Reportage of Bulgarian National Radio about Crossbill Guidebook on Eastern Rhodopes

In October, Bulgarian National Radio broadcast a reportage in several languages about Crossbill guidebook on the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria and Greece.

A Dutch research team visited this summer the Greek and Bulgarian part of the Rhodopes to gather information for the new edition, which will be available on the book market in March next year and will bear the title “Eastern Rhodopes, including Dadia, Evros and Nestos”.

Amidst the southeastern parts of Bulgaria where the Rhodopes cross the border with Greece only to go further down south to the shores of the Aegean, one comes across a “terra incognita” for mass tourism, journalist Veneta Nikolova starts her reportage . This frontier region, which has long been inaccessible to visitors, has preserved not only its pristine landscape but also its incredible biodiversity. These are the highlights included in the upcoming new edition of the Crossbill nature travel guidebooks issued by the Dutch environmental organization of the same name. The Crossbill Guides published in English have become a must for eco-tourists from around the world.

With its help anybody who likes to roam along mountain trails and communicate directly with nature would be able to draw his or her own itinerary and organize a trip.

This part of Europe has a very rich biodiversity and this has attracted the attention of the tourist experts from the Crossbill Guides Foundation. To date, the organization has published guides for various regions in Spain, Poland, France, Hungary and Finland. Now on the agenda are the Bulgarian and the Greek section of the Eastern Rhodopes. "Both zones are very similar. The advantage of the coastal parts of the Rhodopes located in Greece is that there is an incredible wealth of birds. Yet, the Bulgarian section is more interesting for lovers of trekking”, says Dirk Hilbers, founder and director of the Crossbill Guides Foundation. However, what distinguishes the Bulgarian part of the mountain?

The eco-itineraries included in the upcoming edition of the Crossbill Guides run from the coast of the Aegean Sea in Greece and reach the meanders of the Arda River on Bulgarian territory. Following the instructions in the guide, the inquisitive traveler can get a first-hand taste of the scenic beauty of the vicinity of Zlatograd and then descend to the south along the Maritsa River, called Evros in Greek, which flows into the Aegean Sea near the city of Alexandroupolis.

 “Until recently, Bulgaria with its natural resources was a distant, unknown country for us in the Netherlands”, says Dirk Hilbers.

Read the full text of the reportage in English (including a sound file). 

See it in German, in French, in Greek, in Russian, in Spanish and in Bulgarian

© Photo: Veneta Nikolova

© Photo: Veneta Nikolova

© Photo: Veneta Nikolova