Roman Streets, Colourful Churches, Mineral Springs, Quirky Backstreets, Delicious Food & a Few Unexpected Surprises in Bulgaria’s Capital!
GENERAL SOFIA INFO
🇧🇬 COUNTRY: Bulgaria
📍 LOCATION: Western Bulgaria, at the foot of Vitosha Mountain
🏙️ CITY: Sofia / capital of Bulgaria
🏛️ HISTORY: Ancient Thracian settlement, later the Roman city of Serdica
⛪ MUST SEE: Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, St George Rotunda and Serdica ruins
♨️ MINERAL SPRINGS: Historic natural thermal springs near the former Central Mineral Baths
🛒 MARKETS: Sofia Central Market Hall and local fruit and vegetable markets
⏰ TIME NEEDED: 2–3 days for the main sights; longer to explore local neighbourhoods
✈️ MY JOURNEY: Yerevan → Istanbul → Sofia with Pegasus Airlines, approximately 8 hours including transit
LOCATION
🗺️ GOOGLE MAPS: View Sofia
Easy metro in from Sofia Airport – 30mins : Airport taxi is actually quite cheap here too and good to use when your flight lands at crazy hours
SOFIA ~ ROUND TWO, HERE I COME!
This will be the 2nd time im in Sofia 2025 I was here for 2 weeks as I had the European Armenian Games and I flew direct from Yerevan back then only 2.5hrs with Wizz but this time I ended up flying Yerevan → Istanbul → Sofia with Pegasus Airlines. And what used to be a quick hop turned into an approx 8 hr journey! including a 3 hr wait in Istanbul… Oh, the joys of travelling!
This city holds a lot of history though, Roman ruins beneath the streets, massive domed churches, and colourful streets lined with trees, a huge mountain watching over the city, theres so much to see and do in this city…
A beautiful church of Saint George is right next to our apartment which you can see from the bedroom
Inside is dark and with frescoes as all the other bulgarian churches
We came up a church while wandering around the more local and less well to do area of Sofia near the city centre
The inside of the church was beautiful and colourful full of frescoes
Explore this church here
The local area with different types of houses and buildings, mostly old crumbling buildings with some areas derelict and not looked after
THE CENTRAL MARKET HALL OF SOFIA ~ Shopping in history!
Known for its markets building which has now been converted to a shopping centre and a food hall – The Central market is a sea of people in a now modern and extravagant supermarket
We went shopping here and were wandering around for so long looking at the interesting and different produce, there was absolutely everything and anything supermarket wise that you could possibly need
We climbed up to the 2nd floor and there were a few fast food / buffet syle small restaurants and cafes with a seating area, from this angle you could see so much more of the past history and beauty of the building
Sofias oldest building which is a 4th c christian church caught between a Balkan Palace in the centre of the city
Beautiful ruins which we visited and explored
SOFIA’S BEST CHIPS! ... UMMM CANT SAY NO!
We had a dinner of these fresh made chips from a local chippie in a quiet area – was so good for €4.50
THE BEST potato chips right near our place
There was some sort of car show in the main square in town, so much colour, music, and vibes!
They had some really interesting cars on show which were old school and you can see have been made with love
THE MINERAL SPRINGS OF THE CITY! ~ Free hot water!
We randomly stumbled upon a well area with many different mineral spring taps and a lot of people had brought over their own large plastic bottles and we’re filling them up with this hot water which had many minerals in them
The mineral springs abundant for the people of the city
Sofia was originally an ancient Thracian city before the Romans took over and named it Serdica.
The Thracians saw the great prosperity that comes with the healing and suitable for direct and daily consumption waters that spring there, as did the Romans several centuries later.
When reaching the surface, the water from the Central mineral spring in Sofia have a temperature of 33°C (91.4°F).
The spring waters and the waters that used to run in the public mineral bath (which today houses the Museum of Sofia’s history) share the same source.
The spring is m’s away from the building of the public mineral baths
EXPLORING UNIQUE BACK STREETS OF THE OLD CITY
The back streets have awesome graffiti artwork and a cool mix of architecture
One of the residential areas that seems a bit run down
In the residential area there is a beautiful old church in the style of the main cathedral
We had lunch on the outskirts of the city which we bought from the supermarket and made ourselves it was so nice!
SERDICA ~ ROMAN RUINS BENEATH THE CITY!
Underground in Serdika surrounded by ancient Roman ruins
⛪ ALEXANDER NEVSKY CATHEDRAL ~ SOFIA’S GOLDEN BEAUTY!
Now THIS is one building you really can’t miss in Sofia!
The magnificent Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, with its enormous golden domes, is one of the city’s most famous landmarks
Built between 1904 and 1912, this spectacular Orthodox cathedral was constructed in memory of those who died fighting for Bulgaria’s liberation from Ottoman rule
And the inside is just as impressive as the outside! Beautiful religious frescoes, enormous arches, intricate decorations
The inside of the main Cathedral with beautiful frescoes
We walked all the way out to the suburbs and came upon a really nice park called “South Park” and there were beautiful gardens and walkways
Extensive amounts of beer! All very tasty
We went to the main fruit markets on the outskirts of the city and they had some really nice fresh fruit and veggies
The pastries in Sofia are really yummy and we had some nearly daily
The streets are mainly lined with beautiful huge green trees which cool down the city and feels lovely to walk through
🍺 BULGARIAN BEER ~ POUR YOUR OWN!
We found a restaurant which served draught beer straight from your own table
You pour it yourself and it’s a great experience!
BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS & A TOUCH OF OLD EUROPE!
The details of the buildings are just gorgeous – very similar to that of central European
There were many amazing theatres in the city which were huge with beautiful architecture
Check out the amazing detailing on the buildings!
This reminds me of Prague big time!
I found a beer University and had some local red beer and nuts
The main Palace of culture fountain area – filled up again after winter
Beautiful sunset from our apartment
One of many underground tunnels to cross the streets
Coffee culture was really good in Sofia, they are proud of their coffee beans and how they make a good cuppa!
We walked around the huge exhibition yard of the Military Museum – very interesting and huge amount of war machines used in the Bulgarian wars
SANTI – MAY 2026
