Have you just come back from a trip and started to think about where your next destination will be? If so, we share the same obsession.

With budget airlines, especially RyanAir, you can find great deals. Being located on a small but great island, Cyprus makes traveling to Europe very accessible. I know there are many critics of this airline (as I suppose for all things) but honestly, which airline offers such fares? OK, so you have extra charges for seat selection, suitcases etc. However, at least you have the choice of a cheap fare. I know certainly, if it wasn’t for Ryanair, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have made so many trips over the last couple of years.

So, what do you do if you want to travel often, and you can’t really afford expensive holidays? Firstly, find a couple of friends or family members that you can share the experience with and the costs of the hotel room and taxis!

Secondly, make it a short trip, preferably two to three days. Even if you have just one full day in a new country, is this not worth it? Plus, it means you can save for your next trip too.

We landed in Sofia on the Saturday evening and didn’t miss the chance to walk from our hotel to the Vitosha Boulevard (which is the main street in the center of Sofia, with stores and restaurants) where we had dinner.

Our hotel – we stayed at the Central Hotel Sofia Central Hotel Sofia | Accommodation Sofia City Center

Sunday- we had a full day in Sofia. We started our day with breakfast at the hotel, which offered a wide selection of dishes. Amazing how much one can eat, even though one never has breakfast at home!

We visited the Russian church, officially known as the Church of St. Nicholas, the Miracle- Maker. The church houses the remains of the Saint Archbishop Seraphim, which is located below the Russian Church’s main floor. Many people visit the grave of the saint, who died in 1950, where they pray and leave notes for their wishes to be granted. It is said that if you make a wish in a letter to the Saint, it will come true.

TIP: 1) There are tables and chairs with paper and pens where you can sit and write your letter/wish. So, you do not have to worry about not having taken any paper with you to write on. Unlike us, who were panicking that we forgot to take the notes with us and found a couple of local men who looked like they were preparing to open a stall market in a neighbourhood nearby and the gentleman kindly tore a page out of his diary for us.

2) Be careful of the slippery cobblestones outside the church, in winter.

Next stop: Patriarchal Cathedral St. Alexander Nevsky

Very impressive Bulgarian Orthodox Cathedral in Sofia, both inside and outside. It is the largest cathedral in the Balkans and from what I have read, it can hold around 5,000 people inside. There was a church service at the time and was amazing to see.

We were then off to the area of the National Theater ‘Ivan Vazov’

Lovely area with gardens and a fountain (albeit nonfunctioning, with no water during our visit). At that point one of my sisters started to voice her need for a toilet. We did pass a metal style toilet facility on the way, with a sign ‘self cleaning toilets’. This needed coins, which we did not have at this point. Also, images of being locked inside, started flooding through my mind. Especially, after a previous trip to Venice, where I was locked in the toilets on our morning excursion and what was around 5-8 minutes (with thoughts going through my mind that I’d miss my flight back home that day) felt like an eternity! Thankfully my sister ran to my rescue and found someone to unlock the door.

So, we passed on this metal toilet facility. We also did have a little giggle, imagining the self-cleaning part as all the users having to clean the toilets themselves after use.

So, where to use a toilet? A coffee shop, of course. At that time, we were also in need of a coffee break. Opposite the theatre was a ‘Costa Coffee’. Now, we need to say ‘thank you’ to all those people sitting at this coffee shop, leaving no seats for us (honestly, not sarcastically). My sister searched for the nearest coffee shop on trip advisor, and we found one about 8 minutes walk away. We were happy to find such a lovely local coffee shop and lucky to find one table for us! (such a nice atmosphere, with a few tables)

Coffee shop: Fabrikadaga

‘Daga’ means rainbow (Rainbow Factory)

We tried Mekitsi- local dish with jam and cheese (scrumptious!)

We had some time before the Balkan Bites Free Food Tour, so we walked to the women’s market. I didn’t do much research into this and was thinking it was like a flea market; however, it is just a local market, selling local produce, vegetables and fruit. I would have given this a miss.

Balkan Bites Free Food Tour

Tip: These are finger food ‘bites’, so don’t expect to suppress your appetite after this trip. (the ‘bites’ should have given this away-I made this error in judgement) Was also hoping to visit Supa Star (soup bar) on the trip as I read in reviews, but it was not a stop on our trip. We didn’t have time to visit later in the day.

Our first stop was at a Sri Lankan restaurant, which we didn’t expect, but the bite that they offered was delicious!

(It seems that the restaurant/food options vary depending on the day)

Hadjidraganov’s Cellar Restaurant. One of the stops that we made on the tour. Very interesting restaurant with a warm atmosphere and traditional decor.

Interesting fact: As was mentioned to us by our guide, just like the Greeks, some Bulgarians also take on the Hadji at the start of their surname, meaning that they/their ancestors have done the pilgrimage to the Holy Places.

The Tour was one of our highlights of our trip with some interesting information provided by our Guide. We also met some lovely people on the trip. One solo, friendly traveller all the way from Brazil and another retired couple from Australia who have been traveling around the world for 20 months and still going! What a life experience!

The rest of the day was spent at the Vitosha Boulevard (shopping for souvenirs- Magnets) and the Christmas Market. (where we tried local food)

Fun Fact: Bulgarians nod their heads in a different way than in other parts of the world. This leads to hilarious moments (we had such a confusing moment in a food shop, which we didn’t know of this fact at the time). The locals nod their heads up and down to say ‘no’ and shake horizontally to say ‘yes’.

My Souvenir Magnet:

Try to find :

Bulgarians Knee/Squat Shop (basement shop)

Another interesting shop

TIPS

I. A couple of months prior to our trip, I started following experience.sofia on Instagram. This provides some helpful info and tips

II. The Bulgarian lev (BGN) is the official currency in Bulgaria. The banks in Cyprus do not exchange this currency, so I was a bit worried about this. However, luckily for us, we had a bank with an ATM opposite our hotel, so we exchanged money there the next day. Cards are used in most places, but I feel it is always good to have some cash. Avoid Euronet ATMs (yellow), their fees and conversions are high. Use the ATMs at one of the banks (DSK or Postbank).

III. How we got around – airport/hotel/airport: we used the hotel’s shuttle service, which we also paid by card at the hotel, so convenient for us. (had mixed reviews on other sites re other taxi services so wasn’t sure about this ) By walking around Sofia center (we are keen walkers), we managed to see the Ancient Serdica complex, Statue of Sofia, Saint George Rotunda Church, National Palace of Culture.