Simitli tourist info and hotels

Simitli is situated in the South-Western part of Bulgaria, on about 120 kilometers from the capitol Sofia, in Blagoevgrad District (fifteen kilometers from the town of Blagoevgrad). It is located along the middle course of the Strouma River, not in a long distance from the Oranovski gorge. An important reason for the development of Simitli is the crossing of transport lines in it. The town is crossed by the Sofia-Athens railway and highway and also the road to Razlog and the Mesta River valley through the Predela pass. There are 4 mountains that surround the borders of the Simitli (Rila, Pirin, Maleshevska and Vlahina Mountains), hence the relief around is mountainous and semi-mountainous. The Municipality includes the town of Simitli and seventeen villages. In the central section of the Municipality 6 of more populated centers are situated close to each other along the Struma River, and the other 5 small villages are in the more mountainous western part. Another 6 population centers are situated to the east on the picturesque banks of various mountain streams.

The trend in the development of Simitli region is towards making it a big tourism and especially balneology tourism centre. Interesting remains of a medieval fortress with a tower, stone walls and parts of a road have been found in the area of Kroupnik village. Another place of interest in the area is the Troskovski Monastery, which is located in Vlahina Mountain. It was erected even earlier than the world-renowned Rila Monastery and is a big tourist attraction. Simitli region is a balneology centre of local importance for now, but it rapidly gains fame and more and more balneo-tourist are visiting it.