Rose Festival: Bulgaria & Romania

Meet at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 21:00. Fly Austrian Airlines OS26 to Vienna at 23:40 (about 10 hours 55 minutes).

Arrive in Vienna at 05:35 with a connection of about 4 hours 15 minutes, then OS783 at 09:50 to Bucharest, landing at 12:25. Bucharest, Romania's capital, was once nicknamed "Little Paris".

• The People's Palace, begun in 1984 and taking 13 years under Nicolae Ceausescu, built with 1 million cubic metres of marble
• Bucharest Old Town, with neoclassical and neo-baroque architecture

Drive about 140 km (around 2 hours) to Peles Castle, the summer palace of King Carol I in the pine forests of the Prahova valley. Built in German Renaissance style, it was the first castle in the world to have its own electricity supply.

• Bran Castle in Transylvania, a fortress built in 1211 by the Teutonic Order, destroyed by the Mongols in 1242 and rebuilt in 1388, believed to be the model for Bram Stoker's Castle Dracula
• Return to Bucharest

Drive about 182 km (around 3 hours) to Veliko Tarnovo, the former capital of Bulgaria, set on three hills with the Yantra River running through.

• Tsarevets Archaeological Reserve, the ruins of the fortress and palace of the Second Bulgarian Empire
• Arbanasi Village, a late-medieval village of merchants and craftsmen, with mostly 17th-century houses and churches in traditional Bulgarian style

Drive about 80 km (1 hour 30 minutes) to Shipka.

• Shipka Memorial Church, a Russian-style church with golden domes commemorating the victory over the Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878
• Tomb of Seuthes III, a Thracian king's tomb and one of the best-preserved Thracian tombs in Europe
• Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, a UNESCO site with frescoes showing Greek influence and a strong horse theme
• Ethnographic Museum Kulata, with traditional costumes and tools; during the festival there are often rose-distilling demonstrations

Drive about 24 km to the Rose Festival, first held in 1903 and celebrated every year in the Valley of Roses between the Stara Planina and Sredna Gora ranges.

• The Rose Picking Ritual in the pink rose fields, held between May and June, with villagers in folk costume singing and dancing
• Damascena Ethnographic Complex, with exhibitions and rose products to buy
• Bulgaria is the world's largest producer and exporter of rose oil

Stop at Bachkovo Monastery, built in the 11th century above the Chepelarska River valley and a pilgrimage site for Orthodox Christians. Then drive about 2 hours to Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city, founded around 6000 BC by the Thracians.

• Plovdiv Old Town, settled for more than 8,000 years, beginning at Nebet Hill
• The Roman Theatre of Philippopolis, seating about 5,000
• The Bishop's Basilica of Philippopolis, the largest early Christian church ruin in Bulgaria, with more than 22,000 sq ft of mosaics
• The Stadium of Philippopolis, a Roman stadium for 30,000 spectators buried beneath the city

Drive about 145 km (around 2 hours) to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and explore the city on foot.

• Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the most important church in Bulgaria
• The Basilica of Saint Sofia, from the 4th century, where the Council of Serdica met in 343, and the origin of Sofia's name
• St George Rotunda, the oldest church in Sofia, built of late-Roman red brick
• Ancient Serdika, Roman city ruins found during the metro construction
• Church of St Petka of the Saddlers (viewed from outside), an 11th-century church built on a Roman temple base

Drive about 112 km (around 2 hours) to Rila Monastery, the largest and holiest Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria, founded in the 10th century and named for Ivan of Rila, who appears on the 1999 one-lev banknote. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• Return about 141 km to Sofia airport. OS798 leaves at 18:45 and reaches Vienna at 19:20, with a connection of about 4 hours 15 minutes, then OS25 departs at 23:35 for Bangkok

Arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 14:50.