If you're wondering how to make the most out of 48 hours in Bulgaria without it turning into a typical city trip, you've come to the right place! This was one of our last stops before heading back home after our sabbatical and we were determined to find out what Bulgaria had to offer besides being popular for its nightlife at Sunny Beach. We've been told by a local to avoid that place at all cost.
For Europeans, Bulgaria is a relatively short flight and a destination that won't break the bank. So it is no surprise a lot of low cost airlines fly to Sofia (the capital) making it an affordable tourist destination. We decided to base ourselves from Sofia and rent a car to do a day trip to the highest mountain range in Bulgaria and also the highest in the Balkans.
Side story: we've been living out of two suitcases for almost 6 months when we got to Bulgaria and it was at this point one of our suitcases got damaged during transit. Sigh it only had to survive two more flights before we'd be back home. It was just past midnight and we proceeded to have to spend an hour at the airport to fill out forms to make a claim with Wizz Air of all airlines. For those not familiar with Wizz Air, it is a low cost airline and the chances that we were going to receive any kind of decent compensation was probably 1%. We are happy to share that we were part of the 1% and will share this story at the end of the blog for those who are interested in what happened in the end. Spoiler alert, we did receive compensation!
Good to know:
Official language: Bulgarian. English is spoken quite well in the capital but not really outside of it. The language is written in Cyrillic but it is quite different to Russian.
Currency: Bulgarian Lev (BGN).
They accept foreign credit cards, however it is useful to have some cash on you to pay for parking or buy snacks at smaller local places.
Bulgaria has a population of 6.9 million people and Sofia is the capital. About 1.3 million live in Sofia.
Bulgaria is part of the EU so easy to travel to for European passport holders.
There are international car rental companies available in Sofia. We rented ours through rentalcars.com for 69 EUR per day.
Our taxi was booked through welcomepickups.com. We have used their services in countries where Uber or Bolt is not available or complicated.
Top sites to visit
Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky
Church of St. George
Vitosha Boulevard
National Palace of Culture (NDK)
Seven Rila Lakes
Day 1: Sofia
Sofia is a the third oldest capital in Europe (after Rome and Athens). In the 6th century BC it was known as Serdica which is the historical Roman name. Nowadays, Serdika is the name of a district in Sofia. The architecture and culture has been influenced over the millenia by Romans and Byzantines, the Ottomans, Austro-Hungarians and the Soviets.
A visit to the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky can't be missed, you can see its golden domes from miles away! It is one of the 50 largest Christian churches by volume in the world. It was built between 1882 and 1912 and created in honour of the fallen heroes during the Russo-Turkish war after which Bulgaria gained independence from the Ottoman Empire.
Walk to Church of St. George which is one of the oldest preserved buildings in Sofia. It was built in the 4th century as Roman baths and became a church during the Roman and Byzantine empire. During the Ottoman rule in the 16th century it became a mosque. In the middle of the 19th century it was abandoned and it reclaimed its use as a Christian church.
After that, pass by Vitosha Boulevard which is the main shopping street of Sofia on the way to the National Palace of Culture (NDK). NDK is not the prettiest building but an example of Soviet architecture. It is used as a conference and congress centre and was built in 1981 to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state.
If you'd like to stay fit whilst on vacation, we recommend CrossFit Serdika. It's located in the Vasil Levski National Stadium so it can take a little time to find but they have a great location and friendly coaches and members.
Where to stay
Hotel Leda - This hotel had a simple breakfast included in the room rate (50 EUR). It is walking distance from the city centre and the room was functional, we would recommend perhaps going for a slightly more luxury room because our shower situation was quite cramped. It reminded us of our bathroom toilet situation in Hong Kong but a bit more spacious. What made it a good experience was that the hotel reception was super friendly and helpful when we needed some Bulgarian speakers for our damaged luggage situation.
For the foodies:
Breakfast/coffee
Rainbow Factory (for delicious brunch/lunch options, coffee and juices. Walk-in only so there can be a bit of a wait)
Altruist - Urban Coffee Shop & Bakery (for great coffee and breakfast pastries)
Баничарница „Собствено производство“ (for freshly baked banitsa early in the morning. They're a filled phyllo dough pastry with egg, cheese, spinach and are reminiscent of burek)
Dinner
Hadjidraganov's Cellars (for traditional Bulgarian food, later in the evening they play live music. It is very tourist oriented which isn't usually our thing but the food was good)
Haikara Ramen (for lovely ramen noodles in case you're craving something non-traditional)
Day 2: Seven Rila Lakes
The Seven Rila Lakes is a gem of a day trip around Sofia! The name doesn't leave much to the imagination as there are 7 glacial lakes and it's located in the Rila National Park. They are situated between 2100m - 2500m above sea level and are the most visited lakes in Bulgaria. The lakes are located one above another and connected by small streams which form small cascades.
The names of the lakes from highest to lowest in elevation: Salzata (The Tear), Okoto (The Eye), Babreka (The Kidney), Bliznaka (The Twin), Trilistnika (The Trefoil), Ribnoto Ezero (The Fish Lake) and Dolnoto Ezero (The Lower Lake).
Good to know before going to the Seven Rila Lakes:
Carry cash to pay for parking and the cable car tickets. Parking was about 5 BGN (2.50 EUR) and roundtrip cable car tickets were 25 BGN (12.78 EUR) per person.
Navigate to Rila Seen Parkplatz to find the parking lot.
Timetable of the cable car is 9:00 - 16:30. Closed for maintenance every Monday 8:30 - 12:30 and every last Monday of the month the whole day. Check their website for the most up to date information.
Start early if you want to do the full hike to make sure you catch the last cable car back.
Bring hiking boots, multiple layers of clothing (waterproof layer), water and food.
Bring sunscreen.
There is a café and toilets at the top of the cable car.
The full loop will take 4.5 hours (with stops), 9 km.
Best season to go is in the summer. We went mid June and there was still a lot of snow from the 5th lake to the 6th and 7th lake.
We rented a car for the day as it was affordable and gave us maximum flexibility for when we wanted to start and when we wanted to head back to Sofia. It is approx. 97km drive to the Seven Rila Lakes from Sofia and will take you just over 1.5 hours to get there.
If you read the reviews online, the cable car has a reputation as it is a bit slow and open so if it's windy, rainy or if you're afraid of heights...you're in for a long 20 minute ride! The forecast wasn't looking that great for us so we had brought waterproof jackets and an umbrella just in case. On the way back the umbrella came in handy as it did start to rain and we could cover ourselves with it in the cable car.
When we arrived the first part of our route to the lowest lake was quite overcast but as we continued, the clouds disappeared and we had clear skies. The weather was a bit moody but we were lucky that it didn't rain while were hiking, only on the way back in the cable car so don't get disheartened if the weather doesn't look ideal.
The top two lakes were frozen mid June and we had to walk through some snow to get there. What was great was that the scenery changed quite a lot that day as the lower lakes had no snow and the top lakes did. First we were surrounded by spring flowers and when we walked a bit further we entered a winter wonderland in the space of 15 minutes. One of the most memorable lakes during the hike is the kidney lake because it is actually shaped like one. The route is officially a loop and the way back took us through bits that were a bit flooded due to the melting snow but it added to the adventure. Nothing a pair of waterproof boots can't handle!
Note: what we liked was that there were signs raising the awareness around good practices whilst hiking. In order to enjoy national parks as long as possible we have to take care of it. The Seven Rila Lakes are due to their popularity facing problems with erosion and pollutants. Try to stick to the walking paths as much as possible and have your bathroom breaks at the Rila Lakes Chalet (Rilski Ezera Hut).
Side story - the one with the damaged luggage
Ever had that sinking feeling in your stomach when you see your luggage on the baggage belt which has been damaged in transit? It was just past midnight and all you want to do at this point is go to your hotel, have a shower and go to bed. We went to the baggage handling desk and showed the crack in the suitcase. The person who helped us was funny and helped lift our spirits a bit. After asking a couple of question to fill in the form he sent us on our way with a print out of Wizz Air's damaged luggage policy. Always make sure you take photos of your luggage before leaving the airport!
In certain countries, Wizz Air has a company they work with who will need to repair or replace your bag. The people at this place did not speak English so we managed to get help from our hotel receptionists. They were honestly amazing and the main reason we ended up getting compensated.
In our case, the bag was beyond repair so an alternative was offered. The receptionist said the good news is, they will give you a new bag, the bad news is it will not be a Samsonite. We knew at this point that if we accepted the new bag, we would never be able to claim compensation. So we declined their offer and set out to find some duct tape while we decided to settle the matter with Wizz Air directly via e-mail.
Wizz Air required the following information:
Copy of the itinerary
Receipt of the repair to the bag or if it is damaged beyond repair
Written statement from a repair shop confirming that the bag is damaged. This statement should contain the following information:
Brand, model, value and age of the bag
Stamp and signature of the repair shop
This seemed like a method to discourage people to go down this route but we can confirm that it's worth trying! We were able to communicate that we needed this information from the bag (repair) shop including the stamp and signature and within 10 minutes they sent us the written statement.
Two weeks later, Wizz Air offered a financial compensation of 400 EUR. Tips: state that your bag is no older than 2 years and put a realistic markup on the value of your bag as they will deduct a percentage based on "age". Yes, we were just as surprised as you are probably!
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