An interesting, pleasant and a bit adventurous cycling route near Varna, which will take you from “Vladislavovo” residential area to Batova river and back. It includes many trails and also a pinch of adventure in the wild. At the same time, the terrain is generally not difficult, but by no means boring. There are some steeper and more difficult sections where beginners may have to push, but these sections are short and just a few. In terms of physical activity, the cycling is also perfectly balanced - in general it would take half a day, and the terrain offers a few steeper climbs (you may even need to push for a while in some places), but as a whole the overcoming the heights is smooth and pleasant. The first ascent to the plateau above Varna is along paths, the second main ascent is on an old asphalt road, which in some places has turned into a country road - there may be car traffic along this road, but still it is the easiest way to return from the River “Batova” to the plateau.
Although at times you will feel like you are in the middle of a jungle, civilization all the time is very close. In some places on the plateau you may come across mud and tracks in the wetter months, but in general the route is suitable for cycling almost all year round.
The description includes many forks and intersections. The easiest way is to navigate with the GPS on the handlebars, so you do not have to stop and read directions every 100-200 meters.
The beginning of the route is at the final stop of the buses near the upper end of Vladislavovo. There are enough parking spaces around the blocks in the area, and you can come on your own along Konstantin and Fruzhin Blvd. - there is also a bike lane.
The end of the route is further down, at the intersection of Konstantin and Fruzhin Blvd. with Sveta Elena Blvd. If you have come on your own, there is no point in climbing back to the bus turnaround. If you have a car and you have left it there, you will add a few hundred meters of climbing.
Starting point: The bus turnaround at the upper end of Vladislavovo; https://goo.gl/maps/Pfg5U9Z9zfxBNquF9
Length: 22.9 km
Ascent: 460 m
Descent: 520 m
Level of technical difficulty: medium
Physical activity: low
Duration: 2-5 hours (depending on pace, breaks, etc.)
Water: 1-1.5 liters
Food: for half a day; in the middle of the route there is a restaurant.
Terrain:
- asphalt - 4.5 km
- country roads - 8.9 km
- trails - 9.5 km
Description:
The Boulevard“Constantine and Fruzhin” ends just above the turnoff for buses and trolleybuses. There, if you stand with your back to the city and face the mountain, a country road begins on the right (point 01), which immediately turns to the left (northwest) and starts to climb. After a while the road splits (point 02), and we continue on the right side of it. At point 03 (0.5 km) the road turns left to a meadow, and we continue to climb a wide path straight on. There are also tourist markings in several colors. In point 04 (0.8 km) the trail forks - we move to the right along the one with blue, red and green tourist markings. Afterwards there is a short steep section and the path turns left. We follow the main path and avoid a few narrow paths to the right (the clearest one is in point 05).
At point 06 (1.2 km) there is an important fork, where the red marking continues to the right, and we follow the left path with green and blue markings. Depending on the season, the trail may be clearer or overgrown, but it is generally passable. Here the terrain gets leveled, ie. the main ascent is already behind us, but a few shorter ones are waiting for us. At point 07 (1.9 km) there is a fork again and we are to the left again. Then in point 08 (2.3 km) we cross an overgrown path and continue slightly to the left (westwards).
At point 09 (2.7 km) we go out on a wide meadow and join a country road to the right. We continue only on the main road, keeping to the left, skipping in point 10 a turn on the right hand side. In point 11 (3.4 km) we come again onto a country road to the right - there are many forks and small paths, which usually gather again, so choose your path according to the conditions - in some places there is more mud and tracks, in others the passing is easy. In general, we follow the main road, and groves and meadows alternate around us.
In point 16 we are on the left and in point 17 (5.2 km) we reach an asphalt road that comes from Aksakovo and goes to the village of Kumanovo. We cross it and continue on a country road in a northerly direction, moving along the border between a grove and farm fields. There are forks in point 18 and point 19 - in both cases we keep to the roads on the right. In point 20 (6.8 km) we reach another country road on which we descend to the left to a narrow asphalt road (point 21). We cycle for a while on its left side and in no more than 100 m (point 22) we turn right on another country road through the field. We descend on it in a northerly direction to a small valley. Reaching the lower part, in point 23 (8.1 km) you have to turn right on a barely noticeable grassy country road to the nearby grove (point 24). There we take slightly to the left at first and then boldly enter the forest, following the left slope of the small valley. We ride on a heavily neglected country road, which however becomes clearer in the woods. We descend for a while, then the road turns into a wide path (probably used mostly by ATVs), which begins to climb on a steep slope to the left - here you will probably have to push a little. Gradually the slope normalizes and in point 25 (10.7 km) we reach a fork, where we continue to the right. From here begins a new descent, much steeper and more interesting, but still smooth enough to reduce the difficulty of the slope. At the end of the descent we go out by the river Batova (point 26) at the eco-complex "Izvori" and move on a country road to the left, towards the parking lot of the complex (point 27, 11.6 km).
From here begins the second main ascent along the route. We follow a road - it used to be an asphalt road once, but now it is quite neglected in some places. The road climbs with a smooth slope to the plateau, where it flattens out and moves between the fields. In point 28 (15.5 km) we reach another asphalt road connecting Aksakovo and the village of Kumanovo. There is traffic on it, so cross it with caution and turn left onto the road (east). We cycle on it only 300 m to point 29, where we stop on a country road to the right and join another country road again to the right (point 30) to reach point 31 (16.0 km), where in addition to the view of Varna and the sea, begins the second main descent along the route, which is a long one, although in many places there are some short ascents. At first we start on a wide steep road to the left, which descends to “Lovnata cheshma”/ the Hunting Fountain/ (point 32). There, slightly to the left and in the direction of the gully, begins the path with green tourist markings - in the spring of 2021 its beginning was blocked by a fallen tree, but by moving carefully around it you soon will find yourself in the shade of the forest and on the path which in places is slightly overgrown, but still clear enough. In point 33 and point 34 we keep left on the main path. At point 35 (17.1 km) we cross a field road and continue straight on the path. After 500 m (point 36) we pass a field road to the right, then in point 37 we join a country road for a while and turn left, and in point 39 (18.4 km) the road goes down to the right and down, but we stay on the path, which is wide and continues slightly to the left, cutting the slope. In this part the path is mostly flat or with a slight slope downwards. The slope starts to increase somewhere around point 40, where we are straight, and in point 41 (20.1 km) there is a crossroads where we catch the right side of a wide path with yellow tourist markings. There is a steeper and quite fast descent, which will take you to the villa zone west of Vladislavovo.
In point 42 (21.1 km) we join a country road at the last houses and descend to the left on it, after a while in point 43 we continue to the right and then follow the main road down past a chapel, as in point 45 (21.8 km) we have to go down to the left and this time the road will take us to Yanko Mustakov Street (point 46), which goes around the Vladislavovo district from the west. We cross the sreet and continue east to reach the end of the route (point 47) at the intersection of Konstantin and Fruzhin Blvd. with St. Elena Blvd. In case you have come by car and it is parked at the bus turnaround, you will have to climb to the left along the bike lane.
