Smolyan is the largest town in the Rhodope Mountains — a long, narrow settlement stretched along the Arda River valley at around 1,000 metres altitude, with a centre that feels surprisingly substantial given its remote position. It was created in the 1960s by merging several older villages into a single administrative unit, which gives it an oddly elongated urban plan, but the town has a good museum, a cathedral, and serves as the practical base for exploring the central Rhodopes.
The Smolyan Historical Museum contains the finest collection of Rhodope artefacts in Bulgaria: traditional costumes, copper vessels, musical instruments, and prehistoric findings from the region's ancient Thracian and later Bulgarian settlements. The Planetarium and Observatory, the largest in Bulgaria, sits on the hill above the town and is worth a visit if you have children in tow. The Smolyan Lakes, a short distance east of the town centre, are a local walking destination, with a pleasant trail along the chain of small glacial lakes through beech forest.
The real reason to base yourself in Smolyan is what lies around it. Pamporovo is 18 kilometres to the north; the Trigrad Gorge is 40 kilometres west. The village of Shiroka Laka is 25 kilometres away. With a hired car, all of these are day trips from Smolyan, and the driving through the forested valleys is itself an attraction.