r/Europetravel • u/afrenchiecall Italiana • May 02 '26
Trip report Why so much dislike (on the Internet, mainly) towards Sofia (Bulgaria)?
I thought I'd give my own (equally biased, but positive) point of view. I'm on a trip here visiting a friend, it's relatively cheap and easy to get to Sofia from where I live - and I love it. It's obviously slightly more expensive since the introduction of the Euro in January, but the people are friendly, the infrastructure, while not great, is not too dissimilar from my own country's, the food is excellent, it's not filled to the brim with tourists and there is history everywhere you rest your eyes.
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u/imrzzz May 02 '26 edited 29d ago
I didn't know there was any dislike.
I'm in Sofia now and it kind of blows my mind how I can take public transport from the city centre to actual real snow-capped mountains, go wandering around in forests and be back in time for dinner.
This place is great!
Edit: a word
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u/KPlusGauda 28d ago
Can you please tell me more about that trip? Which buses did you use?
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u/imrzzz 28d ago
I started with the walk from Boyana Church to Boyana Waterfall. As you get closer to the waterfall it can be pretty rocky and you should probably have decent hiking boots (as I did not).
The buses you take will depend on where you start, but Sofia Traffic is really well integrated with Google Maps and I've not had to look anywhere else for timetables.
Google Maps even shows you were your bus is in real time while you're waiting at your bus stop, very useful.
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u/OllieV_nl European May 02 '26
Never heard dislike, I just never heard it brought up. It's a bit too far out of the way for most Eastern city tours. It doesn't really have good connections to Bucharest or Belgrade.
"Tourism in Bulgaria" evokes the image of the Black Sea coast, not the capital.
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u/Qwe5Cz European May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
Here in Czechia it became new go to summer destination after Croatia is considered overpriced by many. I think I have read that Burgas was the most frequent destination for direct charter flights from Prague in past summer seasons.
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u/RandomNick42 28d ago
New? Burgas has been one of the most, if not the most frequent charter destination since like the 70s
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u/afrenchiecall Italiana May 02 '26
Sofia could perhaps be considered the "Bruxelles" of the east - but I still think it's very walkable, alive and enjoyable for a short trip. And the fact that it's not on anyone's top 10 list is a plus, in my eyes :)
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u/bernie7500 May 02 '26
''Bruxelles'' of the easy...? Do I have to understand that Bruxelles isn't very walkable, not alive nor enjoyable...at least for many Redditors ?
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u/Swebroh May 02 '26
Can't see I've seen much (any?) hate for Sofia, but I will say that I personally think there are many other destinations in Eastern Europe that are a bit more interesting. As for cities in Bulgaria, I'd say Plovdiv is a much better visit.
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u/afrenchiecall Italiana May 02 '26
I really liked Plovdiv but I'd say there's a reason why Sofia is the capital. Different strokes for different folks, maybe, but I find it charming
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u/Romania2001 28d ago
As an Italian, Romania is the place for you. ❤️
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u/afrenchiecall Italiana 28d ago
Ironically I love Romania and I go there frequently!
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u/Romania2001 28d ago
I am so glad to hear that! I do the sake with Italy! In fact, Italians are the biggest foreign comunity here in my country. And our biggest Romanian diaspora is in Italy! You don't have any other Latin country here in the Eastern half of the continent. And in Romania you can have all the doors opened just for being in Italian. I feel you as the closest to us on a general level! 🤗
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u/Qwe5Cz European May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
I don't think there is a dislike towards Sofia but tourists simply look up TOP 10 and all the AIs and influencers just make the already crowded hotspots even more crowded because if you say Europe it means just Paris, London, Rome, Barcelona and Amsterdam to many travelers and just a few more experienced or brave ones will look further than that so many nice places simply stay under the radar.
Another thing that very slowly gets better is the still present cold war stigma. There are still many people that know very little about places east of the Iron Curtain since they were nearly completely isolated and overshadowed by USSR and it takes time people learn there are also nice countries that are safe to visit and not just blank spots in the map they have often no clue about. Just look here how many people in the Itineraries ignore those regions completely including Baltics and Balkan. Central Europe is a bit better but it's still the usual Prague - Budapest - Krakow and the rest of those countries is nearly void of tourists.
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u/afrenchiecall Italiana May 02 '26
The last paragraph is very true, unfortunately. In Italy "Bulgaria" evokes a popular phrase related to an "un"democratic majority (maggioranza bulgara, or fake majority). Todor Zhivkov's dictatorship is still discussed today.
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u/bernie7500 May 02 '26
It sh'd be a veeery long time you didn't visit the Balkans (and probably the Baltics). "Nearly void of tourists", Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Lithuania etc. Probably "almost void" of US tourists, but many Canadians and West European ones !
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u/Qwe5Cz European May 02 '26
Still not that many compared to other places, yes people travel everywhere, especially Europeans but you won't see that many non-Europeans there.
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u/AussieKoala-2795 Drop bears expert May 03 '26
We really enjoyed Sofia and Bulgaria in 2024, and I am so, so jealous that Bulgaria and Sofia is hosting the start of the Giro d'Italia later this week.
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u/smoothy1973 May 03 '26
Quite a pleasant city but Plovdiv seemed more walkable and green. Only stayed in each place 3-4 days though. Sofia was a bit drab with lots of unsightly graffiti and Soviet era architecture. I didn't mind that but can understand why it's a bit underrated
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u/Sensitive_Tea5720 May 02 '26
I went to Bulgaria with my parents when I was in my teens. Didn’t love it. Felt like a less developed version of Poland - no offence.
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u/Shiny-Pumpkin 29d ago
In all my travels, the people in Bulgaria were the only ones clearly making it so obvious that they don't want me to be there. This was 10 years ago or so and I was travelling from Sofia to the Black Sea by train. Getting back to Sofia was difficult, because the lady at the only ticket counter would simply ignore me and serve everybody else because I can't speak Bulgarian. On another occasion, when I bought some water in a local shop and tried to say thank you in Bulgarian I was screamed at in English, how I dare to try to speak Bulgarian. I hope things have changed and people are more open there nowadays. Or maybe I was just unlucky. But these encounters are the things that I remember most from that trip.
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u/ReflectionPure6900 29d ago
No, the old totalitarian era mentality is still alive and kicking, and not only amongst the 50+ crowd.
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u/IndependentAd3278 29d ago
I've been there 20 days ago and I Found it fascinating. The mix between communist and historical architecture is beautiful. Personally I didn't like too much the salty food, it was spiced for me. Unfortunately I found few people speaking English so the conversation were a lil rough but nothing extremely difficult.
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u/cookiemonster8u69 29d ago
My wife and I really enjoyed it there. Great city, Id certainly go back.
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u/Justan0therthrow4way 28d ago
Since when is there dislike lol
Had a great weekend there other than being searched by the police at 4am quite drunk in the freezing cold.
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u/Romania2001 28d ago edited 28d ago
Personally, as a Romanian, I don't like Bulgaria. I don't know much about them either. I see many of them disrespecting my people's origin and culture with fake information and that was enoigh to make me be against them in general. I am focused on Italy, Spain, France... Don't have any link with Bulgaria, maybe only when I need to reach Greece.
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u/crimson_to_chrome 28d ago
So you judge an entire nation based on that?
While you feel comfortable making comments like this one?:
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u/Romania2001 28d ago edited 28d ago
I don't know. I sometimes see so many dissapointing examples and it's hard not to generalize. Maybe bacause of anger, which is also hard to control. Sometimes I don't know what to feel. I supose you are right. I shouldn't judge the whole people. It would be helpful for me to see more nice people who give me a reason to make a difference between the good and the bad guys. Feel free to change my perception.
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u/DragonflyOwn5617 28d ago
Brochacho what are you genuinely on about? Bromania and Bulgaria are literally one of the closest pairs of countries in the EU. We share so much culture, goals, mentality, achievements and history. There is literally no beef between us, I don't know how you've imagined it, especially from isolated cases only
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u/Romania2001 27d ago edited 27d ago
Well, I don't know how you feel. I saw that you expect us to feel a closeness to you. I don't. The closest country I feel to us, on a general level, is Italy. Bulgaria is in a different cathegory and the rude people I've met were not singular cases I'm afraid. The majority of the Bulgarians I met came with bullshit distorted history. Many of you try to put accent on the similarities we have, which is good, nothing wrong with that. What turns me against you is the moment when you exagerate those similarities and interpret our history in a wrong and rude manner, denying the Latin origin of our people and the cultural similarity with our Latin relatives in the West. Romania is a country wich share a similar evolution (more or less) with some of it's neighbors, but in the same time, we are a people with a very distinct origin and identity in this corner of Europe and I, as a Romanian, want to see that aspect respected if you ask the same respect in return. Unfortunately, many Bulgarians don't understand that (or I simply had bad luck - maybe others will change my perception). Or we just ended up in arguing over Dobrogea and sensible topics. So I am not a fan, at least for now. Many of my friends feel the same. And I didn't know how you tend to interpret our history before having Reddit or Quora. Maybe those interactions doesn't reflect what the average Bulgarian thinks. I hope so. But I discovered you know very few about us in general. From what I observed, you tend to talk too much about the similarities (which you obviosly like to emphaseze more) in a certain extent that you ignore and minimize the very differences we have, and the last ones reprezent the very core of Romania. That thing is the problem. Est modus in rebus.
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u/DragonflyOwn5617 27d ago
It's not that deep, no one is required to know everything about Romania in detail when they are not from there, the same goes for Bulgaria and you are talking like the same doesn't apply for Romanians and their knowledge of neighboring countries
You are literally making a problem out of nothing, which doesn't represent the reality of the relationship between Romania and Bulgaria and honestly you just sound corny as hell
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u/Romania2001 27d ago
I would say everyone is required ti know some general aspects about others. It's called education. The more you know, the better you become. Kniwledge is power. The other option is called ignorance. You seem to choose the last one. No problem for us, but if you are not required to know something about us, shut your mounth and stop denying our Latinity. Simole as that. Refrain from ever talking about us and I am fine with that.
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u/DragonflyOwn5617 27d ago
You are imagining arguments in your head, you are an actual loser brother. Talking about ignorance as if you didn't say "I don't know much about them either" in the beginning just hating on Bulgaria and Bulgarians for no good reason
If I had to generalize based off Romania's reputation abroad, trust me, it'd be worse than Bulgaria's, but I'm not trying to spew illogical garbage like you and I know we are one of the closest nations in the EU for a good reason and with exceptions like your corny ass
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u/Romania2001 27d ago
I recognize I don't know much about you and that's precisely why I don't allow myself to deny your history, ancestry or identity. Like you do to us many times. It's a huge difference. And also a big difference is that I am willingly to learn more, why you seems to consider you don't have to know more about us.
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u/DragonflyOwn5617 27d ago
I said no one is required to know everything about any country, but I love learning when it's not shoved up my mouth condescendingly like you did
I am not going to continue arguing with an insecure loser who spews garbage about Bulgaria whenever he can, without knowing much about it, and takes himself that seriously. If you are that insecure about being Romanian, then do it quietly, shut up and stop spreading negativity and embarrassing your fellow citizens
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u/lucapal1 European May 02 '26
I didn't notice much 'hostility' personally, I guess it depends where you are reading!
I'd say most people regard Sofia as a 'mid' destination rather than a terrible place... which is pretty fair IMHO,on a European level.