Rila Monastery is one of the best monasteries in Europe. While most people do a day trip to visit, there’s something cool about staying overnight at Rila Monastery in Bulgaria.
Overnight Stay Reservation for Rila Monastery Guesthouse
It’s best to make a reservation for your stay, and it appears this can only be done by telephone to a Bulgarian phone number. We made a couple attempts to contact via e-mail but these were all ignored. We had to dial several numbers to finally be connected to the correct reservations line. The phone number is +359896872010
Please note that English is not spoken at the reservations number. We called one day ahead and tried to make a reservation in broken Italian. The next day, the nun didn’t have our reservation and initially said they were full. Luckily, they did have a couple rooms in the older part of the monastery, so we were lucky to get to stay.
Cost For Overnight Stay at Rila Monastery
The cost to stay is 20 Bulgarian Lev (approx. 10 Euros or $12) per person. You cannot pay by credit card.
Rila Monastery Accommodation – Check-In
The posted check in time is from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00-7:00 pm. The day we visited there was no one in the office but when we asked at the museum, we discovered the nun who checks in guests was selling candles in the church. If you are coming from Macedonia, keep in mind that Bulgaria is one hour ahead and how that affects the time you should arrive.
Rila Monastery Accommodation – The Rooms
The rooms in the older building are quite basic. The rooms pretty much consist of painted cement walls, creaky hardwood floors, and creaking beds. The beds are bad… I had to put the thin mattress on the floor to sleep, there was no way I could sleep on the sagging springs of the bed. The bathrooms are outside of the rooms and only include squat toilets. There is no wi-fi for overnight guests, but there are electric outlets in the rooms for charging.
We stayed at Rila in late November when the nights were quite chilly. The rooms in the older portion of the monastery don’t have heat, but the nun lent us a portable heater that worked quite well.
Rila Monastery Accommodation – The Rules
We were told several times to stay off the corridors outside of our rooms. Even though there was a rope barrier between the courtyard and the upper floor corridors, the nun did not want us to be outside that would encourage other tourists to enter the upper floors for photos. That being said, the best views of the monastery are from the upper floors, so a stay overnight is the only way to get these great shots without breaking the rules. The Rila Monastery dress code is covered knees and shoulders.
Rila Monastery Lodging – What to do for Meals
Unlike our stay in Studenica Monastery in Serbia, the Rila Monastery doesn’t serve meals. However, there is a full-service restaurant out the east gate of the monastery. They serve dishes such as lamb, rabbit, and trout. Bulgarian wines and beer are served. The food is a bit on the expensive-side, and it’s definitely not the best restaurant, but there’s little choice on the grounds of Rila.
Rila Monastery Guesthouse Curfew
The gates to the monastery are closed at 7pm, but curfew isn’t until 9pm. If you come back between 7 and 9pm, you must ring the bell to have the guard let you inside. This gives you time to get dinner outside.
Breakfast
At the time of our visit, there were only two options for breakfast. You could get a full breakfast at the restaurant out the east gate of Rila for a reasonable price. For about $3, I had tea, a boiled egg, lots of cheese, cucumber and tomato, bread, butter, and jam. The other alternative is coffee from the vending machine and fresh yogurt and donuts from the small bakery. Only one type of donut is served, and you can coat it with provided powdered sugar. If not at Rila, you must try the Bulgarian yogurt when you’re in Bulgaria. There is a special type of bacteria that only exists in Bulgaria.
Rila Monastery Currency
We had erroneously believed we could pay for our Rila Monastery visit in Euros, but only Bulgarian Lev was accepted. Neither the accommodation nor the restaurant takes credit cards. Luckily, there was an ATM at the edge of the Rila parking lot, but I would recommend bringing plenty of Lev just in case the ATM is not working.
Rila Monastery Overnight Review
Overall, I enjoyed my stay in Rila. I wish they provided meals and Rila, but the nearby restaurant was adequate. My biggest gripe was the bed – if you have a bad back, you are better off sleeping elsewhere.
The biggest advantage of staying overnight at Rila Monastery is the views! Since only overnight guests are allowed on the upper floors you will get some great views of the monastery, not seen by others – including views from above, views after dark, and views without loads of tourists in the way.
Other Rila Monastery Lodging
If you want to stay somewhere a big more comfortable and less restrictive, there are several other hotels and guesthouses in the vicinity of Rila Monastery that cost about the same amount if Rila is full. This post contains affiliate links. This website earns a small commission for items purchased through these links with no additional cost to you.
(Check Rates and Availability of hotels near Rila Monastery)
Getting from Rila Monastery to Sofia
There is only one direct bus from Rila Monastery to Sofia per day and this is at 3:00 pm and costs 11 Lev. But if you stay overnight at the Monastery, you may not want to stay the full day until 3 pm so you have two options:
#1 Take the 9:00 am bus to Dupnista for approx. 5 Lev. This will drop you at the Train/Bus station. From there, you can catch the hourly bus to Sofia for approx. 7 Lev.
#2 Take a taxi. A taxi to Sofia will cost 120 Lev, but this isn’t so much if you are traveling with a group and you can travel at your selected time, save over an hour of transit time, and get dropped at your accommodation in Sofia (Check Rates and Availability in Sofia).
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Its just awesome.Very much excited to visit after looking these scenarios.
It’s interesting that I came across your post. I just finished reading a fictional book where people stayed in monasteries. I didn’t know if it was a real thing or not! I don’t know if I would want to, but it was interesting to read your post!
This is such a lovely nostalgic post for me as I lived in Sophia for about 6 months in the early 90s after visiting several times in the years before (including being there for the revolution in 1989). We used to go to Rila often and were always the only people there. I don’t know if you could stay overnight then, I doubt it, but we were certainly allowed upstairs to look around. All my photos (if I could even find them) are pre-digital, so it’s lovely o see yours and hear how the place has developed.
Thanks for sharing – always good to find out about all the different options for staying in more unusual accommodation! Off to Bulgaria in August, may give this one a go.
This seems like a very unusual and interesting experience. Good for story teller once your back stops hurting. We once stayed in a ice hotel (slept on a bed of ice)–now we laugh about it. Greta tip for getting the best photos.
After reading this article, I am staying overnight at Rila in a few weeks and am very excited! You’re correct, though, that I wouldn’t want to stay all day after spending an entire night. Can you confirm that the bus to Dupnista departs from the Monastery itself at 9AM?
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It was running last November. Please ask at the Monastery. People in the parking lot on the west side of the monastery can confirm for sure.
I have been exited by the many testmonies have read and im pround of such faithful christian and very encouraged to continue trusting in the Lord