Sofia (София, read "Sófia") is the capital of Bulgaria. It is also the largest city in the country, with a population of 1.4 million inhabitants (including the metropolitan area). Today Sofia is a modern capital of Eastern Europe, distinguished by a unique combination of European and communist-era architecture, as well as a diversity of Orthodox churches. In addition, it can be proud of being one of the few European capitals with beautiful landscapes and a ski resort the mountain of Vitosha located at the very gates of the city.
To get
By bus
The cheapest way to get to Sofia, both from the rest of Bulgaria and from abroad, is by bus. There are buses several times a day in all directions, Sofia is very well connected to all regions of the country. Various international connections are available to various cities in Greece, with Istanbul, Vienna (twice a day) and various cities in Western Europe (several days a week). The following are some samples of the prices of the one-way tickets: Thessaloniki: 68 leva (54 lv. For those under 26); Vienna 94 lev (82 lv. For under 26). More information in English about bus lines can be found at Airkona [1] and MTT [2].
By train
- Bulgarian State Railway Company[3]
There are a large number of international routes, which connect Sofia with places like Kiev, Istanbul, Vienna, Athens, Thessalonica and other big cities.
If traveling from or to Belgrade expect a delay of about three hours while Serbian and Bulgarian authorities search the trains for smuggled tobacco.
The main trains between Bucharest and Sofia leave twice a day and pass through the border town of Ruse. As an example, the day train from Bucharest to Sofia departs at 11:35 AM and arrives at 9:30 PM, while the night train departs at 7:35 PM and arrives at 06:10 AM. Passport and customs control takes place in Ruse, about halfway through the journey.
The train to Istanbul costs 25 euros (the bus 20), leaves at 18:30 (the bus at 21:00) and arrives at 9:00 (the bus at 6:00).
By plane
There are several flights a day to Vienna, and daily flights to some of the major European airports. Tickets from traditional companies can be a bit expensive, as there are not too many companies that fly to Sofia daily.
The Bulgarian flag carrier is "Bulgaria Air" [5]. As an example, a round trip ticket from Madrid or Barcelona can cost around 230 euros. "Viaggio Air" [6] is another Bulgarian company that offers flights at good prices, with round-trip tickets to Vienna for 200 euros. Traditional airlines with flights to / from Sofia are Air France, Al Italia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Czech Airlines, Helios Air, LOT, Lufthansa, Malev, Olympic Airways, Tarom, and Turkish Airlines.
Since July 2007 there are four low cost companies operating to Bulgaria. They are WizzAir [7] with connections to Rome, London-Luton and Dortmund, MyAir [8] with Rome, Milan, Bologna and Venice, and Air Italy [9] with Verona.
There are also cheap charter flights to Varna and Burgas on the Black Sea coast (especially during spring and autumn), which continue to Sofia (about 60 euros one way).
Sofia now has a new terminal (Terminal 2). Both there and in terminal 1, taxis are "regulated", and the only company licensed to operate in the terminals is "OK Taxi." The fare to the city center should be around BGN 10 (with traffic, it could reach BGN 12).
Attention! There are many "hustlers" in the terminal who will offer you a taxi. They will charge you much more than the official rate. Most of the planes now arrive at the new terminal 2. As you pass the customs gate, turn right and exit the terminal. There you will see a long queue of "OK" taxis. If you go straight on when leaving, you will find unregulated taxis, which can try to charge you up to 20 euros. The signage is poor, so be sure to turn right.
Finally, there are companies that transfer you to the city after a concert online (for example [10]. They are not cheap (about 25 euros for four people), but if your flight arrives at an ungodly hour it can give you some peace of mind.
On the other hand, there is a small exchange office at the airport. If you come without Levas you can change here, but keep in mind that the exchange rate is very unfavorable.
By car
The highway from Sofia to Plovdiv it is the best of the roads that connect with the city. It ends at about 40 km. after Plovdiv.
The road from Greece is in fairly good condition, thanks to recent funding from the European Union, although there may be queues at the border. It is, however, a two-way road with heavy truck traffic. The roads from Macedonia are in pretty bad shape. From Central Europe it is possible to do almost the entire journey by motorway (through Slovenia-Croatia-Serbia or Hungary-Serbia). Only the last 100 km between Nis in southern Serbia and Sofia go through heavily trafficked and rough mountain roads.
Travel
By public transport
Sófia has a well-developed, cheap and efficient public transport system, using buses, trolleybuses, trams or the metro. Make sure you consult a map that you can get in the hotels where you can find the different transport lines or ask, since the transport network can be difficult for visitors who do not know the city well. The public transport system operates from 5 in the morning until 11 at night.
The price of the ticket as of June 2017 is 1.60 lev. In the metro there are vending machines in English so they can be purchased directly by inserting coins or bills. You have to buy the ticket before getting on the bus, and validate it when getting on. Bus inspectors rarely understand a language other than Bulgarian, and you can run into problems if you travel without a ticket or with an unvalidated ticket. In other means such as trams, there may also be machines to acquire the ticket and if not, it is possible, ask the driver for it. In this case, the ticket must then be validated in yellow manual machines.
The fastest method of transport is the metro, of which there are two lines, which intersect at Serdika station. The red one, more or less, from the east (Airport) to the west (Luylin, Slivnitsa) and the blue one, from the south (below the Marinela hotel, Vitosha) to the north (Nadezhda, Obelya).
If you are coming to Sofia by plane, take bus number 284 from the airport to the center. If you come by train or bus, take buses 305, 213 or 214 (to Orlov Most) or trams numbers tram 1, 7, (to Sveta Nedelya square) 6, 9 (to National Palace of Culture), 12 ( to Slaveykov square) or 19 (to Macedonia square).
The mini-buses stop if you give them a hand signal. The driver is paid directly upon exiting the vehicle.
By taxi
Taxis in Sofia are yellow. There are many companies, such as OK Taxi Supertrans, etc. Taxis must have stickers or similar with the identification number of the taxi and a customer service telephone number. They must have a sticker on the window and on the windshield. Although prices vary, in December 2016 the usual rate was generally 0.79 leva per km before 10 p.m. and 0.90 leva per km from that time until 6 a.m. Make sure they have the driver's identity on the dashboard and read the prices before riding. In some cases pirate prices are exorbitant, especially in large taxis. It is interesting to look at the upper line for the prices per kilometer and the lower line for the price per time.
A little more about taxis: Taxi OK Supertrans, Taxi 92180 and Rado Taxi are generally reasonably priced. In some cases, taxis have a hidden "bomb" (called a Pumpa), which serves to artificially increase the speed at which the meter dials. It is a pedal located next to the other pedals of the driver, so it is not easy to detect. Generally these three companies will not use this technique, but occasionally there are cases (rather in the other companies).
For car rental
Renting a car can be a good idea, but be prepared for frequent traffic jams and somewhat chaotic traffic. Finding parking is a problem. In the blue zone (Sinia zone) you can park after purchasing the corresponding tickets. Tickets can be purchased from the guards with green reflective jackets that are usually found in the car parks. Tickets must be clearly marked with a pen and must be clearly visible on the dashboard
Watch
Sofia is one of the oldest cities in Europe, with ruins scattered throughout the city center. It was founded for the quality of its mineral waters. In the city there are a total of 7 mineral water sources.
The most interesting churches in the city are that of St. Alexander Nevski (one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world and a tourist attraction for Sophia), the Russian church of St. Nikolai, and the oldest of St. Sophia, St. Petka, St. Georgi rotunda , Saint Sedmochislenitsi and Saint Paraskeva.
- National Archaeological Museum, 2 Saborna St., tel: 359 2 9882406,[11]. Indispensable, 10 levs in June 2017. They let you take pictures.
- Nacional History Museum, 16 Vitoshko lale str., Tel. 359 (0) 2-955 42 80, [12]. Indispensable. They let take pictures.
- National Museum of Earth and Man, 4 Cherni vruh blvd, tel: 3592 865 6639, [13].
- Sofia City Art Gallery, Batenberg Str, tel: 00359 2 9872181, [14].
- National Palace of Culture, [15]. The largest congress center in the Balkans.
- The Red House for Culture and Debate, [16].
- The National Museum of Natural Sciences, [17] It consists of four plants of everything, from rocks and minerals, to insects and stuffed bison.
- Museum and Ethnographic Institute , [18] It has a permanent collection of traditional Bulgarian costumes, as well as other temporary exhibitions.
- The Mineraless Bathrooms, today the Sofia History Museum. Entrance to 8 lev in June 2017, but to take pictures they charge you 15 lev.
- The Slaveykov Square - an open-air book fair.
- The Department of agriculture - a nice building with two towers in Macedonia Square.
- The church of Boyana It is considered a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO World Heritage List. Outside. Indispensable. Problems to enter because it is entered in groups of 8 or 10 people every 10 minutes and the groups that have previously reserved have it.
- Knyaz Batenberg's Palace right in front of the city gardens.
- The beautiful building of the National Theater "Ivan Vazov".
- The Borisova garden (the lung of the city) with the Lake Arianna, which is currently undergoing reform.
- The first multi-storey buildings of Sofia (built in the late 19th century) around and behind the National Theater.
- The Monument to the Liberator Tsar, representing the power of freedom, and in the back, the National Assembly and the building of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
- The Length with the 12 flags of the European Union (a set of three large interesting buildings from the socialist era, which now house the council of ministers, the national auditorium (that of the tower) and the presidential headquarters.
- The church of Santa Sofia, which gives the city its name. It has been built on top of another older church, which can be seen by a glass on the ground. One of the must-see churches
- The ruins of the ancient city of Serdica, located in the geographic center of the city - just below the EU flags in Largo.
- An interesting constellation of the four nearby temples right in the center of the city: the Orthodox Church of Sveta Nedelya, the Catholic Church of St. Joseph, the Banya Bashi Mosque and the Sofia Synagogue (one of the largest in Europe).
Do
To buy
You can buy them Souvenirs There are many small shops in the underpass in front of the old Party House and in the Largo metro station. The Ethnographic museum has a souvenir shop full of handicrafts and other products from all over Bulgaria. The store is on the right, just after the main entrance. It is not necessary to pay the entrance to the museum to enter the store. Right in front of the Alexander Nevski Church there are several street stalls selling antiques and souvenirs.
The TZUM It is a department store building in Largo, which sells at European prices. The building is that of a department store owned by the state during the communist period. In the basement, it has a public toilet.
In front of the Banya Banshi Mosque there is a covered market, the Halite, with many stalls selling all kinds of food, drink and cosmetics. On the second floor there are several fast food restaurants.
To eat
Economic
There are pizza restaurants and fast food restaurants all over Sofia. Although if you are looking for a local flavor, some are totally uninteresting, in other cases they serve good dishes of Bulgarian food at cheap prices.
- Mr. Pizza, Neofit Rilsky street (359) (0) 29888258. It is a very popular place among Bulgarians. You have to arrive early or reserve a table if you want to eat on the patio. from 10 to 15 leva for a meal with starters, a main course of meat, dessert and wine.
Medium
- Balbek, near Slavekov Square. Excellent Arabic food. Downstairs has kebabs and falafels to go, and upstairs a small restaurant.
Medium to High Price
- Motto. This place is always pretty crowded. Beautiful and chic people in an environment with a careful decoration. The food is good, with prices between BGN 5 and BGN 13 depending on the dish. Some nights there is a DJ with house music. It's on the street just behind the Radisson hotel, and then two blocks east (turn right at the first little street behind the Radisson if you are coming from the big statue with the horse).
- Opera, near Rakovsky and Dundukov streets. From the same owners of the Motto, it has the same style. It is located on the ground floor of the Opera Palace.
- Elia, Rakovsky street, one block south of the Crystal restaurant (which is close to Tambuk 2). You have to walk about 20 meters and you will find it on your left. It is not easy to find, but it is worth it. It specializes in Mediterranean fish. You have to try the salads and any fish of the day they may have.
High price
- Tambuk 2, next to Rakovsky Street, one block to the West. A bit expensive, but the fish and service are good.
- Carerra. A modern restaurant in the Lozenetz area. Good value for money, service and food. The wine is excellent.
- Talisman, Macedonia square, near the Sofia shopping center in the city center (across the street to the east, then south a few blocks). This restaurant has won some awards and has great food, service, and wine selection.
Drink and go out
accommodation
- Art Hostel[19] It provides cheap accommodation and a friendly atmosphere in which tourists and natives mingle in a small bar in the basement. 9 euro (18 leva) per night.
- Hello Sofia Guesthouse 12 Stefan Stambolov Bul,[20] A charming little boutique hotel and guest house. Starting € 11 Per night
- Holiday Village Diplomat[21] near the mountain of Vitosha 20 min from the city center. Spacious rooms, a great park and very friendly staff.
- Renaissance Hotel It is in the center of Sofia, the center of the commercial and administrative center of the city.
- Mostel Hostel[22]
- Hotel LOZENETZ, 23, Bul. Sveti Naum [23] It is a modern boutique type hotel close to the center.
- Internet Hostel Sofia[24], 50A Allabin Str / Vitosha Blvd. The most central hostel in Sofia
- Kervan Hostel[25].
- Red Star Hostel. In the city center, between the Bul. Vitosha and the City Garden with the National Theater. It offers a variety of cheap and clean private rooms and dormitories.
- Maria Luisa Hotel It is located in a building from the early 20th century, one of the national monuments of Bulgaria.
- Scotty's Boutique Hotel near Zhenski Pazar. Moderate prices and good appearance.
- Sofia Guesthouse, [26]. It offers clean accommodation right in the city center for € 9, including breakfast.
- Dunav Apartment House. Located in the city center, it is one of the best locations in Sofia, ten minutes from Alexander Nevski Cathedral, the Parliament and the National Opera.
- Sofia Backpacker's Inn (the Backpacker Hostel of Sofia), [27]. A hostel 5 minutes from the central train station and 5 minutes from the city center.