Staying in Shumen overnight, I spent several hours in Madara in the afternoon. Took a bus to Madara and a train back to Shumen. From the bus / train station it's uphill walk for 1.5 km to the base of the National Historic and Archaeological Reserve, which includes the relief of the Madara Rider on the rock...cliff of a table mountain / plateau.

I think Madara Rider is my favorite WHS in Bulgaria, not just because of the relief, which is the core zone in itself, but of the whole reserve, which is basically the buffer zone. The reserve includes even some Neolithic and Thracian settlements, some Roman ruins (close to the train station), a 4th century fortress on top of the table mountain, and the remains from the middle age, which includes a monastery with cells for monks hewn into the cliff. In other words the reserve is a human history in a nut shell.

There is also a one-room museum, which was closed, but by asking around when it's open, someone managed to bring another person who opened the door for me for a few minutes. The room contained relevant artifacts from the archeological area. 

I spent the hours walking around and up and down. The dramatic mountain setting even reminded me of Masada in Israel.

The photo shows the locations of the Madara Rider relief on the cliff, the fortress on the table mountain top and the screen capturer on the edge of the cliff. :)