The Boyana Church sits just outside the Sofia center and as a UNESCO World Heritage site, it’s a popular place for tourists to visit. While some day trips will include a trip to this church to see the historic frescoes, it’s easy to visit on your own. Plus, if you visit on your own, you’ll have extra time and include a hike to the Boyana Waterfall.
So, I put together this guide of everything you need to know about visiting the Boyana Church and Boyana Waterfall.
Do You Need to Take a Guided Tour to Boyana?
The Boyana Church is typically considered an option when you book a guided day trip to the Rila Monastery. Note that this only occurs if it’s a monastery only tour. If you book a tour that includes the Rila Monastery and the Rila Lakes, you won’t have an option to visit the Boyana Church on the same tour. There’s just not enough time.
So do you need a guided tour? I don’t think you do. You can reach the Boyana Church via public transportation and then you can visit at your own pace.
However, if you have extra time in Sofia, I recommend splitting your day trips and doing one day trip to the Rila Lakes and another day trip to the Rila Monastery. If that’s the case, then you might as well just include the Boyana Church on that tour as well.
About the Boyana Church
The Boyana Church was constructed during medieval times and sits just outside of Sofia, Bulgaria. The oldest parts of the church date back to the tenth century, but additions have been made to the church in both the thirteenth century and the nineteenth century. This last addition was added to help protect the frescoes inside.
You see, the Boyana Church is small, but inside you’ll find frescoes dating back hundreds of years. The oldest frescoes within the church date back to the eleventh and twelfth centuries, but only small fragments survive. What’s interesting is that frescoes were layered on top of frescoes. So you’ll have the original frescoes, but then another layer of frescoes (that’s also centuries old) was painted on top.
Over the years, efforts have been made to preserve these frescoes and UNESCO designated the Boyana Church a World Heritage site in 1979.
Entrance Tickets
Entrance tickets cost 10 euros per adult at the time of writing and come with a timed entrance. Note that if you’re taking a guided tour, your entrance ticket will likely be less as your guide should arrange for you to receive the group discount (which is 7 euros at the time of writing).
The important thing to note about visiting the Boyana Church is that only ten people are allowed in at a time. The church is tiny and there just isn’t space for many people. So, when you buy your ticket, you’ll be given a time to enter the church.
At the time of writing, I couldn’t find anywhere online to make a reservation, so I just had to arrive at the church and see what is available. If you plan to visit the Boyana Waterfall (or do any other hikes in the area), stop by the Boyana Church first to pick up a ticket. I arrived at 10:00 am, intending to visit the church before my hike. However, the next available time wasn’t until 11:30. I ended up taking an even later spot at 1:15 and did my hike first.
While this does make planning ahead difficult, be flexible and arrive early in the day so you have the best choice of time slots.
What Its Like to Visit the Boyana Church
Your visit to the Boyana Church is short. When you purchase your ticket, you’ll be given a timed entry. This timed entry is important because only 10 people are allowed into the church at a time. Then, once inside, you only have ten minutes before you have to leave so they can bring in the next group.
Make sure you are at the church prior to your time slot. If you’re hiking to the Boyana Waterfall (or anywhere else in the area) while you wait for your time to be called, make sure you are back with plenty of time. If you miss your slot, you may not get another chance to visit the church that day.
When the time comes, your time slot will be called and you can give your ticket to the person working the church. Inside, hang up any backpacks and take a quick look at the small exhibits in the waiting area. Then the worker will open the doors and you’ll have ten minutes to admire the frescoes.
So are the frescoes worth it? If you have an interest in art, history, or the Orthodox religion, I’m sure it will be worth it. These are a UNESCO World Heritage Site after all. But for the average person, I think it feels more like something tourists should do, rather than what tourists would enjoy.
I’m glad I visited, but having visited, I don’t think I personally would have missed much had I skipped it. I’ve visited loads of orthodox churches over the last several weeks as I’ve backpacked across Eastern Europe and while I can admit that these frescoes have historical significance, they didn’t wow me.
Keep in mind that you are not allowed to take photos of the frescoes when you enter the church.
Hiking to the Boyana Waterfall
There are several trails in the Boyana area and one of the most popular is the trail to the Boyana Waterfall. I enjoy hiking and figured that if I was going to visit the area to go to the Boyana Church, I should just hike this trail too. What I didn’t realize is that the trail is more difficult than you might think. And based on some other people I met on the trail, I wasn’t the only one who underestimated the trail.
What Its Like to Hike to the Boyana Waterfall
From the start of the trail, it’s an almost nonstop uphill all the way until you reach the Boyana Waterfall. You’re hiking through a forest and if I’m honest, the scenery along the trail itself isn’t anything too spectacular. Honestly, it reminded me of a more mountainous version of what I could find back home in Wisconsin.
However, there is a few point along the way and the Boyana Waterfall itself is a nice addition to your hike. So even though I wasn’t thrilled with the scenery I passed, I was overall happy with the hike.
Let’s talk about the steepness of the trail, because I think that’s what everyone underestimates. The trail starts off steep and while it will occasionally let up a little bit, it keeps that same uphill pace for the entire trail. The important thing to note is that while there are two routes, I wouldn’t call either of them easy.
If you look on AllTrails, you’ll find a route for the Boyana Waterfalls. This route follows the “hard” route to the falls (and the “easy” route on the return) and is even steeper than the route I took. You have less mileage, but you still have the same amount of ascent to get to the waterfall. When I started the trail, there was a sign stating that only those with proper equipment and hiking experience should take this route. I’m not sure exactly what that meant, but I decided to follow the “easy” route.
Make no mistake. The easy route is not easy. You gain a lot of elevation in not a lot of distance and as you hike, you find yourself wondering how this is the easy route. But it’s less steep and involves less rock scrambling, which is why so many people go this route. If you go the easy route, it’s likely that you’ll make this an out and back hike. This is what I did and it worked out well.
Now, I have to add one caveat. The last .15 miles to the waterfall are actually downhill. So you’ll reach the highest point, descend about 150 feet and then will have a short uphill on your return journey.
Boyana Waterfall Trail Stats
Distance: 4.6 miles (7.4 kilometers)
Elevation Gain: 1,835 feet (560 meters)
Starting Elevation: 2,700 feet (823 meters)
Highest Point: 4,320 feet (1,300 meters)
Time: 2 hours 45 minutes (I took me 1 hour and 30 minutes to ascend and just over an hour to descend)
How to Get to Boyana from Sofia
Getting to Boyana from the center of Sofia is pretty easy. The public transportation route exists on GoogleMaps and the bus times are accurate which makes planning so much better.
I took metro line 3 to the Tsar Boris III Stop (which Google Maps had confusingly labeled Krasno Selo). From here, you can catch bus #65 which will take you all the way to the Boyana Church. When I did this, it wasn’t a bus in the traditional sense, but it was still a public bus.
The important thing to note is that bus #65 only runs every 40 minutes or so. If you miss the bus, you’ll be stuck waiting a while for the next one, so try to plan your day accordingly.
To go back to Sofia, just retrace your steps.
As a note, the last stop of bus #65 is the Boyana Church, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s the first stop on the way back. I actually couldn’t find the true first stop. Instead, I followed the bus’ route on Google Maps and waited at the second stop which is located at Boyansko Hantche. It seemed that everyone heading toward central Sofia got on at this stop.
How Long Do You Need in Boyana?
If you’re visiting Boyana on your own without a tour, plan for it to be a full day activity. It will take you about 40 minutes to reach the church and start of the trailhead (if all of your timings for the bus are appropriate), plus another 40 minutes back to the center.
For the hiking trail to the Boyana Waterfall, allow at least three hours, but if you know you’re a slower hiker, it’s probably better to add a bit more. I hiked it in 2 hours and 45 minutes, but I took very few breaks and did not linger and I consider myself a pretty average hiker. I’d recommend giving yourself at least three hours for your hike.
For the Boyana Church, your actual visit is only about 15 minutes, but you don’t know how long you’ll have to wait for a time slot to become available.
When I did this, I arrived at Boyana at 10:00 and departed at 2:00. If you include transportation to and from Sofia, it was nearly a six hour adventure.
Final Thoughts
If you have some extra time in your Sofia itinerary, a trip to Boyana can be worth it, especially if you plan to visit both the Boyana Church and the Boyana Waterfall. While there’s still some historical sightseeing, it can feel a bit different and I always like adding variety into my travels. It helps to keep things more interesting. And what’s more interesting than one day spent hiking to a waterfall and visiting historic frescoes?
