To be entirely fair, I only had two days to explore the city but I decided to write a three day itinerary to convince people to stay longer. I regret my short stay, there’s so much more to do in the city than what I managed to do. That’s why the second day of my itinerary are recommendations I didn’t follow myself.

Day 1

Arrival
I had booked a bus ticket at Makedonia KTEL Bus Station in Thessaloniki.

The different routes that you can book at this bus station made me jump up and down from excitement: Albania, Montenegro, different destination in Greece – of course, I had decided on Bulgaria, so Sofia would be my final destination.

The ticket cost 26 euro and the bus was delayed for an hour so it left at 3:30pm. The bus was comfortable, although it wasn’t fitted with the luxuries described on the ticket. Wait, let me rephrase that. It was fitted with the luxuries, like a TV, but some of the TVs didn’t work. Not a big deal for me, because I had my book ready to be devoured.

After 1.5 hours we reached the Greek border. Our passports were checked on the bus and we had an opportunity to buy some items in the tax free area. There was no passport check on the Bulgarian side.

The landscape changed drastically as we entered Bulgaria; gorgeous little streams passed through mountainous areas. We arrived at the bus station in Sofia at 8:30pm. There is a metro station next to the bus station. The metro station essentially only has two lines, so it’s a great uncomplicated network. Every ticket costs 1 lev (0,50 euro) even if you change lines.

The hotel I stayed in is Magic Castle Hotel . Guess why I chose it? 🙂 It’s a few minutes away from the city centre, but honestly with the metro network it’s super easy to commute and the hotel is worth it. Service is really friendly, the hotel is clean and spacious and the shower… Heaven! Oh, and I didn’t even mention the breakfast, it’s small but everything is tasty. I loved this hotel!

Free Walking Tour
Every day at 11am and 6pm there is a Free Walking Tour which starts at the Palace of Justice in the city centre. My guide in the morning was Dino, a very vibrant and happy talker. His stories about the city were so much fun! I’ll highlight some of the stops in this post, but I would heartily recommend you to take the tour when you’re in the city.

Sveta Nedelya Church
This church was rebuilt in the 1900s when there was an attempt on the life of Tsar Boris III. 200 people died in the bombing, but he survived due to his tardiness to attend the funeral service he was supposed to attend.

Theology Faculty of Sofia University
This faculty still has a Byzantine facade; one of the only buildings in the city that didn’t have to be rebuilt following the Second World War and the Soviet era.

Saint Sophia Statue
This statue replaced an enormous Lenin statue overlooking the city.

Church of St Petka of the Saddlers
This tiny little church is below ground level in Serdika Metro Station. Remember how I told you that everything underneath ground level means it’s very old in Athens? The same applies to Sofia. On Day 2 you could enter this church, unfortunately during the Walking Tour you cannot.

Square of Tolerance
There is a lookout point where you can see a synagogue, a mosque, a church and the holy building for capitalism (McDonald’s). This square is known as the Square of Tolerance.

Mineral Water Springs
Sofia is unique because it has 42 mineral springs with 8 different thermal zones with temperatures ranging between 30 and 90 degrees Celsius! There’s one mineral spring next to the bath which reaches a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. Dino told us and demonstrated that we could drink from it, but no one volunteered to be first. So I jumped ay the opportunity and enjoyed some hot water from the mineral springs (Spoiler alert: I did not get sick the next day)

Communist Party Headquarters
All the buildings in Sofia are huge. They are remains from the Soviet era when everything had to be built bigger and better. One of the grandest buildings is (not surprisingly) the Communist Party Headquarters. Nowadays, it’s used for the Government’s offices.

Presidency with Guards
These guards are not actually protecting the presidency. They are just there for the show. The actual guards look like James Bond and are wearing business suits; our guide pointed them out as we walked past the parking area.

St. George Rotunda
How many Rotundas have I seen during this trip? I’m pretty sure that every city in the Balkan has a Rotunda somewhere. Sofia does as well. The Rotunda is now surrounded by grand looking residencies but the Rotunda itself still looks beautifully preserved.

City Garden
Nothing special to say about the garden apart from the fact that I would’ve loved to explore it on a sunny day.

Ivan Vazov National Theatre
This building was built in 1907 and it’s one of the most ornate buildings in Sofia. It was built by Austrian architects. One item in this National Theatre caused quite an uproar, if you look at baby in the second picture you might understand why.

Hagya Sophia Church
Hagya Sophia Church (where have we heard that one before? Thessaloniki and Istanbul?) has lent the city that used to be known as Serdika its new name. Pilgrims used to make their way to Serdika to pray at the Sophia Church and as it goes people started referring to the city by the church name rather than by its original name.

Byzantine churches don’t have bell towers and because a bell was required to be rung at some point in history, the inhabitants of the city were inventive enough to hang a bell from a neighbouring tree.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
This monument to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian soldiers who have died defending their homeland has a beautiful eternal flame.

St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
The last stop on the walking tour is the most impressive one. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is built in the middle of a quiet road. Everything about Sofia seems huge. Larger than you’ll find in any other country – at least I haven’t found a bigger cathedral than this one. It’s built in the Neo-Byzantine style and it’s beautiful!

Just one or two pictures of this cathedral would not do, so I’ve added a few which show the cathedral from different angles.

St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Since the Free Walking Tour finished here, you might as well enter the crypt which is accessible from the side, to see very well-preserved Byzantine art. You guys should know by now how crazy I am about Byzantine art!

Day 2

I have added this second day, because I think you should have one day where you can enjoy the city to your heart’s content. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a full empty day so I didn’t get to do all these awesome things I’m suggesting.

Free Communist Walking Tour
One of the things I would’ve liked to do, and you could do, on the second day would be a Free Communist Walking Tour, which is organized by the same company that organized the Free Walking Tour. Walking around the city, you’ll find a lot of statues, many of them related to the Soviet era. It would be nice to learn more about them.

Exploring the City
Or you could just roam around the city like I did on my half days. You could shop in Vitosha Street – a beautifully large car-free shopping street with all the essentials.

Or you could visit the many museums that are hosted in the city. Be careful, because most of the museums are accessible by walking over the yellow brick road. The bricks look lovely, but they actually get super slippery when wet. If you’re crossing the street and a non-local driver tries to stop for you, he could slip and hit you, or you could slip and fall.

There are also some outdoor art exhibits.

Or you could walk around and explore the grandeur and beauty of the city.

Day 3

On the third day I would advise you to either book a tour (like I did) or to travel by yourself to the Boyana Church and to Rila Monastery. I will describe these two UNESCO sights in a separate blog post.

Departure
Leaving the city by plane or bus is remarkably easy. As I described in the arrival section of this post, you can take a metro to the bus station. You can also reach the airport by metro, only you’d have to change lines at Serdika Station.

It took only 1 hour and it cost 1 lev and you reach the airport. The metro is completely empty all the way to the airport so you don’t have to worry about finding a seat. I flew from Terminal 1 (low-budget terminal), so I had to take a bus from 2 to 1, which is free (I think… or I just hopped on without paying).

Conclusion

Did my love for Sofia seep sufficiently out of this article? If not, let me state it again: Sofia is a beautifully clean and grand city filled with kind people. I hate to say it, but I was really surprised by how much I loved this city. Before I went there people (including other tourists) massively lowered my expectations by asking me why I would even consider going. Now, if I hear this again, people will receive a twenty minute long hymn of why I fell in love with Bulgaria. You can expect three more articles about the country and all of them will be equally full of praise: Wining and Dining in Sofia, Boyana Church and Rila Monastery and Plovdiv.