The Great Balkans Road Trip: Bucharest to Veliko Tarnovo (Day 2)

If you missed how I got here, you can read about Day 1 here. This is the second of 13 posts in The Great Balkans Road Trip series. I’m doing a circular tour with a travel company called Just You, for solo travellers (my partner, Lee, not being a keen flyer), taking me from Romania through Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia and back through Romania. This blog includes affiliate links to help support my writing.

This was the first full day of the Balkan Explorer trip. We’d landed in Bucharest last night – after two full days travelling for me – and I was looking forward to spending some time in one place today. But no! This isn’t that sort of holiday at all. I’d be living out of a suitcase for the next two weeks. Having only checked into our hotel in Bucharest last night, we’d be checking into another hotel in another country tonight. Every day would be a full day of travelling and indulging in new cultures with a group of people I only met yesterday. So let’s see what today has in store…

Park Inn by Radisson Bucharest

I had a great night’s sleep and woke organically before my alarm with the sun shining through the curtains. I showered and then it was time to navigate my way to breakfast. I’m not always hungry first thing in the morning but I knew I needed to take advantage of every eating opportunity on this holiday – especially ones where I was able to make healthy food choices.

I was cheered on my walk to the breakfast room by these signs.

Having not written anything in over a year, it was here where my artistic seeds began to germinate. I’ve been re-reading The Artists Way by Julia Cameron to nurture my inner artist and this holiday was to prove the best environment for that. It’s clearly working, as here I am embarking on a 13-part blog series.

I was already taking notes and photographs to document my holiday but now my brain was in full-on observation mode and beginning to craft stories. You’ll find these as you read on.

Meanwhile breakfast.

As SlimmingWorld goes, that’s a pretty good start to the day. I’ve never been one of those who has cake for breakfast just because it’s there. I’m well-trained enough to cut the fat off the bacon, I wasn’t fussed about the potatoes potentially being cooked in oil as we’re now allowed a healthy fats allowance, and the yoghurt was low fat as opposed to fat free, but I could live with all of that. Plus I was on holiday so not stressing about anything. This was eating well. I was logging all my swips (formerly known as syns) and, sure, my count was pretty high every day, but I had no intention of letting my food choices dominate my holiday; I would simply eat as well as I could without depriving myself and enjoy the local cuisine.

You might remember from Day 1 that not all of the luggage arrived in Bucharest with us. Over breakfast I learned that this had arrived safely on the overnight flight from Heathrow and been despatched outside our hotel at 0600, the taxi driver clearly not having the inclination to lug several pieces of heavy luggage up the steps into the hotel reception. Nonetheless, my companions were happy to be reunited with their luggage in time to freshen up for the day ahead.

Breakfast duly scoffed, I headed back up to my room, repacked my toiletries and headed to the solitary lift in good time for checkout.

What is Bucharest Like?

I climbed onto the bus and took a seat at the front. This offered me a good view of the chaotic but effective traffic system in Bucharest. There were lots of lanes, hugely confusing junctions and seemingly no roundabouts – but it somehow worked, through a system of defensive driving and cars just taking their chances jutting into the lane they wanted to be in. And there was no tooting – it was just how it was. You wouldn’t get me driving in that (or anywhere actually) but I suppose it’s something you’d get used to.

I spotted my giraffe again and wished I was sitting next to the person who saw the dinosaur so I could prove I wasn’t making it up. That’s the trouble with hot-seating on the bus – not having one companion to share my stories with (and indeed forgetting who I had had specific conversations with). Anyway perhaps they’re reading this blog, which solves all of those issues.

Our guide talked us through what we were seeing as we drove through Bucharest. I’m not one for taking photos out of bus windows when better images can be found online so here’s the Icarus-inspired memorial statue for pilots who died in the war.

There was a lot of flag chat on this holiday, as the significance of the various nations’ flags were explained to us. Our guide explained that the three colours on the Romanian flag symbolise freedom, fairness and brotherhood.

I noticed a lot of advertising boards on this holiday but my favourite one was here in Bucharest. It was a Snickers advert, depicting a hungry footballer as a tiger. I do get hangry when I’ve not eaten, hence stocking up on breakfast today, not knowing exactly when or what my next meal was going to be. It wouldn’t do to be roaring at companions I was to be in close proximity with for the next two weeks.

This statue of King Carol has an interesting story. The original bronze statue was melted down and recast into a statue of Lenin. This was subsequently replaced by this replica of the original.

We moved on to Revolution Square, where our guide told us the story of the downfall of communist dictator Nikolae Ceauşescu. Here, in 1989, as he gave a speech, the crowd turned against Ceauşescu after years of suffering. He and his wife escaped by helicopter but, as they fled to safety, he was deposed and the army forced his helicopter to land. The Ceauşescus were captured and, after a short trial, executed on Christmas Day – broadcast on TV.

I’ve found this video showing the BBC’s reporting of the execution of the Ceauşescus. This includes a trailer for 80s sitcom Birds of a Feather, cartoons on Romanian TV and Christmas celebrations, so it’s quite a complex emotional piece that is perhaps worthy of academic analysis.

The reporting by Western (and local) media on what’s happening in the Balkans was to pop up next week when I was to find myself in the middle of a huge demonstration against the Government in Belgrade, but we’ve got another three countries to visit before we get there.

I’m glad this statue was explained to me because I wouldn’t have had a clue. Apparently the white pillar represents the Romanian people reaching for the skies and piercing through the dark cloud of communism.

Our guide pointed out a balcony where Michael Jackson had greeted a crowd of 90,000 fans with the words ‘Hello Budapest!’. It’s easily done on these travels. I heard members of our group talking about our trips to not only Budapest (Bucharest) but also Siberia (Serbia). Since then, someone has drawn Chechnya (Czechia) in our World Cup sweep. So it’s not only the Americans who struggle with European geography (although more of that later).

As members of our party were taking photos of nice buildings we saw, someone remarked that they didn’t know why they bothered taking photos, as they could never remember what they were when they looked at the photos afterwards.

‘That’s what Google Lens is for!’ I quipped.

I don’t normally take photos on hols myself for the exact same reason but Google Lens is a godsend in this regard. I can therefore tell you that this is the Romanian Athaneum (a concert hall). I can also show you more of Bucharest in this way.

This is the Palace of the Parliament and we’ll be back there on Day 13. Fun fact: it’s the world’s heaviest building.

This is the Stavropoleos Monastery in the Old Town. I took a quick look inside which was all very nice but it was a small building and there were 32 of us so I stepped straight back out again. That’s one disadvantage of travelling with a ready-made crowd. I realised on this holiday that I don’t like being enclosed within a crowd of people – not even outdoors, let alone in small rooms. I tended to gravitate towards the periphery of the group – or, at times, away from them completely. It’s an instinctive thing. I wonder if that’s part of the reason why I don’t go to football any more. I never did feel comfortable in crowds, which was less of a problem when Blackpool had small attendances, but became a big problem for me in the Premier League and at post-COVID away games.

Anyway my role as IT consultant was formalised today, as our guide asked me to set up a WhatsApp group for our 32-strong party. Apparently I’d been suggested as someone who might be good at that sort of thing, given that I was already responsible for getting my new dependent on WiFi in every hotel we visited (again, not a role I volunteered for but somehow acquired, which was fine). As the relative ‘baby of the group’ I was the token ‘ask the children to do it’ when it came to technology. Apparently there was ‘no rush’ to set up the WhatsApp group, which was just as well, as I’d never done this before and needed time to figure out how to do it. Happily, time was something we had a lot of on this holiday, with plenty of travelling, although I now had a new bus friend and was nattering to him, rendering today’s travelling untenable for such work. However, we were given free time for lunch in Bucharest today so it was time to head off on my own somewhere so I could figure it out.

Where’s good to eat in Bucharest?

Just before we were let loose and given our designated rendezvous point, we’d passed this place.

Old Habits Republic

Obvs there’s no way I’m NOT eating here. Yes it’s a gimmick but I love a gimmick and this place looked bursting to its fluffy seams with fun and quirkiness and joy and that’s just the sort of thing I love and want from a place I’m choosing to spend my time and money in (or sat outside of). And this is why planning trips in advance is all very well and good but sometimes bimbling is good – letting places such as this draw your eye and lure you in.

There was a friendly hostess standing outside to greet me. I requested a table in the shade (my low blood pressure not liking me being in heat) – and with a teddy bear. I wanted to sit facing the street so I could people-watch, which is a great pastime when eating (and drinking) alone.

I spotted a dead wasp on the table. My hostess gently picked it up by its wing and began addressing it.

‘I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened to you.’

I knew I was going to like this place. What a beautiful moment. I’d have just flicked it onto the floor without a thought.

I enquired about alcohol-free beer options and was met with profuse apologies that they’d just sold their last Carlsberg 0.0% and I was talked through the extensive range of drinks without alcohol, including mocktails, soft drinks and coffees. With SlimmingWorld in mind (although sadly no Paddington with me today – and he’d have loved it!), I opted for an Americano, followed by a Tropical No Sin Cocktail.

I asked about food and was told they weren’t serving food until 1200 (under half an hour away) and they only had pizza. Hmm. I’m not a fan of pizza. I’d mull this over while I drank my coffee.

Someone at the next table was smoking (an actual proper cigarette – none of this fruity vape nonsense) and I took a mindful inhalation as I relaxed into my seat. I gave up smoking 21 years ago but I still love the smell of a cigarette; it transports me back in time to my teens and 20s, as aromas do. I’ve since thought about smoking, wondering why it’s a thing, and it’s really just monetising deep breathing, isn’t it? For it’s the breathing that relaxes you, with no need for an actual cigarette or vape. For me these day it’s deep breathing with my palms raised, which not only relaxes me but it’s good for my health too.

I consulted with Copilot about how to set up a WhatsApp group and managed to get that sorted pretty quickly. Now I needed to make my decision about food. I really didn’t want to move on from this lovely place. By now, a party from our Just You group had been seated at a different table. I could have waved or gone to join them but I was enjoying this time alone. Not that I was alone, of course, with a giant teddy bear seated opposite me. I decided this place was so good I was going to have a pizza even though I don’t like pizza because I wanted to stay longer and give them my business.

Now on my last visit to Romania – back in 2017, I think – I was especially taken with the delicious tomatoes. Indeed, I’d been raving about Romanian tomatoes to anyone who would listen, as the thing I was looking forward to most about this holiday. Hmm but the pizza I wanted (Vegitariana – what a great word!) didn’t have tomatoes on it. But I just knew that, if I ordered off-menu here, I’d be accommodated; it was simply that sort of place (and that sort of country, it would turn out). Not only did that prove to be the case, but I was asked:

‘Do you want them cooked or fresh?’

I was baffled by that unexpected question. It had taken me long enough to decide what I wanted, without having to make another decision. I was in relaxed mode now I’d finished my IT training session and my brain was incapable of formulating an answer. I left the decision to my hostess.

I people-watched awhile, as I waited for my food. I noticed a couple of unusually tall people. I mentioned this to my new friends later (they had noticed this too). I was also provided with an unprompted fact (which I do like) that the Dutch and Montenigrins are the tallest people in the world. Perhaps the tall man was a visiting Montenigrin or maybe a local landmark, who knows?

‘Here we go love – enjoy!’

I was never going to eat all of this, not being a pizza eater, but I scoffed as much as I could, leaving the crusts. As pizzas go, it was pretty good.

Naturally, I wasn’t leaving a place as good as this without doing a #LooReview. I just knew it wouldn’t disappoint on this front – and of course I was right.

I was back in London! And that wasn’t the last big red bus I’d see on this holiday either, with plenty of them to be seen in Skopje.

I’d brought cash on this holiday (Romanian Lei and Euros) in case some places didn’t take card (I had struggled to use my Monzo in Albania, especially outside of Tirana). However, everywhere on this holiday seemed to take Monzo (top travel tip for you there, dear reader). But this meant I had cash to play with, so I took the opportunity to give my wonderful hostess a generous tip.

‘That’s a lot! Are you sure?’

Yes, I was sure. The service here could not have been better. It has been a beautiful experience for me. Sure, they had run out of AF beer and only had pizza, but the service, the teddy bears, the warmth, the whole experience was an absolute delight. Because, as I would come to learn on this holiday, it is people who make the biggest impression and impact on the visiting tourist. Coming from a top tourist destination myself (Blackpool), I know how important this is (and tourists are) – and how encounters with individuals can put one off returning to a place (see Whitby and Rotherham). As I mentioned above, the Romanians were lovely and, within a day of returning, I had fallen in love with the country (and its people) all over again.

Alas, dear reader, it was already time to leave – not only this restaurant, or even Bucharest, but Romania itself. For it was now time to head to Bulgaria for the next city and country on our whistle-stop tour of the Balkans. Thankfully, we’d be back in Romania next week and I was already looking forward to that. But now let’s turn to Bulgaria, for we must.

What’s the border crossing like from Romania to Bulgaria?

The border is around the River Danube and there are lots of dogs on the road as you approach border control, which made for pleasant viewing out the window of the tour bus while we waited for not very long to cross. Dogs will prove to be a highlight of this trip. This was the easiest border crossing of the trip and we were back on our way pretty quickly with no faff.

What are some facts about Bulgaria?

Now we’ve entered Bulgaria with no fuss, our guide is throwing us facts about Bulgaria to help pass the time.

The colours on the flag represent peace, prosperity and the blood of the heroes. That said, their revolution was bloodless (unlike the Romanian one detailed above) and there was a peaceful transition of power following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Bulgaria uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which was born of the disciples of Saint Cyril in the First Bulgarian Empire and adopted as the national language in the 893CE (or AD or whatevs).

Spartacus was from Bulgaria.

Bulgaria adopted the Euro as its currency at the start of 2026.

If a Bulgarian shakes their head from side to side they mean ‘yes’; and if they nod they mean ‘no’.

Bulgaria is a major producer of the Bulgarian Rose, also known as Damask or Damascena Rose, famous for its powerful scent. Many of our group made noises of recognition that of course they were aware of the Damascena Rose but horticulture isn’t my world (nor particularly scented products or perfumes) so I had been blissfully unaware. This doesn’t help me when I come to do crosswords though so it probably wouldn’t hurt to explore this world a bit more (indeed I did accidentally go on a nature walk about flowers recently, so I’m already adding to my knowledge).

We passed a road sign saying ‘Drive Safely Be Reasonable’ as we headed into our next stop of the tour: Veliko Tarnovo.

What is Veliko Tarnovo like?

Veliko Tarnovo translates as Big Tower. Being from Blackpool, I liked it already. It’s smaller than Blackpool but it’s technically a city – and an incredibly scenic and beautiful one at that. Take a look at these views.

I wasn’t messing about when we arrived here, checking in (much more efficiently than at the previous hotel), quickly dumping my suitcase, unpacking my toiletries and zipping straight back down into the lobby, where I was meeting one of my new friends before heading out on the town to make the most of our evening of free time. I had just enough time to snap this (ahem) conversation piece on the hotel reception counter before heading out. More phones would turn up as the evening progressed.

I’d done my research ahead of time and had Google Mapped pubs in every place where we had free time. But we also needed to eat.

Where’s good to eat in Veliko Tarnovo?

I hadn’t actually mapped anywhere to eat, so this was a case of look at Google Maps and see what’s in the vicinity that sounds like it will do decent traditional food.

When you travel, do you research places to eat in advance – or just wander and see what happens?

This place seemed to fit the bill – and I couldn’t have chosen anywhere better.

Tavern Hashove

What a wonderful little find this was! And not an easy find, at that, tucked away on a corner, turning back on yourself and underground then down into this tavern (restaurant) in a cellar. It wouldn’t have been somewhere I’d have stumbled across by accident, although it was signposted outside. That said, the signage was in Cyrillic, so my companions couldn’t read it. Having studied Russian to GCSE A* standard at nightschool, I was happy to have the opportunity to brush up on my Cyrillic reading.

On arrival, we were the only patrons in the restaurant, although it was still early for eating by European standards. Us being ageing Brits, we like to have our tea between 1700-1900 and it was later than that now.

Lets start with a drink.

This was to be the first of many Heineken 0.0s over the next few days (although happily it was only for a few days), being often the only AF beer choice available. But I started on Heineken (the alcoholic version) back when I first started frequenting the pub (when it was £1.53 a pint) so it’s completing the circle for me. Plus lager is a good holiday drink. Since switching to AF, I’ve become necessarily less of a beer snob when it comes to lagers. Because, lets face it, it’s lager or Diet Coke in a lot of places and I am not spending the rest of my life drinking Diet Coke (even if it is swip free on SlimmingWorld).

Lets take a look at the menu (this page was only part of it but it was the one I was interested in).

I couldn’t resist the kavarma, although I can’t remember if I ordered chicken or pork. I usually eat a lot of chicken, but may have avoided it for that reason; alternatively I may have avoided the pork because of our guide saying that would be all we would be eating on this holiday. Then again, I may have gone for the pork because it’s the more traditional meat over here. Either way, it was bloody delicious! And in the top two meals I had on this trip.

As I was dining with others on this occasion, I was able to photograph some other meals for your viewing pleasure – all of which were met with murmurings of approval.

I’d never seen ice served like this before, with little tongs, but it made me smile.

The bill also made us smile, as our best meal of the holiday so far was also ridiculously cheap.

Mercifully there was no loud music or folk dancing which was a fear of mine as there was a stage for live entertainment. I think we were a bit early in the evening for that, which suited us just fine, as I was able to enjoy good dinner conversation with my new friends. Tonight I learned the following nuggets over dinner.

They have Fantasy Funerals in Ghana, where you can select a custom-made coffin of your choice. Now, dear reader, the beauty of reliving these conversations in this blog is that it allows me the luxury of doing some further reading on things like this. My research on this subject has led me to an exhibition on Fantasy Coffins from Ghana at (and I’m not making this up) The National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, Texas. And there’s this short video which shows the coffins being made and gives a bit of background on the industry.

Another conversation was about what we were reading on our travels. One of the ladies said she liked to read a novel set in the places she was visiting and said she researched these on Trip Fiction. Well of course I took a note of that for myself and for you, dear reader, who may wish to do the same. I did read a book about Pompeii when I went there recently so I could get into this myself.

Another member of the group confessed she was perplexed about how telephones worked – even before they went mobile. I’ll confess I’ve had similar thoughts about television in the past but have decided not to think about it too much and put things like this down to magic. My brain is very good at not wasting time on things that it doesn’t need to know.

What my brain does need to know, however, is where the next drink is coming from, so lets get to the most important section of the blog.

What are the best pubs in Veliko Tarnovo?

Zavera Craft Beer Shop

This place wasn’t even on my list, but it was the first pub we came to as we walked down the high street from our hotel (which, by the way, was the Yantra Grand Hotel, more of which in the morning). Following the advice of my good friend and fellow blogger Evo to ‘never walk past an open pub’, I headed straight in – and found some of our party already there, with more joining thereafter.

It was a lovely little place, with fridges and shelves galore as well as high table seating.

I strode straight to the bar and enquired about the AF beer range, which was pointed out to me on the top shelf of the fridge.

I had the Treening Laager and Zero Overflow.

I spotted a few drinks with basil in them but I was too scared to try them. Perhaps later in the holiday (or perhaps not). I do like basil, though. And it would go nicely with those famous Romanian tomatoes. But in a drink?

This place was my kind of quirky and I realised I already loved it here in Veliko Tarnovo.

But the absolute star of the show here was the toilet. Yes, dear reader, I’m treating you to a second #LooReview. And it’s a belter. The entirety of the wall was art.

Oh and what’s this? Another telephone?

I had to look these up (not in the phone book). Copilot informed me that Veliko Tarnovo used to be home to a huge company that manufactured telephones, hence there’s a lot of them about.

Lino Bar

This place is worth a visit for the view alone. I could not take a good photo of it for love nor money (and I don’t even drink any more, although I was tired by this point). However, there’s a great pic here.

Beerwise, it was Heineken 0.0 again but I could live with that.

Here’s what it looks like inside (although everyone was outside).

We’d been talking about insects a lot today and this theme continued with my companion telling me his own insect story. Whilst in the bathroom on a previous holiday, he’d spotted a cockroach emerging from behind the sink. Immediately, a gecko appeared, grabbed the cockroach, turned to him with the cockroach in his mouth as if looking for a vote of thanks, and darted off. Well how about that for a stroke of luck?

Shortly after hearing this story, I saw something large scuttle past me. What the bloody hell was that? It was massive! It had to be bigger than a cockroach. A rat, perhaps? That would be no less terrifying (if more fluffy). Hesitantly but needing to be reassured, I peered under the counter in front of me. It was a cat! Yay! I’d only been complaining earlier that I hadn’t seen any cats yet (aside from the one in the loo above). I wouldn’t go short of them between now and the end of the holiday.

Pubwise, also on my map but no time to visit tonight were Melon Live Music Club (which looks right up my street, loving the Waterloo in Blackpool like I do) and Birosfera Craft Beer Shop. But I’m tired now so I’m heading back to my hotel. Now, at 11pm, the city has come to life with youngsters enjoying a night out – and on a Monday too! As the city wakes up, I’m off to the land of nod, where I’ll enjoy another good night’s sleep. But there is much more to come, so make sure you subscribe (below if you’re on a mobile or on the left if you’re on a desktop).

What I Learned Today

• Adventuring is the perfect environment for inspiring creativity.
• Lost luggage can quickly find its way back to you.
• Nikolae Ceauşescu was executed on Christmas Day.
• Google Lens is useful for identifying things in holiday photos.
• Palace of the Parliament is the world’s heaviest building.
• How to set up a group on WhatsApp.
• I love Romania, its quirkiness and its people.
• The Dutch and Montenegrins have the tallest people in the world.
• Spartacus was from Bulgaria.
• The head movements for yes and no in Bulgaria are the opposite to what I’m used to.
• Fantasy funerals are a thing in Ghana.
• Trip Fiction is a good place to find books set in places you’re travelling to.
• Veliko Tarnovo once manufactured telephones and still has them everywhere.
• I love Veliko Tarnovo.

Is this part of a wider Balkans travel series?

Yes! This is Day 2 and you can find Day 1 here or navigate below. I’ll be moving on through Bulgaria on to North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, before heading back into Romania for the second week of the adventure.

If you’d like to keep travelling with me, the full collection lives here:

Travel Diaries