A Bulgarian tour features for the first time in the National Geographic Traveler magazine's annual "50 Tours of a Lifetime".

Culled from thousands of tours worldwide, the proposed trips are an antidote to the average - all offered by outfitters with solid reputations in the industry, the journalists from the magazine said.

"We looked for tours (including volunteer, adventure, family, and small-ship trips) designed for experience, immersion, sustainability, and cultural connection."

The list of fifty tours are said to offer a short but deep dive into far-flung cultures and transformative experiences.

The Bulgarian tour, offered by tourist firm Cultural Crossroads, is entitled "Cultural Splendors of Bulgaria: Art, Wine, and Traditions." It spans over 12 days and targets "the culturally sophisticated soul of the great discoverers, going beyond and deeper than the classical tour of Bulgaria."

The trip digs into the cultural heritage of Bulgaria, from the era of the Thracians, who venerated Dionysus and originated the legend of the musician Orpheus, to the present day.

It offers travelers to listen to a chamber concert at the ancient Serdica amphitheater in Sofia, tour the tenth-century mountaintop Rila Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, make banitza - phyllo filled with cheese - in the riverbank Gabrovo, and taste the fruit of thousands of years of winemaking.