Sofia

Last week (March 2025) my boyfriend and I took a 4 day sunny trip to the capital of Bulgaria- Sofia.

We didn't choose our trip- it was actually a trip all organised through Journee. If you've not heard of them, they're a travel company who take the hard work out of planning a trip and send you somewhere based on what you would like from a trip. You then receive 8 clues prior to your trip, a pack with travel guide, reveal card and itinerary for your trip. Oh and accommodation of course!

I had used Journee once before in 2023, and I was flown to Pisa to visit Cinque Terre (I'll do a write up of this soon!) It truly was a wonderful trip, Italy really is one of my favorites.

Anyway, should you visit Sofia? Have you ever considered it or thought about it before? I certainly hadn't, so being sent to a random city which I had zero knowledge of appealed to the adventurer in me! So here's what we did in 4 days in Sofia.

Arriving into Vasil Levski International Airport, despite the queue for passport control (no EU line for me obviously) we were actually through very quickly. There is no Uber in Sofia, however you can download an app in advance called Taxime. We did this, and found it easy to use and managed to book a cab easily at arrivals. You could easily take a cab outside, but without having cash on us, it was easier to plug in our hotel details and pay upfront using an app. The cost was around 10 euros, the driver even spoke some English and recommended a coffee place for us! We arrived at Saturday lunch time, traffic was light and we were at our hotel after 20 minutes.

Our hotel was located off Vitosha Boulevard. This is what one might describe as the "main drag" - the street where all the cafes, bars, restaurants, souvenir shops are, and general promenading tourists and locals. Our hotel was probably a 3 minute walk, so were were centrally located, but as we were down a quiet street, we never had an issue with noise.

Our Hotel: https://stgeorge-bg.com/en/ Clean, quiet, breakfast included. Our room also came with a small kitchen area and balcony.

After a quick brunch (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294452-d15674262-Reviews-or15-Wonderland_Brunch_Cake-Sofia_Sofia_Region.html) we set upon our afternoon walk and explore. Here's what we did:

1. Vitosha Boulevard- This is a very busy shopping area packed with bars, restaurants, souvenirs, plus some high street chains (e.g H&M) Towards one end you are treated to a beautiful view of Vitosha Mountain.

2. National Assembly of Bulgaria- The former HQ of Bulgaria's National Communist Party.

3. Banya Bashi Mosque- built in 1576, built at the beginning of the Ottoman Empire.

4. Mineral Baths and Springs- not to visit sadly, but to admire this Neo-Byzantine building

5. Women's market- As it was late on Saturday afternoon, we walked through the streets to take a look at this market- mostly selling fruits, vegetables, clothing and apparel. It was nice, but nothing to rush out for.

We retreated back to Vitosha and enjoyed some beers whilst on the boulevard. We visited "Vitosha Street Bar and Diner" for a pint and a chance to watch the Liverpool game.

We had noticed that almost every single woman we saw was clutching a single flower or a bouqet. We later realised that it was International Women's Day, which seems to be a huige deal here over in Eastern europe! I checked with a mongolian friend of mine who confirmed the flowers will be for this reason- literally every single woman had flowers. I was even gifted a long stemmed daffodil by a waiter! As lvoely as this was, we were unable to secure any dinner reservations that evening as the restaurants were full to burst with families and people honoring the women int heir life. It was a bit like going out on Valentines day without a reservation. We ended up at a fast food joint which was supringsly tasty:

French Tacos Factory: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bQBaRhktuMMR1mGM

Day 2: Exploring Sofia some more and Communist walking tour

Coffee Stop: Martines Speciality Coffee Shop & Roastery

Delicious coffee and served with a chocolate coin- its a small place but pleasant and very friendly staff.

Our sightseeing continued today with the following itinerary:

1. The National Theatre