Sofia Travel Forum

Hey,

I shall be coming down to Sofia from Istanbul and am guessing taking a train is the safest and most economical option (correct me if I'm wrong). Have a few queries though. I'd like to explore what the "real" Bulgaria is, and am wondering if visiting Sofia would be the best option since its the most susceptible to 'westernisation' - I hope you get what I mean. Lemme know if I am looking too much into it. Since I would be staying there for a couple of days, what would be the best accomodation options? Places to visit? ANy hikes?

From Sofia, I shall be travelling on to Romania, so if possible could someone guide me on the best way to plan this trip? I read a few posts about people going to Macedonia too - should I come directly to Sofia or enroute Macedonia?

What about getting around in the city itself ? Language going to be a problem?

Any help would be really appreciated :)

Cheers.

Reading your other posts: train is indeed a good option. But neither Sofia nor Bucharest not even Beograd are the best places to explore.

Consider:

Veliko T'rnovo, Plovdiv for Bulgaria
Suceava (painted monasteries), Transylvania (large area!) for Romania
Rashka, Morava monastery district in Serbia
Kotor for Montenegro
Dubrovnik, Split (in general: Dalmacia and Plitvice) for Croatia
Ohrid for Macedonia

I can also suggest you Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo.Sofia is nice too.It depends on you time.You'll need at least one day in each.and the train is god option-all these cities are connected to Istanbul or Bukurest

For the alphabet , it'll be very easy for you if you have the cyrilic alphabet, although many peolpe know English

There is a good train connection between Sofia and Istanbul. You can taake the nighttrain. For a good bulagria experience the capital is a goodchoice, combined with a daytrip to the Rila monastery, the you have seen a Bulgarian highlight. The Aleksander Neski Church, StNikolai Russian Church and Banya Basha Mosque are inetersting religious buildings in Sofia, the presidents buidling, lions bridge, and the theater.

Hey Gyuri (once again :P)

Become my trip planner !! :P

Whoa .. and are all these places in all the countries easily accessible through train ? Do I need to make prior reservations for acco and stuff or is everything readily available once I get there ? :)

Cheers mayte !

Hey Mirchica,

Hmm, well then I guess I'll spend at least 2 days in Bulgaria :) But are Plovdiv and Veliko accessible by a direct train from Istanbul or do I have to take a detour from Sofia? In which case I'll hafta explore Sofia and take a pick from the other two.

Err.. English is all I have, and a lil bit of German and French .. and am guessing that won't come in handy too much ;)

Do lemme know in case you got anymore suggestions :)

Hey Ger,

Thanks for the train info dude :) Great at least the itinerary of what all to do when in Sofia is planned :P

Keep me posted in case of any more help you can give :)

Cheers.