My 80 year old mother and I did this tour on 13/11/2023 as part of a 3 week extension we had in Bulgaria, having completed a 20 day organised tour from Australia of Romanian/Bulgaria that ended in Sofia. The operator (Adrian) generously offered to change the original itinerary of this tour when he found out we would have already been to some of the places in his tour (he sighted our itinerary). We were very surprised and happy that a tour company would offer to do this. A delightful and thoroughly enjoyable 6 days of history and local wines. A fantastic mix of amazing scenery (in its Autumn glory), mountains covered with vast fir tree forests, massive rocky gorges and deep, dark caves, abandoned villages and empty communist built factories. We explored architectural reserves – villages with beautifully preserved colourful Bulgarian architecture, amazing churches with interesting histories, monasteries and fortresses high in the Rhodope mountains. Our driver/guide, Daniel, had a vast and interesting knowledge of each region. He joined us in our explorations and ensured we enjoyed each experience, taking into account our abilities and age. Daniel joined us for meals and encouraged us to try local dishes, which we shared. We were all in awe of our fine dining experience in the castle at Chateau Copsa (we kept our sneakers out of sight under the table :-) ) ‘Wine O’Clock’ was always interesting as local wines were sampled, enjoyed and purchased. Our accommodation was beyond our expectations – a chateau with a castle, a vineyard estate on a hill, a family run hotel - in brown bear country – in the remote Rhodope Mountains, a fascinating authentic Bulgarian hotel in Melnik (an architectural reserve) and a small boutique hotel on the edge of Old Plovdiv. Thoroughly recommend this trip and best regards to Daniel for his care and attention and for acting as our porter. A huge thank you to Adrian for organising this tour for us.