Alinsky Monastery March 2025

What a perfect day was it today for hiking! Sunny, warm, without being hot, quiet and with almost no wind. The beloved trail from the village of Plana to Alinsky monastery and back was completely empty and the only fly in the honey, a very tiny fly, was the mud - because of the cold and snow during the week the trail was quite slippery and muddy at places.

Amazing, there was even snow. It is definitely this week's snow, as there's no way there was snow there last week, when the temperatures were in the high 20es.

Hike info:

Date:  21 March 2025

Destination: Alinsky Monastery

Mountain: Plana

Total length: 13 km

Elevation gain: 200 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 4 hours

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

I: lingerie, Lotte Sinclair blouse, ankle warmers

Husband: men's boxers, Burda cargo pants, orange blouse

It is still early for the trees on Plana and though it was warm, the grass is still brown and the trees are still bare. The only flowers we saw were plenty of purple crocuses and green hellebores. 

We had our usual picnic on the hill above the church, with this wonderful view to the snowy peaks of Rila - who wouldn't hike for 13 km to have a lunch with such a view :) !

One of the big attractions of this route for me in springtime is the crisp clear view to Rila. This scenery never gets old!

Alinsky Monastery 2024

 Leisurely walk to Alinsky Monastery and back along the fairly easy and level trails on Plana mountain. When we don't feel like travelling far and long, Plana is always a good idea.

St. Kyprian's chapel at the beginning of the trail. Unfortunately, half of the unique tree next to the chapel has died, probably hit by lightning

The day was very warm and sunny and our hoodies and jackets stayed in the backpacks.

Hike info:

Date:  26 October 2024

Destination: Alinsky Monastery

Mountain: Plana

Total length: 13 km

Elevation gain: 220 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 4 hours

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda blouse, Burda Hounds' Tooth Hoodie

I: lingerie, "Page" hoodie, leg-warmers

The beech trees are in their best autumnal clothing at the end of October

We had a long picnic in the sun on a hill above the old church, once part of a big monastery

There are so many more beautiful places to visit in Autumn, I hope the coming November will bring us sunny and warm weekends.

Alinsky Monastery

The unusual summer temperatures for our latitudes continued during the first fortnight of April - no complaints, keep up the Mediterranean weather! So this year spring is almost a month ahead compared to previous years and on Plana early in April the trees were already in bloom. Our hike there on the first Saturday of April was a leisurely walk up and down mountain trails with breathtaking views to the snow-covered peaks of Rila, framed by the blossoming plum trees on Plana.

The photo-reportage from our hike might seem a bit monotonous - snowy peaks and blossoming trees, but I just couldn't stop myself taking pictures of these beauties :)

Hike info:

Date:  06 April 2024

Destination: Alinsky Monastery

Mountain: Plana

Total length: 13 km

Elevation gain: 200 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 4 hours

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

Vitosha on the other side of Plana

The trail to Alinsky monastery is a bit unusual, as it starts somewhere mid-altitude at 1220m , goes up and down until it reaches some 1280 m and then down to 1060 m at Alinsky monastery - the lowest altitude point of our hike.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

I: lingerie, Sabrina Slims II, orange Burda fleece jacket

Husband: men's boxers, Knipmode cargo pants, green blouse

We had our picnic and first beer outdoors for this year :) on a hill above the chapel. As usual along these trails in the lower mountains around Sofia, we were the only hikers there.

Across the fields - the hills of Manastirishte, the summit of Plana (1336 m)

Alinsky Monastery in October, 2023

Photos from our walk along the almost level paths of Plana mountain from the end of the village of Plana to Alinsky monastery and back. Another very warm end of October day, easy almost empty trail (we met only two people with a dog during the entire hike), delicious picnic on the grass. Pity the warm autumn cannot last longer, it's already colder and rainy in Sofia.

Hike info:

Destination: Alinsky Monastery

Mountain: Plana

Total length: 13 km

Elevation gain: 220 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 3 hours and a half

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

I: lingerie, Knipmode flaired leggings, Burda hoodie in the backpack

Husband: men's boxers, Knipmode cargo pants, teal blouse