Velingrad

• The municipality lies in the Chepino Basin in the western part of the Rhodope Mountains.
• The mineral waters from three sources in Velingrad and one source in the village of Draginovo have temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 97.3 °C.
• The Velingrad Historical Museum has four permanent exhibitions and preserves more than 19,000 objects and documents.
• Six cycling routes start and end in Velingrad; the area around Yundola also offers opportunities for walks and hikes.

The three sources in Velingrad are called Chepino, Ladzhene, and Kamenitsa. There is also the source in the village of Draginovo. These mineral waters have a stated official extraction flow rate of 124.28 liters per second; their temperatures range from 25 °C to 97.3 °C. Velingrad’s mineral water is hyperthermal, weakly mineralized, and of the bicarbonate-sulfate-sodium type. It also contains fluoride, silicic acid, and radon.

A special natural site is Kleptuza, a karst spring in the Chepino district. Its flow rate is 600 to 1,200 liters per second. Kleptuza Park has two lakes of the same name; the first was created in 1933.

Six cycling routes start and end in Velingrad. Their descriptions differ according to the places and waypoints listed:

• via the peaks of Strazha, Kaleto, and Vrani Kamak, as well as Draginovo;
• via Peyova Polyana, Kladova Hut, Arapchal Peak, and Lokvata;
• via Yundola and Lokvata;
• via Kachakov Chark, Pashino Burdo, and Tsigov Chark;
• via Avramovo railway station, Veliytsa Peak, and the Sofandere forestry outpost;
• via the access point to Lepenitsa Cave, Removo, Blattsa, and Brezi.

If you are interested in hiking, routes from Yundola lead to Mount Belmeken (2,626 m) in the Rila Mountains and Mount Chernovets (1,834 m) in the Western Rhodope Mountains. The coniferous forests around Yundola are suitable for walks and hikes in summer. Yundola also has ski slopes with lifts. Another listed route runs from Velingrad to “Stariyat Chark”; it is stated to take one hour.

The Velingrad Historical Museum has four permanent exhibitions: a memorial exhibition about Vela Peeva in her birthplace; the ethnographic exhibition “The Mountains – a Welcoming Home”; an exhibition about painted Easter eggs; and an exhibition about bass singer Nikolay Gyaurov. The museum also preserves and studies more than 19,000 archaeological finds, objects from everyday life in the past, icons, old printed works, personal belongings and archives of well-known figures, as well as photographs and documents.

The museum also has a workshop for tourists on the subject of Easter eggs, where eggs are decorated with wax. In Yundola, the St. Petka Chapel stands in a meadow in the center. It is an important stop for tourists visiting holy sites in this part of the Rhodope Mountains and was built with the support of the local forestry administration and donors.

The Septemvri–Dobrinishte narrow-gauge railway line runs through Velingrad. Today it serves passenger transport exclusively; in the past, it also carried freight. Information about Velingrad’s attractions and accommodation is available at the Small and Medium Enterprises Information Center on Freedom Square.

For more information about nearby places, you can also visit Pobit Kamak and Sarnitsa. Other destination pages include Bratzigovo, Rakitovo, Septemvri, Lesichovo, and Pazardjik.

Where is Velingrad?

The Municipality of Velingrad lies in the Chepino Basin in the western part of the Rhodope Mountains.

What temperatures do the mineral waters have?

The mineral waters from the three sources in Velingrad and the source in the village of Draginovo are stated to have temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 97.3 °C.

Which hiking routes start in Yundola?

Routes from Yundola lead to Mount Belmeken (2,626 m) in the Rila Mountains and Mount Chernovets (1,834 m) in the Western Rhodope Mountains.

For the broader travel overview: Pazardzhik Province.