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SOFIA / BULGARIA
SOFIA
Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria. It is also the biggest city in the country with about 1.4 mln citizens (including suburbs). Today, Sofia is a dynamic Eastern European capital, distinguished by its unique combination of European and Communist-style architecture as well as many beautiful orthodox churches. Furthermore, it claims to be one of the few European capitals with beautiful scenery and a developed ski-resort so close to it - the Vitosha mountain.
Districts
Sofia is one of the oldest cities in Europe with ruins spread across the city center. It was founded because of the quality of its mineral waters. In the city alone there are 7 independent mineral water springs. An interesting constellation can be seen in the city centre, where a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, a mosque and a synagogue are located at great proximity.
In the administrative center of Sofia the streets are covered with specific yellow pavement.
St. Alexander Nevski ChurchChurches of interest are the St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral (and one of the largest orthodox churches worldwide), the Russian St. Nikolay, and the old ones St. Sofia, St. Petka, St. Georgi rotunda, St. Sedmochislenitsi, St. Paraskeva.
Transportation
By plane - Sofia Airport :
There are several flights a day to Vienna, and daily flights to some of the major European hubs. Tickets of traditional airlines can be pretty expensive, since there aren't that many carriers flying daily to Sofia.
Bulgarian flag-carrier airline is "Bulgaria Air" with Sofia as a hub, and for example two-way ticket to/from Madrid & Barcelona will be about 230 Euros. Another Bulgarian company "Viaggio Air" can also be a bargain with two-way ticket to Vienna for 200 Euros. Other 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.
By train
- Bulgarian State Railways
International trains provide a large number of routes to Sofia, arriving from such places as Kiev, Istanbul, Vienna, Athens, Thessaloniki and other common cities.
Allow up to three hours delay if travelling from Belgrade while the Serbian and Bulgarian customs officers ransack the trains due to cigarette smuggling. However, the cigarette smuggling is worth experiencing once.The primary trains from Bucharest to Sofia, and back, run twice daily through the border city of Ruse. For example, recent trains are scheduled from Bucharest to Sofia in the daytime departing 11:35/arriving 21:30 and a night train departing 19:35/arriving 06:10. Passport control and customs takes place in Ruse, approximately mid-trip. Check local trainstations for updated information.
To İstanbul the train costs 25 euro (a bus-tıcket just 20), the train departing at around 18:30 (the bus at 21:00) and arrives at 9:00 (bus 6:00)
By car
- The highway from Sofia towards Plovdiv is the best road to/from Sofia. It ends about 40 km after Plovdiv and from there to Istanbul, or a first-class road to Stara Zagora, Sliven, and the second-largest seaport Burgas.
Otherwise coming from Greece the road is in very good shape, so the 300 km from Thessaloniki are done fairly fast if you don't happen to fall into big waiting-lines at the border. Coming from Macedonia, the roads are in rather bad shape. From Central Europe you can drive almost the whole length on highways (via Slovenia-Croatia-Serbia or Hungary-Serbia), with only the last 100 km between Nis in Southern Serbia and Sofia being heavily trafficked mountain roads in not the best shape.
Built in 2007, this brand new city apartment hotel comprises a total of 69 rooms on 5 floors. Facilities on offer to guests at this air-conditioned establishment include a lobby area with a 24-hour reception, a hotel safe, a lift, a cafe, a newspaper stand, a hairdressing salon, a bar and a restaurant. There is WLAN/Internet access and guests may a...
Strategically located, it stands near interesting places like the St. George Rotunda, the mystifying Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the National Museum of History, the Boyana Church which happens to be an accredited UNESCO building and many more. Hilton Sofia stands right opposite the Congress Centre or the National Palace of Culture. It lies in th...
The hotel was built in 1938 and was renovated in the year 2000. It consists of a 7-storey main building with a total of 84 rooms of which 16 are singles, 59 are doubles and 9 are suites. Amongst the hotel's facilities count a reception desk, a bar, a pub and a restaurant. Use of a public Internet terminal is available to guests. The hotel also offe...
