Home to only eight permanent residents, Kosovo, Bulgaria is a beautiful but very sleepy place. However, new life is springing back into this lovely hill town thanks to the Kosovo Houses, an affordable guesthouse that offers a relaxing stay well off the beaten path. It’s also the perfect gateway to Rhodope Mountains — a region stretching from southern Bulgaria into Greece that’s filled with natural wonders, ancient fortresses, and regional cuisine.

During a recent three-day stay, in between hikes and sightseeing trips, I was able to soak in the atmosphere of this scenic mountain guesthouse. Featuring rooms with warm traditional Bulgarian design, lovely views of the surrounding hills, and breakfast at the cozy tavern, the prices (starting at about $50 per night for a double room) make the Kosovo Houses a very cheapo getaway for those looking to explore territories off the standard European circuit.

A stone path winds its way up to the Kosovo Houses.

Accommodations

The Kosovo Houses are actually spread around several restored houses in the village, all located within easy walking distance of each other. I stayed in the main guesthouse, The Hadjiyska House, that was named after architect Hadji Georgi Stanchovski, who built the original structure in 1853 as his home. Each of the eight cozy rooms offers little touches like wooden chairs and bedside tables with antique-style lamps.

Each room has several intricate rustic details that capture the spirit of Bulgarian design.

The Wi-Fi worked well in my room and in the tavern, and there’s also satellite TV in each room. But other than my curiosity to watch a few local Bulgarian channels, I had no interest in staring at screens. Getting away from your regular routine is what Kosovo Houses is all about. At night, I opened my window to look out over the hills at the moon and stars. I quickly fell asleep to the sounds of crickets chirping and a few dogs barking in the distance.

The Hadjiyska House is the main guesthouse just a few steps from the tavern.

The modern bathroom has a glass shower cabin with a handheld shower head and a wide sink. My bathroom in Room 8 even had a peek-a-boo view out over the hills (although one night I left the window open and found a giant grasshopper greeting me in the morning!).

Traditional Bulgarian design is prevalent throughout Kosovo Houses like this common room in The Hadjiyska House.

A Focus on traditional design

The friendly Bulgarian owners and hosts, Svetlana and Christo, spent many years living in Venezuela before deciding to come back to their homeland. They searched the Rhodope Mountains looking for a special village to open a guesthouse. They discovered Kosovo and started to restore abandoned houses in a traditional style.

Using the original foundations, they hired expert craftsmen from the surrounding area to reconstruct several homes using their knowledge of intricate stone roofs and Bulgarian design. From the handmade wooden ceilings to the colorful carpets, these rustic details offer a warm and comfortable experience in every room.

Food: Local and authentic cuisine

I didn’t have to go far to find traditional Bulgarian food. The menu at the Kosovo Houses tavern features many local specialties that you can only find in the Rhodope Mountains. From my room in The Hadjiyska House, it was just a 30-second walk across the yard to the tavern.

I started my first morning off with a traditional pancake served with a slab of feta cheese and seasonal berry jam. Breakfast is included in your stay, and the view from the porch is a relaxing way to start your day. The tavern is open throughout the day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Wild mushrooms foraged from the surrounding forests on display in the tavern.

And speaking of dinner, the first night I was there, I saw that Christo had been out foraging mushrooms, so I ordered a pork steak with wild mushroom sauce ($6). It tasted as good as it sounds. Other delicacies include a delicious pan-fried trout ($6) that is sourced from nearby local fisheries and classic Bulgarian grilled meats like spiced hamburgers (kyufte) and kebabs (kebapche) for $1 each.

If it’s hot like it was during my visit, order a cold bowl of tarator ($1.50), a refreshing soup that’s like liquid tzatziki with cucumbers, yogurt, and garlic. No matter what you order, start your meal with a classic shopska salad (a mix of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and peppers topped with feta cheese; $2.75), and save room for the “Light Cake” ($1.75), a delicious homemade dessert.

Pan fried trout from a local fishery is a specialty at Kosovo Houses.

To drink, you can choose from a wide selection of local Bulgarian wines (with bottles starting at $7) or sip an ice cold Bulgarian beer like Kamenitza or Zagorka ($1.40). Or if you’re lucky, like during my second dinner, you can sip homemade rakia, the ouzo of Bulgaria. It was brought by a fellow Bulgarian guest whose father had recently made a fresh batch. Don’t worry if you’re not so lucky, you can still buy a glass of rakia from the bar for less than $1.

The view was just as nice as the company each evening on the tavern porch.

I quickly realized the tavern patio is a wonderful spot to spend an evening. Not only do you get to dine with an incredible view of the Rhodopean landscape, you will also meet a wide array of people. During my three-night stay, I met families taking a city break from Sofia, a Bulgarian/Canadian couple who are restoring an old house up the road, a photographer traveling around the country for a sightseeing guide, and two small walking groups — one from Ireland and the other from Belgium.

The lively discussion about everything from Bulgarian history to US politics flowed well into the night — especially after a few more glasses of rakia.

Enjoying dinner on the porch with other guests was a highlight of my stay.

Activities: Hiking, history, and ancient architecture

When you’re not relaxing in your room or sipping a beer in the tavern, there are several activities and attractions that you can enjoy as a guest. Nearby, you can visit spectacular waterfalls on long hikes or visit famous sights like Bachkovo Monastery, the Wonderful Bridges, and Asen’s Fortress.

But you don’t have to leave the village to get a taste of the true beauty of the Rhodopes. I spent my first evening after dinner wandering around the stone paths of the village taking in the view and marveling at the peace and quiet of the place. I didn’t see a soul, except for one barking dog and a cute kitty cat.

Exploring the paths around Kosovo after dinner.

On my first morning, I set out on a hike through the countryside. You can connect to a hiking trail right outside the main entrance of Kosovo Houses that takes you into the hills on a marked path. I wasn’t always able to keep track of the trail, but that just made the hike even more fun. After all, isn’t travel all about getting a little lost sometimes?

Getting there

From Sofia: You can fly into Sofia International Airport and rent a car for a 2-hour drive to Kosovo.

From Plovdiv: You can take a bus from Plovdiv to the nearby town of Narechenski Bani. From there, the Kosovo Houses will arrange to pick you up.

Booking a room

Kosovo Houses is open year round and it’s a popular destination for weekend getaways and family trips during the holidays. They just opened a new conference center, so sometimes the whole complex can be booked by an entire group. Weekdays are a lot slower in the high season, but it’s still best to plan ahead to secure a room.

Book a room at the Kosovo Houses

Editor’s Note: Accommodations and transportation were provided by the Kosovo Houses.

The post Kosovo Houses in Bulgaria: An affordable escape to a scenic mountain village appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

The essence of Slow Travel

A while back we published our manifesto for Slow Travel which appealed to the interests of a new generation of travelers who increasingly prioritize low impact tourism, engaging with locals and giving something back to the communities they visit. These are folks who are ever aware of their own carbon footprints.

Bradt Travel Guides

A slow travel guide by Laurence Mitchell.

So three cheers for British publisher Bradt Travel Guides, which has launched a new series of guides devoted to Slow Travel, books that focus on the local and highlight how you might secure real insights into a country by exploring a limited area in detail.

Bradt has always been at the innovative end of the guidebook market, venturing to publish authoritative guides to areas of the world that receive only a tiny trickle of tourists. For travelers looking for good English-language guides to Belarus or Kosovo (or even, for that matter, to Eritrea or Kyrgyzstan), then Bradt is absolutely the market leader.

But they also have their own distinctive take on more frequented spots, and we are much impressed by a trio of books published earlier this month on very beautiful parts of England. They are Slow Norfolk and Suffolk by Laurence Mitchell, Slow North Yorkshire by Mike Bagshaw and Slow Devon and Exmoor by Hilary Bradt, who way back in the mid-1970s founded the company that still bears her name.

Slow Travel in England

Slow travel is a state of mind. It is about having the courage to give to places the time they deserve and not being enslaved by the need to travel farther and travel faster. England is of course ideally suited to this mode of travel and the three books that launch the new series dive off the main highways to take in country lanes and small villages.

Bradt say that more books in their Slow series are in the pipeline. US distribution is handled by Globe Pequot Press. The US editions of all three books will be published on July 13, 2010. Amazon is advertising them for about $16 apiece.

The post Slow Down: A new series on Slow Travel from Bradt Travel Guides appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Strolling along the Bistrica in Prizren’s charming town center, you’ll feel the buzz of the energy coming from the young crowds on the street. 65% of the Kosovar population is under the age of 30. From the main square, look towards the top of the hill above the town for the ruins of the old fortress wall and below that closer to town, you’ll see the neighborhood of houses burned in the 2004 riots. Those riots drove out what remained of the Serbian community in this part of Kosovo, and none of the ‘hood has been repaired. The neighborhood stands today as an ominous reminder of the town’s recent instability.

For more vivid accounts, try socializing with Prizren inhabitants. Ask a young Kosovar about the inspiration behind graffiti all throughout town (and Kosovo) that read “Jo Negociata” (No negotiation) and “12:44. Time’s up. UNMIK go home.” Or strike up a conversation with a friendly German KFOR soldier to gain perspective about the international military and human rights presence in Prizren and Prishtina today.

We highly recommend a field trip to Prizren for a most valuable lesson in recent history.

Wandering Cheapo Sunnia Ko is a wanderer at heart and primarily supports this habit as a teacher at Plovdiv University in Bulgaria. She is currently on a cross-Balkan trek from Plovdiv to Sibenik, Croatia, where she hopes to find the Adriatic as splendid and turquoise as she remembers it to be.

The post Wandering Cheapo: Off the Beaten Track in Prizren appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.