Varosha: The Old Town On The Cliffs

Varosha is the old town quarter of Veliko Tarnovo, an inland city in Bulgaria on the Yantra river, and it spreads along the slopes below the two fortified hills that made the city a capital in the Middle Ages. The quarter is a public space, free and open at all hours, and its streets link several of the city's museums and churches in a compact area that can be walked from end to end. This page sets out what the quarter holds, what the museums charge, when they open, and how Varosha fits into a wider visit, using the published hours and ticket prices of the Regional Museum of History, the operator that runs the museum sites in the city.

What Is Varosha In Veliko Tarnovo?

Varosha is the old town quarter of Veliko Tarnovo, the medieval capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, sitting on the slopes below the Tsarevets and Trapezitsa hills on the Yantra river. The city was the capital for more than two centuries, from the late 12th century to the 14th, after the restoration of the Bulgarian state in the 1185 to 1186 uprising of Asen and Peter. Varosha is its preserved historic quarter and a public space, free and open at all hours.

The name refers to the Christian town that grew outside the fortress walls during the centuries of Ottoman rule, after the fall of the city in 1393. The houses that stand there today date largely from the Bulgarian National Revival period, an era that ended with national independence, declared on 22 September 1908 at the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, which stands at the edge of the quarter. The Tarnovo Constitution of 1879, one of the founding documents of the modern Bulgarian state, was debated in the Konak building on the edge of the same area.

Today the quarter is one of four named public spaces in the city that need no ticket at any hour, alongside the Asenevtsi Monument, Samovodska Charshiya and General Gurko Street. What gives Varosha its weight is the density of museum sites inside or beside it: the Sarafkina House museum, the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, the Archaeological Museum, the Konak museum of the Revival and Constituent Assembly, and the Prison Museum, all run by the Regional Museum of History. Each of those charges admission, and their hours and prices are set out further down this page.

The quarter's story is bound up with the city's wider history. If you want the background on how a provincial hill town became the seat of a kingdom, the old capital of Bulgaria question is answered in detail elsewhere on this site, and the main things-to-do overview places Varosha among the city's other areas and sights.

What Can You See In The Varosha Old Town Of Veliko Tarnovo?

The Varosha old town of Veliko Tarnovo holds five ticketed museum sites run by the Regional Museum of History, the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs with its 1230 marble column of Ivan Asen II, and a network of free public streets. The quarter also sits directly below Tsarevets Fortress, whose adult ticket is 7.67 euro, and Trapezitsa, whose adult ticket is 5.11 euro, so a visit can combine free streets with paid entries in any order.

The single most consequential building in the quarter is the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs. This is where Bulgaria's independence was proclaimed on 22 September 1908, and it holds the marble victory column raised by Tsar Ivan Asen II in 1230 after the Battle of Klokotnitsa. The church is a museum site: from April to September it opens 09:00 to 18:00, and in October and winter 09:00 to 17:00, with an adult ticket of 5.11 euro and a family ticket of 7.67 euro, per the museum's ticket page. Monday mornings carry a two-hour maintenance closure, 09:00 to 11:00.

The Sarafkina House, at 88 General Gurko Street and built in 1861, is the quarter's house museum. It opens Tuesday to Saturday, 09:30 to 17:30, closed Sunday and Monday, with an adult ticket of 5.11 euro. The Konak, built in 1872, houses the Museum of the Revival and Constituent Assembly, open 09:00 to 18:00 from April to October and 09:00 to 17:30 in winter, Tuesday maintenance 09:00 to 11:00, adult ticket 5.11 euro. The Prison Museum opens Tuesday to Saturday 09:30 to 17:30, closed Sunday and Monday, adult ticket 5.11 euro. The Archaeological Museum, which sits at the edge of the quarter on Sylvester Penov Street, opens 09:00 to 18:00 from April to October and 09:00 to 17:30 in winter, adult ticket 5.11 euro, family 7.67 euro.

One museum that will not figure in plans is the Museum of New and Newest History, which is temporarily not accepting visitors, per the museum's own catalogue page. Plan around it rather than towards it.

For travellers who want the quarter explained rather than simply walked, the walking tours on the roster are paid products, and the featured one on this site is the monuments walk, which covers the city's landmarks with a guide:

Between the museums, the streets themselves are the free attraction. The cobbled lanes of the quarter climb from the river toward Tsarevets Fortress on one side and Trapezitsa on the other, and the quarter connects without a break into Gurko Street and Samovodska Charshiya, the revived craftsmen's street. For a structured route through all of it, the one-day itinerary starts in exactly this part of the city.

Which Museums Around Varosha In Veliko Tarnovo Are Open, And What Do They Cost?

The five museum sites around Varosha in Veliko Tarnovo each charge 5.11 euro for a standard adult ticket, per the Regional Museum of History's price list, with family tickets of 7.67 euro at the Forty Martyrs church and the Archaeological Museum. Hours run to 18:00 in the April to October season and to 17:30 or 17:00 in winter, and winter hours across the museum network start on 25 October 2026. Children under 7 enter free at all sites.

The full picture is easiest to read as a table. Every figure below comes from the museum's own catalogue and ticket pages.

Three footnotes matter more than the numbers themselves. First, each site carries a two-hour morning maintenance closure on one weekday: Monday at the Forty Martyrs church and the Archaeological Museum, Tuesday at the Konak, Wednesday at the Prison Museum. Second, the Sarafkina House and the Prison Museum close entirely on Sunday and Monday. Third, the museum's two-day pass, covering 10 museum sites, costs 20.45 euro for an individual and 25.56 euro for a family, and is valid from 1 April to 30 November, per the museum's price list.

Reduced rates exist at some sites: students pay 2.56 euro at the Archaeological Museum, and Bulgarian citizens over 60 pay the same there. Free entry across the network covers children under 7, people with permanent disabilities plus an assistant, and organised school groups from the municipality by written request.

The two fortress sites that frame the quarter price themselves separately. Tsarevets, whose hours and layout are covered in the dedicated Tsarevets guide, charges 7.67 euro adult and 10.23 euro family. Trapezitsa, across the river, charges 5.11 euro adult and 7.67 euro family, but there is a hard seasonal trap: Trapezitsa is closed to visitors from 30 November 2026 to 31 March 2027, and its funicular stops for the season on 31 October 2026, reopening 1 May. A winter visit to Varosha therefore pairs naturally with Tsarevets, which keeps winter hours from 25 October 2026, entry 09:00 to 16:00, and has no closing day.

When Is The Best Time Of Year To Visit Varosha In Veliko Tarnovo?

The best time to visit Varosha in Veliko Tarnovo is April to October, when every museum site in and around the quarter is open to 18:00 and the Trapezitsa funicular runs. July and August have the highest mean daily highs of the year at 27.6 and 28.1 C respectively, ERA5 reanalysis 1991-2020 shows, while January has the lowest mean daily low at -3.8 C, and winter visitors from 25 October 2026 face reduced museum hours and closures at some sites.

The climate table below is the full set of modelled normals for the city's grid cell, and it is the honest basis for choosing a month.

Two readings of that table help with planning. May carries the highest monthly rainfall total at 95.7 mm and August the lowest at 51.3 mm, so a late-summer visit balances warmth with the least rain. The streets of the quarter are free and open at all hours in any weather, but the museum sites are indoor and short-day in winter: from 25 October 2026 the network moves to winter hours, and from 30 November 2026 to 31 March 2027 Trapezitsa is closed altogether. Everything else covered here is indexed on Veliko Tarnovo Travel Guide.

The city calendar also shapes the choice. The city holiday falls on 22 March, honouring the Holy Forty Martyrs and the Battle of Klokotnitza of 1230, with a liturgy and programme in the quarter's own church. The 28th International Folklore Festival ran 18 to 25 July in 2026, and the Arbanasi Summer Music chamber festival ran 15 to 25 July 2026 in the churches of nearby Arbanasi. Independence Day on 22 September brings a liturgy at the Forty Martyrs church and ceremonies on Tsarevets. The Sound and Light audio-visual show on Tsarevets runs on announced evenings only, with no fixed schedule, and watching it from Tsar Asen I Square is free; the Sound and Light guide explains how to catch a performance.

How Does Varosha Connect To Gurko Street And Samovodska Charshiya In Veliko Tarnovo?

Varosha connects directly to Gurko Street and Samovodska Charshiya in Veliko Tarnovo as one continuous public area on the same side of the Yantra river, with no ticket, gate or boundary between them. All three are free and open at all hours as public spaces, and together with the Asenevtsi Monument they form the city's complete list of named free sights, so a single walk can cover the old town, the craftsmen's street and the river monuments in one loop.

Gurko Street runs along the edge of the old town, and the Sarafkina House museum carries the street's own address, 88 General Gurko Street. The street is one of the city's free public spaces, and the Gurko Street guide covers it in detail. Samovodska Charshiya, the revived market street, continues from the top of the quarter; its workshops and small shops are private businesses with their own hours, and the street itself is public. The Samovodska Charshiya guide lists what the area holds.

The practical value of this continuity is that a visitor can structure a day around free walking with paid entries only where they add value. A reasonable shape for that day, which the two-day itinerary and the three-day itinerary expand on, looks like this:

With more than one day in the plan, book a hotel room.

Beyond the museums, the quarter's paid entertainment options are limited but real.

Evenings in the quarter are quiet by design, and the centre of gravity shifts toward the modern city. The nightlife guide covers the bars and venues of the centre, and anyone driving in should read the parking guide before bringing a car into the narrow streets of the old town.

Is Varosha In Veliko Tarnovo Free To Visit?

Varosha in Veliko Tarnovo is free to visit as a public space, open at all hours and with no ticket, gate or closing time for the streets themselves, and the same applies to the adjoining Gurko Street, Samovodska Charshiya and the Asenevtsi Monument. The museum sites inside and around the quarter are ticketed, each at 5.11 euro for a standard adult, and the Sound and Light show can also be watched free from Tsar Asen I Square on its announced evenings.

That distinction between street and site is the whole budgeting question in the old town. A visitor who walks the lanes, reads the churches from outside and crosses the river viewpoints spends nothing. A visitor who enters the five museum sites pays 5.11 euro at each, or buys the museum's two-day pass at 20.45 euro individual, valid 1 April to 30 November and covering 10 sites, per the museum's price list. No arithmetic beyond that is needed: the choice is pay per site or buy the pass, and the pass only makes sense for a stay of two or more days with several museum visits planned.

One church in the wider area has a scheduled free day: the Church of the Nativity in Arbanasi, about 2.8 km straight-line from the centre, is free on its feast day, 25 December 2026, with its normal ticket at 7.67 euro.

There is no free guided walk in this city on any roster: the walking tours available in Veliko Tarnovo are paid products, and the open public spaces described above are free to walk on your own.

Where Should You Go After Varosha In Veliko Tarnovo?

After Varosha in Veliko Tarnovo, the natural next stops are Tsarevets Fortress and the Patriarchal Cathedral on it, Trapezitsa across the river while it is open, and the Arbanasi village plateau above the city, with day trips further out to the Etar open-air museum at about 53 road km and the Dryanovo Monastery and Bacho Kiro cave area at about 33 km from the centre. Each of these is covered by a dedicated guide on this site.

The fortress pair first. Tsarevets is the city's principal sight, open daily with no closing day, 08:00 to 20:00 from April to September with last entry at 19:00, and 09:00 to 18:00 in October. The Patriarchal Cathedral on the hill is covered by the Tsarevets ticket. Trapezitsa stands opposite, reachable by its funicular between 1 May and 31 October, running 09:00 to 16:00 with a lunch break from 12:00 to 13:00, a return ticket at 5.11 euro and a family return at 10.23 euro. The funicular stops in bad weather and stops for the season on 31 October 2026.

Arbanasi, about 2.8 km straight-line north-east of the Archaeological Museum area, holds two ticketed churches and a house museum. The Church of the Nativity charges 7.67 euro adult and 12.78 euro family, the Church of Sts Archangels Michael and Gabriel the same, and the Konstantsalieva House the same, with a winter trap: from 30 November 2026 to 20 March 2027 the house opens only Friday to Sunday, 10:00 to 16:00.

For trips beyond the city, the distances below are about road kilometres from the centre.

The Buzludzha and Shipka circuit is the one with a paid guided product that departs from the city, and it pairs the memorial church with the monument on the peak:

The monuments walk, this page's featured product, can also be reached directly at any time: Check availability.

Common Questions About The Varosha Old Town In Veliko Tarnovo

Varosha rewards slow walking more than any ticket does: the streets are free at any hour, the museums each hold a piece of the city's story from 1230 to 1908, and the quarter sits at the centre of everything else the city offers, from the fortress above it to the day trips beyond it.