Let’s take a trip to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

After having a full summer in Greece I was ready to see something new this autumn, and me and my boyfriend ended up buying some flight tickets to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It was a place we had heard a lot about, but not actually knowing people had ever visited. We wanted to find out, see with our own eyes, if the things said about Sofia and Bulgaria were true, so we went on a long weekend trip to Sofia to find out!

3 DAYS IN SOFIA

We had 3 full days in Sofia which we felt was enough for the city. Sofia isn’t that big of a city and you can pretty much “see it all” during a full 3 day stay. We walked everywhere during our first day in Sofia and got the chance to see how beautiful Sofia truly is. It’s a very typical European capital in my opinion, reminding me of many other European capitals. The city was extremely well taken care of too. The city was clean, decorated nicely with flowers and even Halloween decorations. The city had fountains, beautiful buildings, churches, monuments, bridges, plazas and parks, and we loved walking around the city by foot and finding new things to see around every corner and street.

Don’t forget to check out the small streets away from the main roads because there you can find some really cozy, creative and charming boutiques, shops and cafes. The antique and vintage shops were really amazing too, and I would like to return to Sofia only to have a full day of antique and vintage exploring.

Sofia and Bulgaria is obviously full of history too and there are many historical monuments, buildings and churches one can see. One of the most known Bulgarian Orthodox churches for instance, is the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

BAD REPUTATION

Nothing makes me as sad as when countries, places and people have a bad reputation due of bad knowledge from other people. Bad things happen in Sofia as it can do in any other big city. As a tourist you always have to be more cautious because tourists are always more easily targeted and can easily be more lead on for theft, fraud etc. Sofia is not a dangerous city.. You just have to read and know what could possibly happen. Me and my boyfriend didn’t have any problems at all in Sofia and actually felt very safe in the city too - even at night time. I have felt more insecure in my own home towns at times than I ever did in Sofia. So don’t listen to the bad reputation and the prejudices of Sofia. Be cautious in general because you are a tourist in a foreign country.

TAXI DRIVERS

One of the things I heard and read about Sofia, is that you should be careful when using taxis though. Many taxi drivers are good in Sofia, but there are also some taxi drivers that trick tourists and make them pay a lot more money for their rides than they are supposed to. I honestly was a bit anxious about this when getting to Sofia because we would get to the city after midnight and we wouldn’t be able to use public transport since they stop working after midnight. Since I had read so much about the taxis since before though, I had an idea of what was awaiting.

• A one way trip from the airport to the city center (depending a bit on where you live of course) costs approx 18 -40 LEV max. This is 9-20 euros. It costs more at night time to take the taxi, but it should never cost more than 20 euros to get from the airport to the city center. If a taxi driver try to make you pay more than that, they are probably robbing you.

• O.K. SUPERTRANS is the only taxi company authorized to operate at Sofia Airport and Sofia Central Bus Station. YELLOW TAXI is also supposed to be one of the better taxi companies. Do know though, that you have to be cautious with all companies and keep an eye on the taxi meter. I’d also recommend you to call and book a trip rather than taking one straight from the airport because if calling, then you’re trip will be registered at least and it’s harder for them to trick you. Also know, don’t ever choose a taxi from a taxi guy that waits just outside the airport and try to make you get his taxi. He’s definitely one of those you should get away from.

No matter, we asked a Bulgarian couple for help who had been on the same flight as us from Crete, and we ended up taking a taxi together from the airport to the city center. They were really kind, helpful and… they didn’t even let us pay for the taxi! We really tried paying but they wouldn’t take them. We appreciated the help so much, and this was our first and very kind encounter with the Bulgarian people!

CHEAP COUNTRY

Bulgaria is one of Europe’s poorest countries and is known as being Europe’s cheapest country too. The accommodation we lived on was a simple but modern and clean hotel with bathroom and a balcony towards an inner garden, located at walking distance from the main city center, and it only cost us 35 euros / night. I’m also going to share some more expenses we had further down this post.

CHEAP PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Even if we walked pretty much everywhere, the few times we took public transport was so good that I felt like I had to share it too. In Sofia they had buses, trams and even metro, and a ticket only costs 1,6 LEV which is 0,8 euros. The public transport was always on time and there were many options and bus/ tram stops around the city. So if you would like to take the public transport anywhere, you could.

FOOD AND DRINKS

As mentioned, Bulgaria is supposed to be Europe’s cheapest country. At first we weren’t that impressed with the prices of food and drinks compared to Greece but eventually ended up understanding the difference. In the city center we thought it was similar prices to Greece (the Greece where locals go and not tourist places) but when just going a few streets away from the main roads in the city center, you could find even cheaper food, drinks and coffee. Even if we didn’t eat that much out during our stay, we spent approx 25 euros per person a day on food and drinks in Sofia. Not much at all in other words.

Some general food and drink prices are:

• approx 2-5 LEV / 1-2,5 euros for a cappuccino

• 2-4 LEV / 1-2 euros for a slice of pizza

• 3 LEV / 1,5 euros for a burek / pita of some kind (meaning a phyllo dough pie with for instance cheese in it)

• 1,5 LEV / 0,75 euros for a bottle (500 ml) of Coca Cola, Fanta or other soda

• 12-14 LEV / 6-7 euros for a cocktail

• 20-25 LEV / 10-12,5 euros for a main meal at a restaurant (some meat meal costs more though)

A PLACE YOU CANNOT MISS

There are many magical places in Sofia, but one place I would really recommend is the Ozone Skybar. It is located in the second highest building of Sofia and is as high as 130 meters tall. The Ozone Skybar is on the 29th floor and you have an amazing view over the whole city from there. We went for a cocktail (and had some pieces of sushi just to munch on something) and the price of the cocktails were approx 9 euros each.

I recommend you to:

• Book a table since before because this place is popular, especially during the weekends, and ask for a table with view if it’s possible.

• Go quite early, possibly around sunset. We were there around 7 am and had the chance of seeing the city in the golden light and also take photos at sunset and when it got pitch dark. We thought the city looked the best when still day time, because at night the city was very dark (there weren’t that many lights in the city) so you couldn’t really see it that well.

WHAT I REALIZED

• The city is very calm. Bulgarian people aren’t loud and they mind their own business. We rarely heard a single car horn even. We thought Bulgaria would be noisy and chaotic as Greece, but not at all!

• The Bulgarian people that couldn’t speak English and probably weren’t super comfortable with tourists, were a bit reserved towards you which is understandable, and the Bulgarians that knew English were super kind, talkative and helpful, and also shared their own stories and lives with you. We have talked to so many Bulgarians during our 3 days, and it was extremely inspiring!

• If you would like to eat Bulgarian traditional food, it’s a combination of Balkan food, Greek food and Turkish food. The Bulgarian food is made with lots of meat so as a vegetarian and vegan it can be hard to find options. I honestly struggled a bit!

• If you would like to see something more, beyond the city center, we were looking into renting a car and driving to Rila National Park. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to go this time, but I’d definitely want to see more of Bulgaria’s nature next time.

All and all, we loved Sofia and I’m so happy that I took the chance to see it and get my own interpretation of it. It was a beautiful, clean city and we walked everywhere. We would tell that some people weren’t used to tourists and speaking English, but those who were was extremely kind and helpful, and we had a beautiful stay in Sofia; feeling safe and welcomed always!