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Jewish History & Heritage Tours

The first evidence that Jews lived in what is now Bulgaria dates from at least 500 years before the first Bulgarian state was actually founded (681). And they would play a significant role in the development of the Bulgarian state and religion, and become an integral part of the Bulgarian cultural and intellectual life, over the centuries to come, through the Middle Ages to 1878, in Independent Bulgaria, the World War II, and still do nowadays.

At Bulgaria-Jewish-Tours we are committed to offering you up-to-date information on our high-quality Jewish tours – in Bulgaria or combined with Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece or Turkey… Picturesque corner of Europe, the Balkans are a fascinating place with great history and culture.

Bulgaria-Jewish-Tours aims to create for our guests with an interest in Jewish history in Bulgaria and the Balkans custom tours designed to be the journey through both territory and time: illuminating the historical backgrounds while directing the tourists along the itinerary, opening up gateways to a rich and fascinating, but largely forgotten, part of Europe’s Jewish heritage.

About

What you get

Bulgarian tour operator, Bulgaria-Jewish-Tours offers best-in-class tailor-made tours. On our deluxe Jewish tours you will learn about the cultural heritage of the Bulgarian Jews, Sephardic and Ashkenazis, the long history behind notable Jewish families, prominent people such as Sarah-Theodora, the Jewish-born queen in mediaeval Bulgaria, the first Chief Rabbi Gabriel Almosino, Col Moreno Grasiani – a Balkan War hero, the born in Bulgaria Elias Canetti – the only Bulgarian to have won the Nobel Prize, Jules Pascin, known as “the Prince of Montparnasse from Vidin” – a world-known painter, etc.

You will also learn about the important role of the Jewish community in forming over the course of many centuries the roots of the religious tolerance of the people here, and find out why Bulgarians are proud with saving the country’s Jewish population from extinction during World War II.

You will visit places that have once had sizeable Jewish community, and have become a place of pilgrimage for Jewish travelers.

Highlights include visits to the largest Sephardic Synagogue in Europe, with the only Jewish museum in Bulgaria, to Arie’s House in the small town of Samokov, and to the Synagogue in Plovdiv.

Tours

What we offer

Our Jewish tours are designed to provide you with the special holiday experience of your dreams, at a fair price. For groups or individual travelers, our programs are specifically tailored to meet our clients’ interests as well as their budget.

Our focus is on providing personalized tourist services with no hidden costs. We offer customizable tours which are guaranteed to run on a minimum of two travelers. They can vary in length and can be designed to meet your needs.

We give special taste to our tours by adding sampling of delicious Bulgarian wines and local cuisine temptations, visits to art galleries, symphony concerts, opera performances or private concerts.

The tours are based on extensive research refined through travel feedback from our clients.

Our comprehensive travel packages are designed with special care taking attention to details:

Day tours – sightseeing in Sofia and Plovdiv. Visits to sacred Jewish heritage places such as synagogues, memorials and monuments.

Short tours – custom designed two-to-four-day tours, which are popular for visitors who have decided to learn more about Bulgaria, extending their stay after the business deals or while traveling to our neighboring countries. They are an opportunity to plan the days schedule in advance.

Weekend getaways – a perfect choice for clients that wish to attend the Shabbat services at Sofia Synagogue and meet with the Jewish community. Short tours with the best combination of cultural heritage and relax.

Multi-day tours – carefully designed week-long tours, including the most famous Jewish heritage sites throughout Bulgaria – synagogues, neighborhoods, memorials and monuments as well as monasteries, heritage sites under UNESCO protection, wine-tasting, culinary. A combination of culture and nature gives an additional pleasure to our tours.

Multi-country tours – variety of creative tours to known and unknown cultural and historical places on the Balkan Peninsula, including UNESCO heritage sites, stunning landscapes, excellent wine and cuisine. Hot destinations – Romania and Macedonia. Save time, money and stress.

We create meaningful itineraries for our enriching Jewish tours in different destinations. We look forward to having you explore Bulgaria or the Balkans, and experience the advantages on a tour with us.

Tour Reservations and Enquiries

Tour operators, travel agencies or corporate clients, please, ask tour details or email us.

If you are private traveler(s), please, click here or email us.

Contact

Contact form

Please provide your name, city and country of residence.

We respect privacy and do not sell, rent or divulge any information about our customers and partners.



Technical reasons beyond our control may prevent either party from receiving some email messages. If you don’t receive our reply within two business days, please give us a phone call or fax.

You may find sending your tour enquiry easier from the links below:

If you are private traveler(s), please, click here.

Tour operators, travel agencies or corporate clients, click here.

Our highly professional staff can tailor for you various finest cultural tours and discuss the different possibilities to suit your individual requirements. Whatever custom designed tour package you choose, you’ll benefit from a range of special extras. Special discounts for six and more travelers.

Testimonials

What they say about us

Bulgaria-Jewish-Tours is committed to delivering excellent customer service to travelers to Bulgaria. We are dedicated and specialized to provide luxury Jewish history & heritage tour packages guaranteeing you the best value for your money.


 

Dear Alexandra,

My wife and I hope you still remember us,Yael and Alex Weisberg from Haifa, Israel. We took a tour with your Company last May. We want to send you our best wishes for the new year 2010.

We remember our tour as one of the finest we ever had (and we have made many visits to various countries) not just because of the interesting and beautiful places but mostly owing to your outstanding treatment of us. Please forward our greetings to Tanya and to our driver Stefan. With best regards,

Yael and Alex WeisbergHaifa, Israel

Dear Alexandra,

So sorry for the delay in corresponding with you. We arrived home toward the end of Sept. after a very nice long cruise. And it took until now to get organized after such a long time away.

We want to thank you for arranging such a wonderful tour. We are raving about it to all our friends. Everything you arranged worked out wonderfully. Boris our guide and Kotse our driver were outstanding. We did not realize what a lovely country Bulgaria is. We especially enjoyed the archeological sites. We especially like having dinner with you and your husband the first and last nights. Delightful.

I have tried to post on Trip Advisor but they don’t have a touring section. I have written to them to find out how I can post it. If not, I will find a way. Also, did you receive the magazine ITN (International Travel News)? I will write to them also. Please feel free to use anything I have written. And if anyone should want to contact me, that is fine. I believe you have my telephone numbers as well as my e-mail.

Again, many thanks for arranging such a personalized and delightful tour. With best regards to you and your husband,

Helen and Leo WolkowChicago, USA

Dear Alexandra,

I looked through the comments from passengers and they certainly seemed to enjoy the tour to Romania and Bulgaria.

Overall it was a big success and we will not hesitate to use your services in the future. We need to find more enthusiastic hosts like Vic and Suzanne or perhaps send someone from our staff to experience your beautiful country first hand. Thank you for your excellent co-operation.

Best regards,

David

David, Manager, Tourist companyCanada

I would like to tell about a most enjoyable experience my wife and I had last May. We were checking alternatives for an organized private tour of Bulgaria and after evaluating the possibilities we decided on ALTOURS.BG. We made contact with Mrs.Alexandra Dimitrova the owner and manager of the company. We chose an eight day tour and in addition we wanted several days in Sofia on our own.

The treatment we received from Mrs.Dimitrova was over and above our expectations. All was excellently organized and all went smoothly. For the tour we had a comfortable car with an experienced and careful driver, a first class guide (English speaking) who spared no effort to make our tour as pleasing as can be. The Program was flexible which allowed for some modifications according to request.The sites and sights were beautiful and interesting, the choice of hotels outside Sofia and the one in Sofia was very good. We received personal attention and assistance also in matters not included in the Agreement between us (for example-Mrs.Dimitrova heard us expressing interest in the opera so, on her own accord, she checked whether there was a performance during our stay and went to the trouble to get us tickets).

Thanks to the warm treatment, the efficient organization, and the beauty of Bulgaria, we enjoyed an unforgettable experience.

Thank you Alexandra.

Yael and Alex WeisbergHaifa, Israel

Hi Alexandra,

Happy holidays to you, your family and the terrific team who looked after us and made our visit to Bulgaria enjoyable and unforgettable! … Well planned tour with many personal touches! Special commendation for our guide Antoinette. Simeon, our driver is more than just a driver – helpful and considerate.

Thank you Alexandra.

Haim Sheer, party leader, ISRAELISRAEL