Eight ways into the mountains

A small marble cave of two galleries, 55 metres in all, packed with stalactites and stalagmites. Entered only with a guide.

A 19-metre steel tower on Lisa Gora (1,424 m) with a 360-degree view over the Upper Arda and the Central Rhodopes. The area's newest attraction.

A cliff-edge platform at 1,351 m beside Mogilitsa, its final metre and a half made of glass. One of the best sunrise spots in the Upper Arda.

A 15 km loop linking a 4,000-year-old rock inscription, Nadarska Cave, high stone villages, Kartalov Peak (1,478 m) and an 1896 church.

A 19 km day route to a rocky peak above 1,200 m holding ancient defensive walls, past the abandoned village of Varad and a 'sea of mountains' view.

A route to a Rhodope ridge held sacred since antiquity, past an ancient sanctuary and a restored chapel, wrapped in local legends of treasure and refuge.

A panoramic walk to the spring of the Arda beneath a century-old beech, with an optional climb to Ardin Peak (1,730 m) on the Greek border.

A marble canyon about 100 metres long, cut by the Arda river, seen by boat between vertical cliffs over dark, still green water. Visited on the day tours.