Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Bulgaria. The journey to the waterfall reminded me a little of the 1970 film The Railway Children since it involves travelling by train and then walking along the railway line for a short distance. You can travel by car to the villages of Ruzhdavitsa and Polska Skakavitsa, after which the waterfall is named, but I understand the road is not good and then you have a long hike to get to the waterfall. By far the better option is to travel by train! The stop for the waterfall is called ‘Skakavica’ and it is on the line from Sofia to Kyustendil. The journey from Sofia to Skakavica is two and a quarter hours, and there are trains about every two hours. The trains are very pleasant and they run on time! I direct you to the wonderful Bulgarian State Railways website: https://www.bdz.bg/en. Here you will find up-to-date information on train times and other destinations in Bulgaria.

Not all trains are direct, sometimes it’s necessary to change in Radomir, but don’t worry, the connecting train waits for the train you are on to arrive. We drove to Radomir and took the train from there. A return ticket Radomir-Skakavica-Radomir cost a little over 2 euros! The stop before Skakavica is Zemen, where there is a famous Monastery of St John the Theologian. The train then travels along a gorge created by the Struma, a stunning river that rises on the southern slopes of Mt Vitosha (the mountain that overlooks Sofia) and then travels to Greece, entering the Aegean Sea at the ancient site of Amphipolis. There are interesting rock formations. After fifteen minutes, you reach Skakavica station. Alight here, wait for the train to leave and then continue along the railway line in the same direction the train has just gone in (that is, south). It’s quite safe. This is a single-track railway, so there is no immediate danger of a train coming the other way. After fifteen minutes of walking along the railway, you will come to a short tunnel. Go through the tunnel and, before you reach the iron bridge crossing the river Struma and entering a second tunnel, on your right you will see a low concrete wall. The path to the waterfall starts here, at the end of the concrete wall.

Follow the path, which runs alongside the river Struma on your left – admire the river! – and in about fifteen minutes you will reach a signpost indicating a picnic area to the left (‘МЯСТО ЗА БИВАК’) and the waterfall to the right (‘КЪМ ВОДОПАДА’). Go right here. The path climbs a little, and you reach a wooden bridge over a stream on your left. This is the way to the waterfall. The wooden bridge is somewhat destroyed, but you can cross the stream just above the bridge. You must now climb some steps, which will take you to a small terrace, where you get a view of the gorge and the Struma on its implacable way to Greece. Continue uphill. The first turning on the left takes you to the bottom of the waterfall. If you continue uphill, you will come to an area just below the top of the waterfall. In both places, you are likely to get wet! But who cares, right? The experience is invigorating.

At the top of the waterfall is a small chapel dedicated to St Demetrius. This can be seen from below. Near the wooden bridge is a map of the area and a description of the local wildlife, with a couple of picnic tables in the shade. While we rested here, a bird kept us company with an astonishing succession of melodies and trills. This is Bulgarian nature at its best. It took us only forty minutes to get from the station to the top of the waterfall, and the walk is very pleasant. The waterfall in its entirety is seventy metres high. It is formed by the Shiroki Dol river, which then joins the Struma below on its journey to Greece. At a distance of about six kilometres from the waterfall is an old chapel dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, near the village of Ruzhdavitsa, which we didn’t go to. All in all, a fantastic day out.

A note of warning: when you head back to Skakavica station, allowing about an hour to get there, so you have plenty of time, the path along the Struma back to the railway line divides at one point, and it is very tempting to take the left branch that heads uphill (and, for all I know, goes to the railway station), but if you want to go back the way you came, you must take the right branch. In a couple of minutes, you’ll be back at the railway. Provided you’ve left enough time, there is no danger of coinciding with the train, but obviously caution is required.