How to Visit the UFO in Bulgaria: The Buzludzha Monument Tour
Traveling to Bulgaria offers all kinds of unexpected adventures, but perhaps the most unexpected is the Buzludzha Monument. This fascinating monument is shaped exactly like a UFO, both inside and outside. Here’s how to visit the UFO while you’re in Bulgaria.
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About Buzludzha: The UFO in Bulgaria
Buzludzha is an old abandoned Communist meeting hall set high on top of a remote peak in the Balkan Mountains. It was built in the 1970s by architect Georgi Stoilov and was used for gatherings of the Communist Party between 1981 and 1990. Then it was abandoned.
At one point, it was supposed to be torn down, but the government never got around to it. Now its just a crazy place people go to check out. Rumor has it though, that recently the Getty Foundation awarded a $185,000 grant to study and repair this monument. So do verify that you can still climb inside of it before you set off on your adventure!
Getting to the Buzludzha Monument from around Bulgaria
The Buzludzha Monument was built in a hard to reach place on purpose. As such, it should not come as a surprise that there is no public transportation directly to it. You will need to find a way there on your own. Fortunately, there are a few options of how to visit the UFO.
Public Transportation + Taxi or Private Transfer
One option for visiting Budludzha is to take public transportation (train or bus) to the nearest city, Kazanlak. From there you can take a taxi or get a private transfer to the Buzludzha Monument.
Rent a Car and Self Drive to Buzludzha
Another option is to drive yourself. This way you can truly visit from anywhere in Europe. To give you an idea of timing, here is the distance and drive time from the main cities in Bulgaria.
- 24 km / 30 minutes from Kazanlak
- 77 km / 1 hour 40 minutes from Veliko Tarnovo
- 123 km / 2 hours from Plovdiv
- 252 km / 3 hours from Sofia
Take a Tour to the Buzludzha Monument
Many areas around Bulgaria also offer day tours to the famous Bulgarian UFO. It is pretty easy to book a Buzludzha tour upon arrival into the nearby cities, and an advantage of taking a tour of the Buzludzha Monument is that they will show you how to get into the building and how to navigate the interior. We were even shown how to climb to the rooftop to admire the countryside.
What type of Budludzha tour you choose will vary your experience greatly. I personally took a day trip from Veliko Tarnovo that was a small group off road adventure to get there, and it was fabulous! Highly recommend, if you don’t get carsick!
Check out this tour from Sophia to Buzludzha.
What to Expect When Visiting the UFO in Bulgaria
Depending where you are coming from, you may want to start your adventure early in the day to have plenty of daylight to explore.
Off Roading from Veliko Tarnovo to Buzludzha
To get to Buzludzha from Veliko Tarnovo, seven of us and our guide/driver piled into a giant land cruiser with jacked up wheels. As the ride is a bit crazy, you will get well acquainted to everyone in the car throughout the day.
The drive from Veliko Tarnovo to Buzludzha is just under 2 hours. We stopped at an outdoor museum on the way, and then off-roaded straight up the side of the mountain to where the Buzludzha Monument is situated. Well, we tried to at least, but we hit a downed tree at one point and had to backtrack a bit.
In any case, the ride up to Buzludzha is straight up a mountain, through the middle of a forest. It’s a wild ride with lots of bouncing around and laughing with bad music. Once you are near the top of the hill, the UFO will came into view. Definitely stop to take a picture of its unique structure!
How to Get into the Buzludzha Monument
Since the UFO is an abandoned building, the doors are all gated and bolted shut. Honestly, the place is kind of falling apart. Therefore, in order to get into Buzludzha, you will need to do the logical thing and climb in through the hole in the right side of the building. No really, this is the entrance for all visitors!
2020 Update: It looks like this entrance has since been blocked off. There was also a hole in the ground that would enable you to drop into the basement of the building, but this may also now be closed. They are actively trying to deter people from entering Buzludzha Monument as it is falling apart and a bit dangerous.
Admiring the Inside of the UFO
The inside of Buzludzha is quite dark, so definitely take a flashlight. (Bonus points if it’s a headlamp!) Upon entrance, you’ll need to climb up a few staircases to the very best part of the building – the main level.
Here you’ll find large circular room surrounded by crumbling sparkling mosaics and a few rows of stadium seating. The ceiling is a stunning circular pattern and looks like you could be beamed up at any moment. After playing around in there, admiring the mosaic work, and walking around the windows to the outside, it’s time to move on.
Climbing the Tower of Buzludzha to Admire the Balkan Hillside
Finding the tower entrance is intense. You’ll need to journey through some crumbling areas to a ladder which is followed by 30+ more ladders, all in the pitch black. (Thank you headlamp!)
Our group of seven actually adopted four Czech guys who wanted to go up but couldn’t find the tower’s entrance, and they didn’t have flashlights. We staggered our group to one with a headlamp, one without, and slowly climbed our way up past the red star windows to the rooftop. Here you can climb up to get stunning views of the hillside and a solid breeze which can be a good relief from the heat inside Buzludzha.
After taking in the view, you’ll need to carefully work your way back down and out of the building.
Visit Other Parts of Bulgaria
Now that you know how to take a tour of Buzludzha to visit the UFO in Bulgaria, you’ll likely want to take in some of the other main sites around the country. Here are some places you should put on your itinerary.
- Plovdiv: Roman Ruins in Bulgaria
- How to Spend One Day in Veliko Tarnovo
- Backpacking through Sofia: Things to Do and Places to See
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