
Bulgaria Heritage Journeys
Bulgarian Ties–Our Flagship Program
Based on Interest
Private Travel
“The end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
and know the place for the first time.” T.S. Eliot

Fun beyond imagination! Impact beyond words!
- Arrive in Sofia, where Ties staff will meet you and provide transportation to the hotel. Bulgarian Ties families stay in moderate, clean hotels, where after a day out experiencing many new tastes, smells, sights and sounds, families can relax.
- Gather for an orientation meeting, a chance to connect with the other families, and discuss the journey ahead.
- Tour Sofia, where you will visit the city centre to enjoy historical sights and bustling local markets, eat scrumptious Bulgarian cuisine, and yes, shop!
- Travel to nearby Rila Monastery for a day of gorgeous scenery of the Rila Mountains, listen to the Rilska and Drushlyavitsa rivers rush on either side of the monastery, and take in the architecture, paintings, and significance of the oldest monastery in Bulgaria.
- Next stop: Balkan Mountain Villages!
- Visit Bojentsi village to experience mansions from the Revival Period, and the Old Town of Tryavna where colorful traditions are alive and well including bagpipes and woodcarving, Etara for an open-air ethnographic museum showing traditional Bulgarian life, and overnight in Kmetovski, a magical mountain village!
- Walk through Arbanasi, seeing well preserved mansions and churches with traditional architecture, before heading to Veliko Tarnovo, the medieval capital of Bulgaria, where the old town and markets are filled with traditional artisans and crafts!
For most families, Veliko Tarnovo will be the jumping off point for the “Centerpiece of your Adoption Homeland Journey.” Families will visit places like Burgas, Buzovgrad, Teteven, Silistra, and Petrovo. If your adoption connections are elsewhere in Bulgaria, The Ties Program will help with those arrangements too.
While on adoption visits, families will:
- Travel with a car, driver and English-speaking guide.
- Visit orphanages, hospitals, caregivers, and other special people related to their adoption.
- Birth family meetings are frequently possible in Bulgaria.
Afterward, return to Sofia and rendezvous with other Ties families to process adoption visits together. You will have a day of free time and an evening of farewells, a perfect ending to your time in Bulgaria.
Ties Program Features
How to prepare, opportunities to process. YOUR NEED-TO-KNOW INFORMATION!
Possibilities for Adoption Visits
Connect with people and places related to your adoption. SEE WHAT'S POSSIBLE!
Related Services
Flights, Consulting, Connect & Chat, Staying Connected. LEARN MORE!
Financial Help
Need financial help? Or would you like to help an adoptee make this important journey? OPTIONS & IDEAS!
Project Kindness
Created especially so that Ties participants can help in the communities they have visited. BE INSPIRED!
Read & Learn
Articles to help you on this journey of identity. DIVE DEEP INTO INFORMATION!
"A tremendous family experience and adventure, and the journey that filled the gap in our son's sense of self."
John Giudecessi
“For the first time in my life, I felt complete and at peace with who I am.”
Landy Hancock, 18
“Traveling with other kids was AWESOME!”
Anna Armour, 10
"I think the healthiest outcome of the trip for my daughter is that going with a group 'normalized' her situation and her adoption.”
Bonnie MacAdam
Adoptive Family Travel
Bulgaria Ties, Travel, Culture, Adoption & Identity