After two days exploring Matka Canyon and Skopje, it was time to point the car east. The next two and a half days of our Bulgaria and North Macedonia road trip turned out to be about two very different kinds of stillness: the mineral hush of thermal water rising from deep underground, followed by something altogether different the next morning – remote, peaceful and far more demanding, with legs burning on a steep alpine trail 2,500 metres above sea level.
A Lunch Stop with a View: Manastir Sv. Joakim Osogovski
Leaving Skopje, we hadn’t planned this as a sightseeing stop, more a practical one. Manastir Sv. Joakim Osogovski sits almost exactly on the route between Skopje and the Bulgarian border, and options for a proper sit-down lunch on this stretch are thin on the ground.
The monastery itself has been here in one form or another since the 12th century, founded on the spot where the hermit Joakim of Osogovo is said to have lived a life of prayer and fasting in a nearby cave. Nothing of that original structure survives.
What you see today is a pair of churches: the older Holy Mother of God dates from the 14th century, while the larger, three-nave church dedicated to St Joakim himself was built in the mid-19th century by the same master builder responsible for several of North Macedonia’s grandest churches. Look up under the porches and you’ll find some wonderfully grim frescoes of Judgement Day – not the sort of thing you’d expect after a plate of grilled meat and salad, but that’s Balkan monasteries for you.
We opted for one of the set menus on offer – exactly what we needed before a border crossing, though not quite the bargain we’d expected somewhere this remote. The food was decent, if a touch pricier than we’d anticipated, and the service was a little chaotic. It did what we needed it to, though, and we were back on the road within the hour.
The place was busy with school groups on the day we visited – worth bearing in mind if you’re hoping for a contemplative wander rather than simply a lunch stop.
Crossing Back into Bulgaria: Deve Bair
From the monastery, it’s a short drive to the Deve Bair border crossing, our exit point from North Macedonia and re-entry into Bulgaria.
As with the crossing on our way out a week earlier, we were fortunate: only a handful of cars ahead of us meant we were through in less than twenty minutes. This crossing sits high in the Osogovo Mountains and tends to be quieter than the main Gyueshevo route further south, although queues can build quickly during peak summer weeks.
Settling In: Sapareva Banya and the Five Elements Hotel & SPA
Sapareva Banya was our final overnight stop before looping back to Sofia, and it earns its place on the map for one reason: it’s home to the hottest mineral spring in the Balkans, reaching around 103°C at source.
The town has built its identity around this – geysers, public spa facilities and a cluster of hotels all drawing on the same thermal water.
We stayed at The Five Elements Hotel and SPA, and if there’s one lesson worth repeating from this trip, it’s to always check whether a hotel offers a direct-booking discount.
We paid around £125 per night with half board included by booking directly via email and paying a deposit by bank transfer – noticeably cheaper than the rate on the major booking platforms for the same room.
It’s a slightly more old-fashioned way of doing things, and not one we’d necessarily recommend if you’re not comfortable with it, but for us it made a genuine difference to the price. One thing worth flagging: any drinks, including water, are charged separately at dinner, even on half board.
We built in an afternoon and a full day here before the hike, dedicated entirely to the thermal pools and saunas. It turned out to be exactly the right call. Halfway through a demanding itinerary, a day of doing absolutely nothing but floating in warm mineral water is its own kind of romance.
There’s an inner area of saunas and indoor and outdoor pools reserved for Five Elements guests only, plus a larger outdoor area with pools set at a range of different temperatures. Do keep an eye on the time, though – the hotel’s spa area closes at 8pm sharp, and we learned the hard way that a few minutes’ grace isn’t on offer.
We arrived back seconds too late one evening and had to make the walk to our room via the street, still in our robes.
The food impressed us too, particularly dessert. The hotel has a dedicated pastry chef producing tailor-made desserts, with the menu changing daily – not something we expected from a spa hotel in a small Bulgarian town.
🧭 T42 Vibe – The Five Elements Hotel & SPA
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Couple Factor | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Location | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Food & Desserts | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Booking Experience | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
🧭 T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▱ 4/5
A particularly good couples’ stop for combining thermal spa time with the Seven Rila Lakes hike. Direct booking made a noticeable difference to the price, although it’s still relatively expensive by Bulgarian standards.
Seven Rila Lakes: The Best Hike of the Whole Trip
We’d built an entire extra day into Sapareva Banya specifically for this, and it delivered beyond what either of us expected.
We’d originally planned to stay somewhere closer to the trailhead itself, but after driving past the hotel we’d considered on our way through, we quickly realised staying at Five Elements was the right call instead. It meant we could combine a demanding mountain day with the comfort of a thermal spa afterwards – one of the best combinations of the whole trip.
The Seven Rila Lakes sit within Rila National Park, a glacial cirque carved out during the last Ice Age, just around 30 minutes’ drive from Sapareva Banya – at least on paper, as the roads are winding and require a little extra caution.
Each of the seven lakes has its own Bulgarian name describing its shape or character: Salzata (the Tear), the highest and clearest; Okoto (the Eye), the deepest cirque lake in the country at over 37 metres; Babreka (the Kidney), with the steepest banks of the group; and so on down to Dolnoto Ezero, the Lower Lake, where the Dzherman River begins its journey.
They sit in a rough staircase between roughly 2,100 and 2,550 metres, each one draining into the next.
Getting There and the Chairlift
We left the hotel around 8am and reached the chairlift base station in less than thirty minutes. Parking cost €4, and a return chairlift ticket for the two of us came to €32 – worth checking current prices before you go, as these do change from year to year.
The base station sits at roughly 1,600 metres, while the chairlift carries you up to around 2,100 metres at the top, cutting out the steepest 500 metres of ascent in about twenty minutes.
The bottom station coordinates are 42.24005, 23.32700, and the top station sits at 42.22080, 23.32260.
At the top, you’ve a choice: bear left just before the large chalet building, or continue past it and climb straight up into the mountains, joining the circular route from the far side.
We chose the second option and would do the same again. This first stretch is genuinely steep, and we’d recommend pausing here rather than pushing straight through. We didn’t, and felt the altitude change more than we needed to.
Give yourself around twenty minutes to acclimatise before the real climbing starts.
The Trail Itself
Sources quote the full loop at somewhere between 9 and 11 kilometres, with total elevation gain generally put at 350-500 metres depending on exactly which route variation you take. The terrain rolls up and down constantly rather than climbing in one steady line.
Most guides suggest allowing three to four hours for the complete circuit. We took considerably longer: six hours for around 8 kilometres, with frequent stops for photographs and a picnic lunch. We didn’t attempt the final push to Salzata (the Tear) itself, as the approach was still under a stubborn bank of late-season snow.
We were hiking in early summer, and while most guides rate the loop as easy to moderate, the combination of melting snow and running water across the path several times pushed it into solidly medium territory for us.
Nothing was technical, but sturdy boots and a bit of care were both necessary.
The day itself was close to perfect – sunny spells with just enough cloud cover to take the edge off the exposure, without ever threatening rain.
We’ve hiked in the Dolomites and around Durmitor in Montenegro, and the Seven Rila Lakes somehow manage to borrow a little of each: the scale and dramatic ridgelines of the Dolomites, the raw glacial blue of Durmitor’s lakes, combined into something that felt entirely its own.
Of everywhere on this trip, this was the place that stopped us in our tracks the most.
Before You Go: Our Advice
- Weather is everything. We were lucky with a clear day; a year earlier we’d had to abandon the plan entirely because of the conditions. Build a spare day into your itinerary if you can, rather than pinning the hike to a single date.
- Sturdy hiking boots made the steep sections and snow patches far more manageable.
- Trekking poles – we rarely bother with these, but they earned their place here, especially on the descent and across the snowier stretches.
- Layered clothing. We started bundled up on the chairlift and were down to T-shirts by midday; conditions change quickly at this altitude.
- Water and snacks as usual, although you can refill your bottle with fresh mountain water along the route.
- Sun protection – SPF 50, hats and proper sunglasses, worn almost the entire day.
- Cash. Parking is card-free, and the toilet at the Rila Lakes chalet costs €0.50. There’s also a small café at the top for snacks and coffee.
- A camera with a telephoto lens, if you have one. Phone photos are perfectly good, but the scale of the cirques rewards a longer lens.
One practical warning: the chairlift runs to fixed hours, and missing the last descent means walking down yourself, adding roughly two hours to an already long day.
At the time of writing, opening hours ran from 8:30am to 5:30pm Tuesday to Friday, with different hours on Mondays – but these shift with the season and maintenance schedules, so always check ahead of your visit.
We paid in cash, although cards are accepted too, at least in theory.
By the time we got back down, the thermal pools back at the hotel felt like the single best idea we’d had all trip. A hike like this, followed by a soak and a proper Bulgarian dinner, is hard to beat.
Final Thoughts
Sapareva Banya gave us exactly the change of pace we needed after the driving and sightseeing of North Macedonia. A quiet late afternoon in the thermal pools followed by one of the most spectacular hikes we’ve done together made this one of the highlights of the entire road trip. The Seven Rila Lakes are demanding enough to feel like a real adventure, but returning afterwards to warm mineral water, good food and a comfortable room makes the experience particularly rewarding as a couple. If you’re planning a Bulgaria road trip, we’d make room for at least two nights in Sapareva Banya – and, if the weather allows, give the Seven Rila Lakes a full day of their own.
This post is part of our 11-day Bulgaria and North Macedonia road trip series. Next up: Sofia and Plovdiv.
Travel for Two is a couples travel journal dedicated to immersive road trips, slow travel, and destination storytelling.
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About the Author
The author, ainarsbl, is a Level 7 Google Local Guide, Master Reviewer and expert travel reviewer focused on scenic landscapes, UNESCO sites and meaningful couples travel experiences.