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Long Distance Hiking and Biking Route „Trans Rhodopi” at Holiday&SPA EXPO 2013
On February 14th, the Long Distance Hiking and Biking Route “Trans Rhodopi” developed by the Bulgarian-Dutch New Thracian Gold project jointly with twin organizations was presented at a special press conference during the first day of the 30th International Tourist fair Holiday & Spa Expo 2013 in Sofia.
NTG Coordinator Mihaela Kircheva, Kiril Makarov from House for Adventures and Books, Hristo Nikolov from Bikearea and Kiril kaloyanov from BAAT announced details of the Route and its connections with other trails as Rudopia and Iron Curtain Trail. Economic and trade attache of the Dutch Embassy Janette Verrijezer expressed her hope that the new biking infrastructure will attract also Dutch tourists.
The Route passes through the Western and Eastern Rhodopes (from the village of Trigrad to the town of Ivaylovgrad) and crosses three provinces (Smolyan, Kardzhali and Haskovo), 18 settlements - cities, villages, resorts and nature reserves. TransRhodopi goes along three artificial lakes - Kardzhali, Studen Kladenets and Ivaylovgrad and crosses three big rivers – Arda, Varbitsa and Krumovitsa and several of their tributaries - Malka Arda, Buyuk Dere, Arpa Dere, Armira, Mareshnitsa, Perpereshka River and others.
The total length of the TransRhodopi Long Distance Biking Route is around 500 km. Its lowest point (101 m) is at the dam of Ivaylovgrad dam lake and the highest (1809 m) – below the Perelik peak. The hardest part of the Route is at Boynik (Studen Kladenets Game Reserve) and the easiest - between the villages of Gorno pole (Municipality of Madzharovo) and Rabovo (Municipality of Stambolovo). You can enjoy very picturesque panoramic mountain views near the villages of Galabovo, Lyubino, Suhovo, Zornitsa, Boynik, Lyutitsa, Gornoseltsi and other places.
The Route is divided in 17 sections (day trails) from 15 to 40 km each. Every day trail starts and ends in an accommodation place – part of the NTG network. These seventeen sections (day trails) are the "backbone" of the Route. Besides this main route there are additional local routes which are also marked. So in each region tourists can optionally hike several additional routes. Every location of each day trip in the "backbone" of the Long distance hiking and biking route will have an information board. Every accommodation place will have an information corner with maps, brochures and other about the main route and the additional local routes.
The best season for the Route are spring and autumn. TransRhodopi is suitable for professional bikers, but also for families with children.
In the autumn of 2012,TransRhodopi was marked with nearly 100 information plates. The marking of the Route is mainly red and white triangles, but there are sections marked with tourist hiking colours white-red-white.
In April, a map on the TransPhodopi Long Distance Hiking and Biking Route will be released. It will provide detailed information about the route, elevation gain, difficulty grade and accommodation sites.
The Route and the map will be presented at the Green Days 2013 in Sofia (25-28 April). A study tour on the Route is planned in June.
See more information about the Route:
http://newthraciangold.eu/cmspage.php?lng=en&id=226
See here photos from the press conference
