4-Day Buggy Tour

Three nights at Banya near Bansko, guided, with two full days driving a 200bhp buggy through the Bulgarian mountains.

The vehicle is a Can-Am Maverick X3 Turbo, which is a side-by-side built for desert racing rather than farm work, and the terrain is chosen to suit it: river fords, mud, boulder sections and fast logging roads.

Sofia airport opens it, with a transfer of about two and a half hours to the Aquilon Spa Hotel at Banya, a briefing with the crew and a meal. The two driving days follow in the same shape: breakfast at the hotel, a short run to the club base for kit, guided driving in the surrounding mountains with lunch at a village tavern, and a different route home each afternoon for dinner and the thermal pools. The last morning is breakfast, check-out by noon and the transfer back to Sofia.

The buggy shared between two, with a solo option at a higher price, third-party insurance, the guide and technical support, the gear, the fuel, round-the-clock Sofia transfers, a double room at the Aquilon and full board including alcoholic drinks are all included; flights, travel insurance and spa treatments are not, and there are published supplements for a single room, late check-out, an extra night and a private transfer. The price shown is per person sharing. Spring and autumn suit the trail conditions best. Four days with everything but the flight in the price makes the budgeting unusually simple, and sharing the buggy rather than taking one each keeps the cost down without halving the driving: the turns are swapped through the day.