Lift to the 7 Rila Lakes — Attraction in Sapareva Bania

It is must,if you wish to explore the very beautiful Rila lakes for all the ordinary travelers. It does not mean you can not explore rila lakes without lift, then you must be extraordinary skills for tracking or some VIP for other options. But the problem with lift is that it is running continuously and does not stop for passengers . It means you have to ride and get up at your station from running lift. It may be dangerous for people, specially for old age and children. Even young people need to be very careful. There are staff member for your help at both ends. There is also gap between two trolleys to manage the time for get up and ride. There are more than 150 trolleys, which are continuously running. I think it is old or cost saving lift because no gates or roof to protect you. Only simple bench and for safety only one rode in front of you, which you have to put down in front of you in running lift for safety. Apart of it you yourself have to lift the rode with your legs at the station for getup. You have to manage the timing for that. I expect more security features and upgrades considering the modern time. It is very difficult during rain and when wind speed is high. You have to pay 25 BGN for round trip for one person. So it is not cheap either. But iit is good experience other than during entry and exit time. It takes around 20 minutes for one way trip. So you are in open air for 20 minutes, woh ! Good experience. Apart of it you forget all problems when you see very beautiful lakes. You have to track a lot after lift also. I think it would be better, it it is extended upto first lake. May be in future, it will be upgraded and extended, uphill then enjoy this...

Today I got blackmailed by one of the guys running the lower cable platforms. I lost my car key during the climb of the mountains, and sadly I didn’t know where i lost it. Thus I have asked every people working there whether anyone had found the key. Didn’t have much luck at first, and I lost hope and started calling the rental car company for the possible solutions. After a while, one guy working on the platform turned out, and he asked me to pay 50 euros for the key. I didn’t understand at first but I found someone who can speak English and he explained that what the guy wanted. And he didn’t even show me the key until I asked the translator to explain that all my money is in the car. At the end, I paid him 60 usd as I don’t have euros. But later it just occurred to me what a horrible person he is (not to mention he works there as an employee) by taking advantage of the tourist who was worried as hell at that moment. I guess some other tourist must have found the key and turned it in. If he just gave it to me, I would pay him (as tip). I probably should have called the police instead of paying him.

Other than that, the whole trip was pleasant, the lift saved a lot of the efforts to the top, and the view is...

I’m rating the lift itself, not the park. Well, the logistics are very bad. Plus, Bulgarians have no discipline and absolutely no respect for queues… which makes everything worse. If you arrive 9am on a weekend, you’ll stay 3 hours in queue. Literally, we were only able to reach the lift at 12pm.

Experience: it all starts with one line, then it split into two (the same line… nuts). One of those lines is for buying a ticket, the other one for the lift. In practice, what happens is: 1) families split and one person goes to the ticket line (fine); 2) people go to the ticket queue, buy it, and merge wherever they want in the other line (usually much ahead than they were).

The consequence: if you’re honest, like we were, you will stay 3 hours in line. See for yourself the pictures, nuts. Also, you can’t buy online… because why create something better, right?

We went on a weekend in August. The round trip cost 30 lev. We took the lift back at 7pm (it was a 1 hour queue to go back).

PS: you could walk up there, but the elevation is like 600m or something. It...