I am going to Sofia, Bulgaria in June for a conference. Please advise on:
- Best way to travel there by plane (I'm starting in Denver)
- What to see in Bulgaria - I hear the beaches are nice?
- What's on the way there and back, conveniently? Greece?
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
I was there years ago, although I came via bus through Macedonia.
Sofia is a great walking city. Although not as well maintained as some western capitals, there's a lot of wonderful turn of the century architecture, and surprisingly little of the concrete abominations that most communist countries specialized in. There was a great outdoor market when I was there...although I can't remember exactly where. Be sure to visit the Alexander Nevsky cathedral- one of the most impressive Orthodox cathedrals in the world.
Bulgaria does have some good beaches, but they're not very close to the capital- ie, longer than a daytrip.
Bulgarian cuisine makes wonderful use of a particular variety of sweet red pepper (much like Sicilian use tomatoes). Try to find a burek as well, which I can best describe as Philly cheese steak wrapped in buttery philo dough. Be sure to get all the Bulgarian food you can, because it's really hard to find elsewhere.
Posted by
Denver, CO, USA
1559 posts
Lisa:
I suggest you visit the Douglas County library and pick up Rick's guide to Eastern Europe which covers Bulgaria. The Douglas County library has a great travel section - you will have access to lots of other guide books too.
From Denver, the easiest way to travel is to catch the Lufthansa flight to FRA and connect onto Sofia. Alternatives would be going through any major hub in the US or Europe. You could also catch either the United or British Airways flight from Denver to London and connect onwards.
Posted by
none
79 posts
Hi Lisa
We will be in Bulgaria May 1st- May 8th, so feel free to contact me when we return. We are flying UA/LH from SFO.
United has cancelled our flight 2 times so stay on top of them.
Many of our friends asked why Bulgaria...so on our personal travel journal I put up videos of Sofia, Rila Monastary, Plovdiv and Veliko Turnovo that you might enjoy viewing.
Also I added a list of websites we are using for our research.
The DK Bulgaria book and Lonely Planet were helpful,
along with inyourpocket.com
If you would like to see our prep work, just go to ourpassportstamps.com and then the 2009 Adventure section.
and once again feel free to send me an email upon our return and I will try to answer all your questions for you!