Seven Rila Lakes Hike, Bulgaria: The Definitive Guide [2026]

Bulgaria is made for hiking… in fact, more than 20% of the country is covered in mountains, making a good hike rarely far away. As a big lover of the mountains, that was exactly why I chose to live in Sofia of all places: I loved the constant view of Mount Vitosha, towering 2,290 meters above the city of Sofia, yet just an easy 45-minute drive to the summit.

While Mt. Vitosha is definitely the closest mountain to Sofia (as it’s quite literally part of the city), it’s not my favorite day hike from Sofia… sorry, Vitosha, but another mountain stole my heart. And it’s so beautiful that I can’t really be properly sorry.

That honor belongs to one of Bulgaria’s best hikes in general: the Seven Rila Lakes hike. This trail reminded me of one of my other favorite hikes in the Balkans, Bobotov Kuk in Montenegro. Thankfully, it’s a lot easier, despite reaching similar altitudes.

I did the Rila Lakes hike twice: once before I lived in Sofia, once purely as a hiking day trip while I was visiting, and another time on August 19, out of curiosity, to see the day when the followers of Peter Dunov — a spiritual guru who may or may not be a cult leader — did their paneurhythmy ritual. With everyone clad in all-white, it gives Midsommar, if you know what I mean. Anyway: on any non-August 19 day, it’s a perfectly normal hike.

You’ll wind your way past, you guessed it, seven incredible lakes — ranging in ombré shades of cerulean, turquoise, teal, and deep ocean blue, depending on the light hitting the lakes and the depth of each lake.

As you wind your way past each lake, eventually you’ll reach the summit point where you can finally see all seven Rila Lakes laid out below you, counting each one like a beautiful gem. And the best part is that you can get this postcard-quality view on a relatively easy day trip from Sofia.

While it’s certainly not exactly a stroll in the park, it’s very doable for beginner hikers. When I lived in Sofia, I have to admit I was not at my peak of health. I was an on-again, off-again smoker and didn’t exercise regularly.

For me, the Seven Rila Lakes hike was pretty easy for me to accomplish. I did have to stop to catch my breath on some uphill parts, but other than that, it was pretty achievable, hard but not too hard so that I could feel good about myself for having finished the hike.

The Seven Rila Lakes hike is one of the most famous in Bulgaria for a reason — and yes, it absolutely deserves a spot on your bucket list.

The Rila Lakes Hike Experience

While the Rila Mountains are jam-packed with glacial lakes, this is the hike with the best effort-to-reward ratio. For up-to-date reports on the trail, I suggest reviewing the most recent reviews on AllTrails, as that has lots of users making regular updates. Note that AllTrails has it listed as a hard hike, but in my opinion, it’s better classified as moderate.

To get to the Rila Lakes trail, you’ll first make your way to the spa town of Sapareva Banya (about a 90-minute drive from Sofia) and then make your way to the chairlift in Panichiste (Google Map link here) that will bring you the Seven Rila Lakes trail. You’ll want to arrive as early as possible to avoid the lines, which are especially bad on weekends.

When I lived in Sofia and went to the Rila Lakes, the chairlift cost 30 BGN return, which was equivalent to €15. As of January 2026, the cost is €16 return for adults and half-price for kids.

The chairlift should take credit cards…. but should and does don’t always overlap in Bulgaria, especially when shoddy mountain reception is in the mix. Definitely bring enough cash to cover yourself and pay for any odds and ends.

Once you reach the top of the chairlift, you’ll find signs that easily orient you towards the main trail. This is a 8.4 kilometer (5.2 mile) loop trail that makes a circuit around seven incredibly photogenic alpine lakes.

It takes about 3-5 hours to complete depending on your speed and photography obsession. I was nearer to the 5 hour end of that spectrum, partly due to being out of breath and partly due to my desire to photograph everything.

The first lake you’ll reach is the (imaginatively named) Lower Lake, sitting right near the chairlift drop-off point at a height of 2,095 meters (6,873 feet).

From there, the trail gently climbs past Fish Lake, the shallowest of the bunch (making for some really interesting colors), followed by Trefoil Lake, named for its clover-like shape that gives it interesting, squiggly borders.

Next comes The Twin (also nicknamed Gemini), the largest lake, which looks almost like two mirror images, stitched together into one by only the narrowest of connecting streams.

After that, you’ll reach The Kidney, which is not only accurately named but also one of the best picnic spots on the hike — flat, scenic, and a natural breather before the final climb.

From here, the trail pushes upward toward the last two lakes: The Eye, the deepest lake in the group at around 37.5 meters (123 feet), and The Tear, the highest point of the hike at 2,535 meters (8,317 feet).

Even though the total elevation gain of this hike is only about 500 meters (1,640 feet), the views really amplify the effect of your efforts!

Getting to the Rila Lakes Trail

By Tour

For most travelers to Sofia, a guided tour will be the most logical, hassle-free, and safe way of doing the 7 Rila Lakes hike, and there are lots of options.

You can do a tour that is strictly the Rila Lakes hike or you can do a tour that combines both the Rila Lakes and Rila Monastery. However, note that doing both in one day likely means that you might not have the chance to complete the Rila Lakes hike (it is possible the tour will only give you time to see 5 out of the 7 hikes, skipping the last two, which have the most elevation gain).

This is the tour I recommend if you just want to hike and have a day trip focused on completing the full hike. It’s a 10-hour tour, but note that this tour runs only on weekends until May (because the high altitude makes it covered in snow for most of the year). From June through September, the tour runs every day. Note that the chairlift fee of €16 is not included in the tour price; bring cash.

If you want to visit both Rila Lakes and Rila Monastery in one day, it’s very possible to do so, but note that it is a long day (13 hours) and it is self-guided, just including transport. You will be given instructions on where to go and how long everything should take, but you’ll be on your own to do so. This is the tour I recommend, as it should give you enough time to do the full Rila Lakes hike (6 hour stop at Rila).

There is another tour that is shorter (12 hours, with 5 hours dedicated to the Rila Lakes), which should be enough time to do the entire loop trail if you stay on task. You can select between no guide and a guided option for an additional fee.

By Car

Driving to the chairlift in Panichiste is the easiest way to get to the Rila Lakes hike from Sofia, especially if you already have a car rented and are planning to road trip around Bulgaria. This is how I visited the Rila Lakes both times I was in Bulgaria, as I either had my own car or was traveling with friends who had a car.

If you are renting a car just for this trip, I recommend picking it up the night before, as you want to arrive at the lower chairlift level as early as possible, especially on a weekend, as lines can become overwhelmingly long closer to noon.

The drive is only about two hours from Sofia. For the most part, you’ll be driving along recently-repaved highway roads, except for the last stretch into the mountains to reach the chairlift.

To get there, you’ll generally get to the A3 then take Route 1. Exit onto Route 62, then take 6204 then 6206 to get to the chairlift. Here is the destination on Google Maps that you can input for GPS directions.

Before we owned a car when my ex and I lived in Sofia, we’d often rent a car from the Sofia Airport through Discover Cars to make sure we had something reserved and set aside for us.

Prices typically start around €11 per day, plus insurance, usually about €20 a day. Get the insurance… trust me. Road conditions in Bulgaria go from “this is fine” to “this is fine” [dog sipping coffee as room burns around him meme] very fast.

Check rental car availability here!

By Public Transportation

Despite living in Bulgaria and speaking mildly-conversational Bulgarian, I never took public transit to and from the Seven Rila Lakes trail area. Buses and trains in Sofia are great at connecting large cities (like Sofia and Plovdiv, or Sofia to the Black Sea cities of Burgas or Varna). But for smaller places, the buses quickly become very unreliable.

If you were to try to get to the Rila Lakes by public transit, you’d want to start with getting a bus to Dupnitsa via the Sofia Serdika bus station (main bus station in town). This takes about 2 hours, and the earliest bus departs at 7:10 PM.

The bus company that runs this route is one of the more well-known and reliable bus companies in Bulgaria, Юнион Ивкони, or Union Ivkoni. To find Dupnitsa, you may need to look for the Cyrillic spelling, Дупница. However, that only gets you part of the way there.

You can then take a taxi directly up to the 7 Rila Lakes Chairlift (be prepared to negotiate with stubborn taxi drivers) or take a shuttle to Sapareva Banya and then taxi for a little bit of a cheaper price.

Staying Overnight at the Rila Lakes

If you want to stay overnight in the mountains, you can camp in designated areas or book into the Rila Lakes Lodge, which has been recently restored, up in Rila National Park close to where the chairlift drops you off.

You can also stay below the lakes, near the chairlift in Panichiste or in one of the beautiful spa hotels of Sapareva Banya, one of Bulgaria’s hot spring towns.

⭐ Recommendations in Panichiste: 103 Alpine (luxury) or Hotel Panorama (mid-range)

⭐ Recommendations in Sapareva Banya: 103 Degrees Hotel & Spa (spa resort) or Sveti Nicola Family Hotel (mid-range guesthouse)

Chairlift Opening Times and Closures

If you’re not prepared, you can find yourself arriving at the Rila Lakes… only to find the chairlift closed, and no alternative way to get up to the trail. This is definitely a buzzkill.

While some unpredictable closures can occur, here are the definite ones: the last Monday of every month, the lift is closed for routine maintenance.

Also, there are two longer maintenance periods each year, one in fall and one in spring. The spring one typically is around mid-April or early May, for about two weeks. The other shutdown is typically in October, also lasting about two weeks. You can check the official website here to see if they have updated the information if you are traveling during those periods.

Hours tend to shift depending on the season. For the winter period, the hours are from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM on every day except Monday, when the chairlift starts at 12:30. In the summer hours, the chairlift usually is open one hour later.

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016, visiting 75+ countries in total. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. As a former educator, she merges her writing and educational experience to encourage ethical, sustainable travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and TBEX. Her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. When she’s not on the road, she lives in Bangkok, Thailand.