Lepenitsa Cave — Attraction in Rakitovo

The cave is amazing, one of a kind. Few tips before visiting: Call in advance - there is only one person up there so you would want to schedule beforehand, rather than counting on sheer luck Getting there is hard. The road is not as good. The asphalt ends on 2km from the cave and there is mainly rocks. If you have an off-road car - great! Go ahead! If you have a smaller car - be cautious. I managed to get on 200m from the cave with my Peugeot 207 2006year, but it was hard. If you continue by foot on the 2km point, be cautious of the dogs that are keeping just few meters ahead. They seem like they are doing great guard job and you wouldn't want to mess with them. There are some hourses left to roam, as well as cows - be weary of them too. These are not animals you can just go and pet! Get some rain boots for yourself - I have larger leg so their boots didn't really fit my calves but we managed to find some Wear something you won't regret having some mud on it - the cave is really muddy inside so be prepared You can take your own heavy duty helmet and headlight, but if you don't have any - they do. Prices aren't as bad, we went to 250m which was easy and you don't need to be very fit for that trace, however, the 600 is where the real breathtaking views are. That one is harder to get to - there will be some climbing. I highly recommend to NOT visit with small children, especially under 10-12. Its easy to slip in the cave, the path to it is not...

Absolutely fabulous.

Bulgaria keeps surprising us with stunning, unheralded attractions and this is the best so far. You drive into the middle of nowhere, walk 2km further up a (delightful) wooded track to a little shed on the side of the hill where, without fuss, they issue you with gumboots and a hard hat with a helmet torch, and basically say “all right, follow me,” only in Bulgarian. They don't speak much English!

The tour takes about an hour and a half, and you have the option of going only 400m or going the full 600m, which is a bit more hair-raising but unless you are of unusually delicate condition you can and absolutely should do the whole thing. There are a couple of ropes you need to shimmy down to navigate slippery slopes, but all totally doable, no experience required.

You will get muddy, you will crawl like a primordial fish, you wil bumshuffle through narrow cracks, you will bang your behelmed bonce on several stalactites, but all totally worthwhile for these remarkable, beautiful, alien landscapes within. It is pitch black, dead silent (turning off your helmets lights is amazing!) and feels like a massive extension of an HR Giger set for an Alien movie. Big wow factor.

And all this for about 15 quid each. Unbelievable.

TLDR: take old clothes and expect to get muddy. Take a camera. Take a sense of adventure. Don't expect a health and safety...

I was so excited to finally experience that cave (it was closed last time I was in BG). I especially drove 2 hours to get there, "enjoyed" the muddy, pot holed really bad last 2 kilometers to find a really nice guy at the entrance to the cave. He spoke no english and wifi is gone once you turn left to the cave (7km) so Google translate works partially. After trying to communicate, figuring out if I can take the tour it seemed it's not going to happen. Not sure of the reasoning, maybe he felt uncomfortable giving the tour to a woman by herself or it just wasn't financially worth it. I left very very disappointed knowing I won't be able to come back again anytime soon. I did call to ask if it's open before making the long drive, nowhere on the sign is there a minimum required to take the tour. He was nice and gave me the key to open the loce and walk a bit inside the cave. It was dark, muddy, wet and just eery walking there by myself, also not really safe as I don't know the cave and can easily slip and hurt myself. No wifi, bathrooms available, fresh fountain water available. It's possible to park at the small village just before the road gets very bumpy and walk about 45 min. on an easy forest path. If you have a low car or a rental or both (I did) lol! it might be a...