A capital city with a stunning view over it (Sofia)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Sofia
Date:	20/07/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easily reachable, relaxed, good selection of parks and churches

Disadvantages: Not as brash and in your face as some people like: Budapest, Praha etc

Sofia along with Vilnius and Zagreb is probably my favorite capital city in Europe. Bulgaria is quite a big nation compared to the others, so you may think that their capital would be the heavy-weight of the Balkans but it's not at all.

Sofia is surprisingly green and spacious in fact, with various nice parks speckled with various monuments. There's also a lot of small squares and churches, all of which seem to never get to busy in the way you would expect them to, particularly in the summer when a reasonable proportion of the population head for the coast or indeed to Greece for work.

Sofia has a notably Turkish feel to it, not surprisingly after being part of the Ottoman Empire for so many years, the market in the centre offers everything from fresh fish to delicious Turkish delight and everything in between, it's well worth a visit - particularly if you want to self-cater. There are however plenty of pizza/kebab like options on most corners and you sholdn't have too many problems ensuring a cheap fill.

Fellow dooyooer Fizzywizzy has done a pretty good review of Sofia, so I'll try to inform you of some different things. You'll find that one of the yummiest things throughout Bulgaria is the food- for a cheap traveller's meal I recommend buying a variety of white cheeses (usually goat, sheep or water buffallo), Ljutenica (a slightly spicy tomato and pepper relish) - easily visible as red slop in most fridges near cheese, Pindjur (a tasty aubergine paste) - that'll be the greenish slop next to it that looks like a yellow guacamole. Buy some bread and away you go - what a delicious feast!

Sofia's location is awesome because there's a small mountain range just behind the city, I have to say that I went there with friends by car and it probably seems a lot closer than it is on public transport, either way it's a must visit for a spectacular view over the city and a pleasant walk or ski depending on the season. There's a wide range of flora and fauna and it's kept relatively tidy by volunteers, as the Bulgarians don't have a great attitude to waste yet.

The forested hill sides are home to some pretty interesting landscape including some enormous boulders, there's a great selection of footpaths in the area from where the base of them is mostly the cable car stations that are reached from Aleko which in turn can be reached on bus no.66 from Hladinika Quarter in Sofia. There's a small choice of pubs/eateries/shops near the cable car station, so make use of it!

It's also these surrounding suburbs that host a fine amount of small villages where monasteries and old churches can be found, it's worth exploring the neighbourhoods, where old men enjoy their rakija a bit too much!

Hostels are a plenty, as are hotels and Sofia is easily reachable by plane, train or road from most of Europe (although it's a bit of a journey by road from Western or Northern Europe obviously)

Summary: I love the place