Bright and early, we jumped in the cars from Sofia and headed towards Vada hut which is where we planned on leaving the cars to start the first part of the trek to Malyovitsta hut and then the actual peak the following day.
To my surprise, Vada hut turned out to be so easily accessible that we could drive right to it despite the slightly bumpy 4km road as we were starting to approach. The drive from Sofia saw us passing through some cute villages such as Govedartsi with mountain views stretching from one side of the horizon to the other. I was looking through the backseat window like a tourist so overwhelmed by the views that I could notice myself getting quietly overly excited about the upcoming adventure hike up in the mountains.
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Where to start the hike?
Malyovitsa hut is one of the more easily accessible huts in the Rila mountains. In fact, starting in Sofia within an hour and a half of driving on an asphalt road, via the town of Samokov (25km away) and Govedartsi (within 13km), you will reach a small ski complex called Central Mountain School Maliovitsa where you’ll see a big sign for the Rila National park. This is the place where you can park your car and dive into the national park in search of Malyovitsa hut.
However, what we did and what I strongly recommend you do too, is to drive to Vada hut instead, leave your car there and extend the hike by trekking from Vada hut to the park entrance mentioned above. All you need is a download of Maps.me which literally shows the entire trail from Vada to Malyovitsa hut (just search for “Malyovitsa” and you’ll see the result which says “mountains lodging”).
The route to Malyovitsa at 2,729m
The entire trek from Vada hut to Malyovitsa peak can be broken into three stages if you will.
- Stage 1 – Vada hut to Malyovitsa hut – 3.5 hours
- Stage 2 – Malyovitsa hut to Elenino Lake – 2 hours
- Stage 3 – Elenino Lake to Malyovitsa peak – 1 hour
Just for your information, Vada hut is already at an altitude of 1,410m with Malyovitsa hut at 1,730m so the first part of the hike shouldn’t feel like too big of a challenge when it comes to altitude change.
Stage 1 – from Vada hut to Malyovitsa hut
At only about 7.5km in total distance, the hike from Vada hut to Malyovitsa hut is a relaxing trek amidst the lush woods of the Rila mountains. Vada hut is an excellent place to start the hike for a few reasons. As soon as we rearranged our backpacks, we headed to the hut to grab a quick bite before heading up. Being so easily accessible, the hut is actually really well equipped with a few lunch options, a few types of beer, soft drinks and tea and coffee. I was munching on the traditional banitsa I had bought from the petrol station we had made a stop at whilst my friend went wild sipping on bean and mushroom soups to get the energy up before the hike.
Once the tummies were happy and we had the satisfied smiles back on our faces, we filled our water bottles, took one last visit to the last modern toilets until Malyovitsa hut, and off we went.
This was definitely the easiest and most chilled out part of the trail. It was well marked, nicely sheltered in the woods from the burning sun in August and with very few bits where we felt physically challenged. Having said that, to reach the entrance of the Rila national park (mentioned above), we had to walk a few hundred metres on the main road but it was so quiet from traffic that even that didn’t pose risk or any sort of discomfort.
Having reached the Central Mountain School Maliovitsa, we could already see the peak in the far distance and I must admit that this sure brought the excitement back in after about the previous 2 hours of chilled out, slightly uneventful, yet filled with laughter and stories hike from Vada to the park entrance.
The trail from here to the hut wasn’t challenging but it was certainly different. It was a stone covered very clear path which was a tiny bit harder to walk on just because it was uneven but at that point, we actually welcomed the change in landscape. We were now walking on a more exposed part of the trail and topping up with suncream was surely welcomed at the end of the day.
A few meters up from the park entrance, there was even a place we could fill up our water bottles, wash our faces with fresh water from the mountain and refresh a bit before taking on the last leg of the hike for the day.
Even though we set off bright and early, we were taking it slow and only started the hike in the afternoon so the plan was to camp at Malyovitsa hut so that was our goal for the day!
After having a little bit of rain and gone through a good amount of our snacks, we were delighted when we eventually made it to the hut.
I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised when we reached the hut and saw how beautiful and peaceful the area where we were gonna camp was. Nested right behind the hut was a gorgeous camping area with a quiet soothing river passing right through the middle of it, with mountain peaks from both sides and flowers literally everywhere. I got excited to help set up the tent the minute I saw the spot my friend had picked for us, right by the side of the river.
The rest of the night saw us trying to hide in the hut from what has turned out to be a pretty cold evening. Pretty hungry at that point, we queued up to order some omelettes and salads and delightfully indulged on our simple yet delicious (and super cheap) dinner.
Quick tips: It goes without saying but make sure you bring cash with you. Food would vary between 2-4 leva a dish so budget accordingly.
At the hut, you’ll be able to charge your phone and other devices but bear in mind that there’ll be quite the competition 😀
We didn’t sleep in the actual hut but as I am coming to realise, people in the mountains are so friendly and so lovely so we could use the toilets in the hut and could refill our water bottles, brush our teeth, etc. for no extra charge so even though we slept in tents, we still had some of the comfort that comes with staying in the hut.
Stage 2 -Malyovitsa hut to Elenino Lake
We woke up around 7am with the intention to grab a quick breakfast at the lodge, pack up the tents and head towards the peak by 9 am.
We didn’t end up leaving until after 10 am but at least we didn’t rush to finish our sandwiches with traditional melted yellow cheese and sharena salt (“colourful salt” in translation) which honestly were a great little treat to wake up to, especially since we knew the fun, i.e. tricky part of the hike was right ahead of us. Loaded up with energy, we picked up our gear and we were back on trail.
From Malyovitsa hut we could see exactly where we were headed to. The peak was right in front of us but it looked so far and so high up, it seemed almost impossible to reach.
From the very start, the trail was noticeably harder compared to the one yesterday. The whole path was covered in rocks which meant that we had to jump from stone to stone, sometimes scrambling up on all fours to get passed the more challenging bits.
Even though we started relatively early, we were starting to feel the sun and the heat pretty soon after we set off so it wasn’t long before you could see us starting to take off layers, put on more suncream and snack on protein bars as we quickly burning the otherwise calories-packed sandwiches from breakfast.
About 50min into the trek, we had reached what is called second terrace which is a place most people would stop to catch their breath. The reason we did take a quick pause was to applaud and scream “Good luck” with entire voices to a series of insanely inspiring mountain runners who were running down one of the hills, passing through the second terrace and heading up towards the peak. Being able to witness the tenacity and spark in these guys’ eyes as they were passing by and smiling at us gave us all the energy we needed to push through and keep going.
At various points along the route, we had to stop to give way to the runners as they were going in both directions. Honestly though, the vibe was so uplifting that at times we were literally looking out for the next runner to clap at and wish all the best to … it kinda made us feel part of it all. It was the coolest atmosphere I have ever experienced in the mountains and I loved it. It was like everyone had come together to challenge ourselves whilst admiring the mountains and that felt comforting and aspiring!
Anyway, holding onto rocks, some heavily relying on their hiking poles to keep up the pace, we had finally reached our stop for a long-awaited break. We didn’t stop just anywhere though. We picked the best possible spot we could have wished for, just by the side of Elenino lake. Later on, when we got higher up, we could actually spot 3 different lakes but the one we lunched by was the largest.
All of a sudden you could see all 12 of us starting to take out from the backpacks all sorts of different snacks and share them with one another. Nuts, fruits, chocolates, cookies, even a whole box of traditional homemade banitsa started to make the rounds until eventually we were all stuffed and happy enough to pose for a few photos before moving on.
Stage 3 – Elenino Lake to Malyovitsa peak
The third part of the hike was definitely my favourite. I’m a huge sucker for views. I can hike up and push myself and find pleasure in that, as weird as it may sound 😀 , but what makes me love the mountains so damn much are the views and stage 3 of the trek was soaked in them the higher and closer we were getting to the peak.
To me, it felt that this part of the hike was somewhat easier than the trek leading to Elenino lake but maybe I was just too focused on the views and didn’t let the physical challenge ruin any bit of it for me. Phenomenal views were opening up towards the lakes and the surrounding peaks. We could even see the Rila Monastery so clearly that we got the perfect birds-eye view over it. It honestly was so overwhelming that the more we were starting to see, the more eager we were getting to get to the top because we knew the views from the 2,729th metre will be simply unbeatable.
Slightly rushing ahead, I was ecstatic when we eventually reached the top. I just couldn’t believe that we could get these kinda views at as little as 2,729m. From here we could spot Musala peak, two of the Urdini lakes, Haramiya peak and of course the Elenino lake we had stopped by earlier.
At the top, it was starting to get windy but that didn’t stop up from stretching our legs and having another snacking session 😀 This time the highlight being my friend’s homemade beer bread 😀 and a bunch of homemade dips that some of us had tried to show off with haha! My speciality was a yummy homemade hummus 😀 Let’s not get too distracted by food thoughts though LOL!
Where to from here?
From here we headed towards the Urdini lakes. Our plan was to camp for one more night to explore the seven Rila lakes the next day and also hike the Haramiya peak which, by the way, was my total highlight but more on that in another post.
Alternatively, you can walk back the same way. Depending on how early you start the hike to Malyovitsa, you can either go back to Malyovitsa hut or straight to Vada and drive back to Sofia that same day or you can extend the trip and stay overnight at either hut for some more time off the grid.
Tips on hiking to Malyovitsa peak
Going to the 2,729th metre of Malyovitsa will be an adventure, for the physical challenge, the views, the unexpected weather in the mountains, the experience in the huts, the camping, everything! But one thing is certain – if you love hiking, you’ll love every bit of this trek! Here are some things to have a think of when planning your trip.
- Make sure you have enough cash on you. You won’t be able to take out cash anywhere when you reach Vada or Malyovitsa huts so be prepared. Budget around 4-5 leva per dish max and you won’t run out of cash. A beer is around 3 leva and a coffee/tea 1 lev.
- Bring a headlamp. Whether you sleep in Malyovitsa hut or you camp near it, make sure you have a headlamp in case you need to do any walking at night. If you head back the same way you reach the peak, depending on the season, you’re likely to return after sunset so prep well.
- Bring food even though you can get pretty filling food in both huts mentioned above. Having something to snack on at all times will come in handy.
- Don’t forget suncream and layers. It does get cold at night even in August when the sun is burning hot during the day.
- Bring a rain jacket even if the forecast doesn’t say it’s gonna rain. The weather really is unpredictable.
- You will get phone connection pretty much the whole way to the peak so don’t worry, you’ll be able to send your “I’m ok” messages just fine (I mean, update your Instagram and FB stories 😀 ).
The hike to Malyovitsa was the first proper hike I did in Bulgaria and I loved every second of it. If you appreciate the mountains, love hiking and meeting friendly people along the way, don’t overthink it and just go for it. In case you have any other questions at all, let me know in the comments or message me on Instagram.
See you in the next one 🙂
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