Mountain-biking is slowly catching on in Bulgaria, especially in the Pirin, Rhodopes and Stara Planina, where you can rent bikes from hotels in Bansko and Pamporovo and tourist offices in Apriltsi, Gabrovo, Teteven, Troyan and Tryavna. From a climatic standpoint, mid-June to late September is the ideal time for biking in the Pirin, while in the Rhodopes it's feasible until mid-October. Though there are plenty of dirt roads and tracks, the challenge is to find a locality with a mixture of mountainous, undulating and flat terrain, where you can get above the tree-line for a panoramic view - such as the area between Pamporovo and Trigrad. Trails are less developed in the Stara Planina, but there are several places in the region where you can rent bikes for only US$5 a day.

You can also rent bikes (US$10 per day, plus US$200 deposit) from Odysseia-In in Sofia, where there are several bike shops stocking a range of imported models and spares