel.com, 24th August 2006

Snowshoeing in Eastern Europe

I've become a big fan of Explore trips since my recent Icelandic volcano trek with the budget adventure outfitter. One of my fellow hikers on that trip, Robert Metcalf, put me on the trail of this other Explore gem: a five-day guided snowshoeing adventure in Bulgaria.

With Bulgaria's trackless Rila Mountains as a backdrop, this trip allows you to visit traditional Bulgarian houses, stop at the painted monastery of Rila — a UNESCO World Heritage site — and eases you into snowshoeing with instruction that should take "just a few minutes to master."

"Our guides led us through dense pine forests on narrow trails with no sign of foot prints. We crossed mountain tops and descended to villages," says Metcalf. "All really beautiful with several feet of new snow and on some days, huge snowflakes floating all around us. On the mountain tops we would stop for lunch at log huts with soup and warm up in front of a log burner. The scenery was fantastic and the experience of trekking on deep snow in forests was very special."

"I went with some friends from work and really we were after a short break that was a little different and something to mark the new year. Snowshoeing sounded like a great idea (as I don't ski and have injured knees) so was a good compromise with trekking and skiing. I liked the idea of Bulgaria as being a little different and hoped it to be uncommercialized and unspoiled — which turned out to be true."

The five-day winter escape starts at $590 plus a small local payment.


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