Lom (Bulgaria)

Lom is a Danube River cruise port and town in Bulgaria's Montana Province, with a population of around 25,000. The town is located approx 160 km (100 mi) north of Sofia (the country's capital city), approx 55 km (35 mi) southeast of Vidin (a port town located close to the Romania-Serbia-Bulgaria border) and approx 50 km (30 mi) north of Montana (province's capital).

By shipping traffic, Port Lom is ranked Bulgaria's second most important riverport (after Ruse). The settlement was founded by the Thracians (as Artanes) and developed as a fortified town by the Romans (as Almus). During the Ottoman Empire (1299-1919) the village was named Lom Palanka. After 1830, with the development of Danube shipping, the village once again grew to an important town and Bulgaria's main port exporting locally made goods to Vienna Austria. By 1869, the town had 120 shops, 175 food shops, 34 coffee bars, 6 hotels, 2 river mills, 148 workshops, and a population of around 7,500. Until WW2 91939-1945) Lom was one of Bulgaria's largest market towns. After WW2 here were developed industries like sugar refining, fish canning, grain production, and storage.

Town's best-known tourist attractions include Plazha (500 m-long pebble beach at Danube River, located approx 3 km / 2 ml from downtown), Town History Museum, Almus (Roman fortress' ruins/foundations), Boruna Church.

As cruise port, Lom is included in the regular schedule of one of Europe's largest river cruise companies - Phoenix Reisen. The company in 2019 included Lom in the itineraries of 4 of fleet's newest riverboats - Adora (2019), Asara (2017), Anesha (2015) and Aurelia (2007). The next table shows the ports sequence of Phoenix Reisen's 16-day cruise tour itinerary roundtrip from homeport Passau.