Sofia

One of the oldest cities in Europe, we had a great time exploring Sofia and the sites around it. We booked a centrally located hotel and found it super easy to walk around between attractions. Originally, we had booked a car and planned to drive around the region so we could see more. We had 5 days and knew we would run out of things to do in the city after a few days. On our arrival to the airport, we were told by the rental company that we needed an international drivers license….ummm what?! We had heard of this license before, but had no idea this was required for Bulgaria, and the rental company did not inform us until we arrived in the country and it was too late. We have rented cars in over 15 other countries throughout the world and have never run into this issue until now. For those of you who don’t already know, you can go to AAA with their application for an international drivers license that you can find on their website, 2 passport sized photos, and the required fee. You are also able to mail it in. If you are living outside of the US like we were, you can’t get one! So basically, we were left with no option but to take taxis or tours to the places we wanted to go which was very disappointing.

We also happened to be visiting Sofia over the Orthodox Easter holiday and we found many places to be closed during our visit. There were several tour companies that we found online offering day trips out of the city, but most were closed over the holiday and unable to help us so last minute. The free walking tours that are offered daily in the city were one of the best things ever and gave us a good idea of the city on our first day in Sofia. We found that everything seemed to open pretty late in the morning and we struggled to find breakfast before 10am which surprised us. On the other hand, everything was open super late into the night. Almost everyone we ran into spoke English, and the currency is the Bulgarian Lev, though many places accepted credit cards. We felt that we could have seen everything in the city over a long weekend without day trips, but enjoyed the extra time to relax and move at a slower pace than normal.

Things to Do

Take a free tour

This was the first thing we did when we arrived in Sofia and it was a great start to our trip. The walking tour lasted around 2 hours but you could leave at any time if you wanted. Our guide had perfect English and told us a little bit about all of the main buildings in Sofia. There isn’t enough time to go in any of the places, but at least you have an idea of which ones you want to come back to explore more. Here is the info on the free tour, no reservations required! We only did the Sofia walking tour, but there are other free tours available as well- running tours, biking tours, even a hiking tour in the mountains to see a waterfall!

Palace of Justice- meeting place for the start of the tour

St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Definitely the most impressive building that we saw in Sofia, we were lucky to have St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral just outside our hotel. It is also the place where the free walking tour ended for us (not sure if they all take the same route). Built in the early 20th century after Bulgaria’s liberation from the Ottoman Empire, the cathedral is massive. It can hold up to 10,000 people and is still one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in Europe today. The entry was free, but you have to pay a small fee if you would like to take pictures inside.

St George Rotunda

Said to be the oldest building in Sofia, St George Rotunda was built in the 4th century. It has served as many different religious buildings and there have been three layers of paintings found on it’s walls. Today it is the oldest Eastern Orthodox Church and daily services are still held here. There was a small fee to go inside and it only took us a few minutes to look around since it was so small. You can also see the excavations in the area around the Church from the old Roman settlement.

Vitosha Blvd

We spent a lot of our time hanging out on Vitosha Boulevard, a pedestrian only street in the center of Sofia. Even though there were a lot of tourists, the location was convenient and the view of the mountains was beautiful. There were places for shopping, tons of restaurants, bars, even a strip club. We did find that breakfast got started late and had trouble finding a meal before 10am.

St Sofia Church

Our guide told us that St Sofia Church is one of the most important places in Sofia because the city is named after this building and it is a symbol of Sofia. It was built on the highest hill at the time and is thought to be the place of the Early Christian Council. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times and today is one of the oldest functioning churches in Europe. When we visited St Sofia Church, there was a service happening so we didn’t get to see much of the upstairs. We did, however, go to the basement to check out the ruins. The excavation area is huge and there are many ancient ruins and tombs that you can see by following the walkway. Entry to the church was free but the museum downstairs had a small fee. On your way out, look for the bell! Instead of being in a tower, the bell is hanging from a large tree just outside the entrance. Also outside the church, on the way to Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, there is an eternal flame honoring the unknown soldier.

Central Market Hall

We found the Central Market Hall to be pretty small in comparison to other ones we have been to. It seemed to be full of mostly locals and we didn’t see many tourists. In the main aisle in the middle, there were different kinds of meats, bread, fish, and wines, and other foods and drinks being sold. Along the side aisles of the market, there were a few souvenir shops, but there were more options just walking around town. We did end up buying some wines and dried meat (Lukanka) to bring home for a pretty good price.

What to Eat

While the food in Bulgaria was similar to the food we are used to in Turkey, we still got to try a few new things. Plus, they serve pork here everywhere so that was a welcome change! These were a few of our favorites.

Banitza

A popular breakfast pastry in Bulgaria, we saw these filled with cheese, spinach, and ham. We enjoyed the spinach and cheese filled one most and found it was a perfect breakfast on the go before our walking tour.

Lukanka

Bulgarian salami, or Lukanka, went great with all the wine we drank. It is dried meat that was a little spicy. We liked it so much we even brought some at the Central Market Hall to bring home.

Kebapche

We had kebapche during our day trip to Plovdiv. Outside the monestary, they were grilling them up fresh and for fairly cheap. Minced meat mixed with spices, it reminded us very much of the kebabs that we get at home in Turkey. Some were served with bread and there were condiments available, but we ate ours plain.

Meshana Skara

Similar to mixed grill like we are used to having in the middle east, Meshana Skara was what we shared at the traditional Bulgarian restaurant that we tried. It was different kinds of grilled vegetables, kebapche, different cuts of pork, and more. It might not look like a lot, but 3 of us shared this plate and were stuffed. Of course, we had a few bottles of wine to wash it down.

Itinerary

This is how we ended up spending our days in Sofia. As I said before, we could have done much more if we had been able to rent a car or even plan some day trips ahead of time, but it all worked out!

Day 1- We arrived at the airport in the morning around 8am. After attempting to pick up our car rental, we ended up taking a taxi to our hotel and leaving our luggage so we could go explore. We grabbed some banitza for breakfast and joined the free walking tour. After checking in, we went to Vitosha Blvd and had several drinks and some dinner.

Day 2- We had originally wanted to drive to Rila Monastery this day. Instead, we took the extra time to sleep in, enjoy a late breakfast and go to the gym and indoor pool and get massages. The weather was cool and rainy, so we had barhopped around Sofia for the afternoon. We booked dinner at a traditional Bulgarian Restaurant recommended by the hotel.

Day 3- We had planned to take the free hiking tour to Vitosha Mountain and Boyana Church today, but instead took the day to walk around Sofia more and do some and sightseeing. We revisited the city’s main attractions that we learned about in our walking tour the first day, but today we went inside and explored them all further.

Day 4- We spent the entire day on a private tour to Plovdiv. Our driver picked us up early and we didn’t arrive back at the hotel until later in the evening. We had dinner at the hotel and drinks at the hotel rooftop bar.

Day 5- For our last day in Sofia, we did some souvenir shopping and enjoyed more Bulgarian food before heading to the airport.

Day Trips

We had planned on taking more trips out of Sofia, but after we were unable to rent a car, our options were more limited. We wanted to visit Rila Monastery one day, Plovdiv one day, and then drive out to Vitosha Mountain and Boyana Church one of the days. Obviously, it would be very expensive and time consuming to take all of these trips with a tour, so we decided to take a day trip to Plovdiv that stopped at Koprivshtitsa , Asen’s Fortress, and Bachkovo Monastery as well. It was a long day, but it was nice to get out of Sofia and we felt we made the correct choice.

Koprivshtitsa

The first stop of the day, we were originally going to skip this town all together, but were really glad we stopped. It is quite small and our guide walked us through the town for just a little over an hour. It was a holiday, so there were not many people. We visited some traditional houses and enjoyed the peacefulness of this beautiful place.

Plovdiv

The second largest city in Bulgaria, we were pretty excited to explore hear and see how different it was from Sofia. The main attractions here are an ancient Roman theater and stadium, but we also saw many beautiful houses and viewpoints. We actually felt like there were a lot more people walking around Plovdiv than in Sofia. Our guide said many people left Sofia for the holiday weekend, so it wasn’t as busy as normal.

Bachkovo Monastery

The second largest Monastery in Bulgaria, we were excited to visit Bachkovo Monastery since we were unable to visit Rila Monastary. You have to walk up a hill that is lined with different souvenir shops and food stalls to get to the main entrance. Since we were there over the Orthodox Easter weekend, the place was packed! We fought the crowds to explore the grounds a little bit and take some pictures, but it was pretty small and did not take much time to get through. It was just a short drive from Plovdiv to here, but otherwise I wouldn’t have made an extra trip to visit.

Asen’s Fortress

Our stop at Asen’s Fortress didn’t take too long to explore either. After paying the entrance fee, we had a short walk to the fort. What we found super cool about this place is that it is situated on the edge of a cliff with really amazing views over the surrounding mountains. You were also able to climb all the way up if you wanted and there was a small chapel to see inside

Hi.

May 31 Sofia, Bulgaria

Most Recent Post

Instagram

Hi.

May 31 Sofia, Bulgaria

Jun 20 Copenhagen, Denmark

May 8 Mauritius

Related Posts