Bulgaria traditional crafts vacation

Planet

Apriltsi village is situated in the Northern footsteps of the Central Balkan National Park. The National Park lies in the heart of Bulgaria and contains rare and endangered wildlife species and communities, self-regulating ecosystems of biological diversity, as well as historical sites of global cultural and scientific significance. It has 9 protected areas (reserves) in its boundaries. Spending vacations in the park areas brings business to local communities and supports the park indirectly, as the municipalities participate also in the park maintenance.

Our trips are guided we always pick up guides who have a special sense for their environmental impact – the role of our guides is always to spread the ideas for sustainable tourism among the guests and the hosts - it’s a kind of value affirmation.

People

The trip is center-based in a family-run hotel in Apriltsi village. The householders will prepare for us home-made traditional dinners, using fruits and vegetables grown by the locals in the village. We will try most of the local dishes and if any clients are interested they may participate in the cooking lessons of the household lady. During the trip clients will participate in 4 workshops with local instructors, all taxes for the workshops go directly to the local community.

All the crafts workshops are presenting crafts that are slowly disappearing in the modern times – pottery, icon painting and wood carving are traditional Bulgarian crafts which contribute to the cultural heritage of the country. When people come to Bulgaria to learn crafts by doing, this gives hope to local masters that they won’t be the last ones and that there will be more young Bulgarians are going to carry on the craft, so the tradition will be kept alive.
We also give the locals the possibility to join the workshops included in this tour so that they can learn a new job this way.

We run small groups to create more meaningful interactions and minimize impact. Our overnight stays are specially chosen to be typical for the region visited and to support a wide range of small and poor communities, with accommodation primarily in family-run guesthouses and B&Bs, in villages and small towns. By visiting less-known communities, we provide a source of income to people in rural areas and make sure that our money stays local. We can say with pride that through our business we have achieved significant success and have encouraged several communities to support responsible tourism. We estimate that each year we pay about 400.000 Euro to our suppliers in rural Bulgarian regions. Our suppliers there are family-run guesthouses and small hotels, mountain huts, local guides, local transportation companies, etc.