Sofia

Start your trip to Sofia with cheap car rental provided by Online-Car-Hire. We offer fast online booking with discounted car rental at Sofia airport. All of our car hire suppliers employ specialist telephone staff on hand waiting to answer any further queries that may come up before or after completing your car rental booking. For your information the airport at Sofia is approximately 10 km from the centre of town.

 

Superb Sofia, Europe’s oldest capital city and Bulgaria’s architecturally rich principal centre.

Centrally situated in Europe, Sofia has benefited from its links to other countries. The city’s location is within the Sofia Valley with a scenic location it shares with Mount Vitosha’s foothills in Western Bulgaria. This mineral and thermal spring ridden city has always been accessible through its mountainous barrier by three passes responsible for linking Sofia with Central Europe, the Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea as well as the Black Sea.

Sofia is well situated for travelling across to Bulgaria’s second biggest city, Plovdiv at a hundred and fifty kilometres as well as within a modest drive from the countries of Serbia, Greece and Macedonia. When in Sofia, expect a continental climate of hot summers and freezing winters.

Boasting a history that reaches back for thousands of years, Sofia’s journey through to the modern day was a colourful and tumultuous one. One thing has never changed however and that is its importance in terms of cultural assets and commercial prosperity. During the 4th century BC, Sofia was, for a while, the domain of Alexander the Great’s father, Philip of Macedon after many years serving as the domain of a Thracian settlement.

One of the more senior of Europe’s capital cities, it is perhaps not surprising that Sofia boasts a treasure chest overflowing with historic sights and attractions. As well as stunning architectural offerings such as the UNESCO World Heritage site of 10th century Boyana Church, there is the impressively gigantic Alexander Nevski Cathedral. One of the oldest temples in the Balkans and a very popular attraction, the 4th century Church of Sv. Georgi, can be viewed while in Sofia.

Culturally, there is a lot Sofia has to offer. Top international venues are here including the Bulgarian National Ballet and Opera, the National theatre and more in addition to a generous array of mehanis (taverns), clubs and pubs.

There is a wealth of museum and gallery offerings spread out across the city, the best of which include the Sofia City Art Gallery, the National History Museum, the Bulgarian Natural History Museum, the Museum of Earth and Men and the Bulgarian National Gallery. Probably the best gallery in Bulgaria is that of its magnificent National Gallery in the city’s Battenberg Square. This grandiose building was once the Bulgarian monarchy’s family residence, the Royal Palace. You would be hard pushed to find a more posh art venue, but its vast scale does help to contain an expansive collection of art. The National Gallery boasts approximately fifty thousand Bulgarian art works exclusively for the art lover’s pleasure.

If there is time left over from your busy sight seeing schedule, why not take a trip out to Boyana Church in the outer suburbs of Sofia. Possessing a brilliant array of thirteenth century frescoes, the church itself dates back to the eleventh century.

Don’t leave town without visiting the city’s great cathedral. Prepare yourself for the vision of neo-Byzantine architecture of Sofia’s major tourist attraction, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral because it is a remarkable sight. Built in the nineteenth century, the cathedral is the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the world. Don’t miss the art gallery in the crypt which is home to the biggest arrangement of Orthodox icons in all of Europe.

Sofia Airport

Sofia International Airport is situated 10 kilometres from the city centre.

Terminal 1 (also known as the ‘Old Terminal’) generally serves low cost flights.

The number 84 bus service into the city is caught from outside the Arrivals Hall and the fare costs 0.35 euros. Passengers are able to buy their bus ticket from the kiosk adjacent to the bus stop.

Taxis are found outside of the Arrivals terminal and is a service provided by the one company, OK Supertrans. Cars can be booked inside the Arrivals Hall. The cost of a fare from the airport into the city centre is 5 euros. The duration of the journey is usually fifteen minutes.