Why this ride
A dense sequence of passes, valleys and viewpoint roads. It also links naturally to Western Rhodopes.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Velingrad-Batak-Dospat Loop
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 149 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 50
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Verify pass condition, surface quality and local closures. Specific flag: weather.
Seasonal context
May-Oct
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Velingrad
Velingrad lies in a wide basin in the western Rhodope, with wooded ridges rising on every side and the high Rila range just across the valley to the north. It is a young town by Balkan standards: it was formed in 1948 by joining three older settlements, Chepino, Lade and Kamenitsa, and it takes its name from Vela Blagoeva, a teacher and socialist activist. What really defines it is water. Dozens of mineral springs bubble up here, hot and cool, and Velingrad styles itself the spa capital of the Balkans.
Read the complete Velingrad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Velingrad sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Batak.
2. Batak
Every Bulgarian schoolchild learns what happened here in 1876. When the April Uprising against Ottoman rule broke out, Batak joined it; when the rebellion collapsed, irregular troops surrounded the village and killed a large part of its people. Hundreds had sought refuge in the church of Sveta Nedelya and died inside it. Reports by foreign journalists and diplomats shocked Europe, and the outrage helped bring on the Russo-Turkish War that ended with Bulgarian independence. The church is now a memorial museum, low and dark, with the victims' bones in an ossuary and the marks of the violence left on the walls. It is not an easy visit, and it is not meant to be.
Read the complete Batak write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Batak comes up 33 km in. Next is Dospat.
3. Dospat
Up at about twelve hundred metres, close to the Greek border, a long lake with ragged arms fills the valleys of the western Rhodopes, and at its southern tip sits Dospat. The reservoir is one of the highest large bodies of water in Bulgaria, and on an early summer morning, with mist lying on it and not a boat moving, it feels more Scandinavian than Balkan. The town is small and mostly Pomak, Bulgarian-speaking Muslims whose villages are scattered across these hills, and the minaret of the mosque rises among the houses.
Read the complete Dospat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
66 km in you reach Dospat. Next is Velingrad.
4. Velingrad
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Velingrad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Velingrad, late in the day.