Ruse

There is a good reason why the biggest Bulgarian city on the Danube River - Ruse is compared to Vienna. Every aspect of its architecture is heavily influenced by arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Everything from the streets to the houses, from the administrative buildings to the parks and cafes preserves the unique atmosphere of the Austrian capital. Another thing that ties Ruse so closely to its famous West European bigger brother is the name of Elias Canetti. The renowned German-speaking writer of Austrian descent who won the Nobel Prize in 1981 was in fact born in a nice little house on Slavyanska Street which is now open for tourists. But this is just on the surface. What lies underneath this exquisite coat is the city’s more-than-twenty-century-old heart full of Thracian, Roman and medieval Bulgarian monuments, churches and museums which is surrounded by precious nature parks and of course the Blue Danube.