Sofia city break? or elsewhere?
Jun 25, 2013 | 2:00 pm
#1
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Sofia city break? or elsewhere?
Hey FTers
Either I am a lame search artiste or I cannot find any info about Sofia.
Flights direct from LHR with BA = Nice
Sheraton Sofia looks gorgeous and only costs 75€ per night = Nicer
My only worry is that having done a google image search, it does not appear to be particularly photogenic. Only seems to have one famous building of note.
Anyone been? A cool city to stay two nights, have eats and beers with friendly locals?
If not, anyone got any other 2 night break suggestions from London with direct flights?
Either I am a lame search artiste or I cannot find any info about Sofia.
Flights direct from LHR with BA = Nice
Sheraton Sofia looks gorgeous and only costs 75€ per night = Nicer
My only worry is that having done a google image search, it does not appear to be particularly photogenic. Only seems to have one famous building of note.
Anyone been? A cool city to stay two nights, have eats and beers with friendly locals?
If not, anyone got any other 2 night break suggestions from London with direct flights?
Jun 28, 2013 | 3:28 pm
#2
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I lived in Sofia for 3 years (and pretty much hated every minute of it). I would say that there is not that much to see in Sofia; I would go to Plovdiv instead if you want to go to Bulgaria, it is much nicer and it's not that far from Sofia.
Jul 3, 2013 | 6:09 pm
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See this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europ...-bulgaria.html
As a local (born there, but not live there any more), I'd say it's a nice city. It's not a major tourist destination, but if you want nice (and cheap) places to eat or drink or clubs (dance or live music), it's a very good choice. There is a share of historic sites as well, but it certainly is not Rome or something like that. Plovdiv has a historic center, which Sofia lacks. It's about 2 hours by bus.
As a local (born there, but not live there any more), I'd say it's a nice city. It's not a major tourist destination, but if you want nice (and cheap) places to eat or drink or clubs (dance or live music), it's a very good choice. There is a share of historic sites as well, but it certainly is not Rome or something like that. Plovdiv has a historic center, which Sofia lacks. It's about 2 hours by bus.
Jul 4, 2013 | 11:46 am
#4
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I've been to Sofia 4 times on business in the last 18 months. Nice city, lots of great architecture. Old Roman ruins scattered around the city that was once known as Serdika. Safe, reasonably clean, inexpensive and English is widely spoken. The Sheraton is right in the centre of the city.
You may read about some political unrest there due to the outcome of recent elections. I saw nightly demonstrations outside the National Assembly which is directly across from the hotel where I was staying. I've seen larger and more aggressive demonstrations in Toronto and the rest of the city is unaffected.
You may read about some political unrest there due to the outcome of recent elections. I saw nightly demonstrations outside the National Assembly which is directly across from the hotel where I was staying. I've seen larger and more aggressive demonstrations in Toronto and the rest of the city is unaffected.
Jul 4, 2013 | 2:49 pm
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The protests are absolutely peaceful (until now). However, they happen near the Sheraton and it may be difficult to get to the hotel by car or bus during the event.
Jul 5, 2013 | 9:22 am
#6
Join Date: Oct 2008
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Not so safe either. I caught a woman with her hand on my wallet in my handbag - her thievery attempt was thwarted by me smacking her hand as hard as I could. I was also terrorized by someone on the motorway - he attempted to run me off the road and this was purposeful. A friend of mine was cut off by a driver and then the driver pulled a gun on him. I know several people whose apartments (in the what passes for the nice areas of town) were broken into, one when he was sleeping.
My memories of 3 years in Sofia are not pleasant at all.
Jul 5, 2013 | 5:58 pm
#7
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Reasonably clean. Not in my opinion. I thought it was filthy. It's the only place I have ever been where I have seen rats running around on the sidewalk.
Not so safe either. I caught a woman with her hand on my wallet in my handbag - her thievery attempt was thwarted by me smacking her hand as hard as I could. I was also terrorized by someone on the motorway - he attempted to run me off the road and this was purposeful. A friend of mine was cut off by a driver and then the driver pulled a gun on him. I know several people whose apartments (in the what passes for the nice areas of town) were broken into, one when he was sleeping.
My memories of 3 years in Sofia are not pleasant at all.
Not so safe either. I caught a woman with her hand on my wallet in my handbag - her thievery attempt was thwarted by me smacking her hand as hard as I could. I was also terrorized by someone on the motorway - he attempted to run me off the road and this was purposeful. A friend of mine was cut off by a driver and then the driver pulled a gun on him. I know several people whose apartments (in the what passes for the nice areas of town) were broken into, one when he was sleeping.
My memories of 3 years in Sofia are not pleasant at all.
I work with several ex-pats and Bulgarian natives who agree that home burglary is a problem but that it is no worse than other cities in the same part of the world.
Jul 7, 2013 | 3:43 am
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The problem is not that all those things can happen in all the other places. The problem is that they ALL happened to the SAME person in a relatively short period of time. My wife had the same (set of) experience(s) in Kuala Lumpur, and unfortunately the (relatively) few Sofia encounters I had will confirm STBCypriot's view 
If you want a weird eastern-european city break in that area, go to Bucharest. It's just as crappy, but at least it has the old part with the charming (yet derelict) villas, and Ceausescu's palace...
If you want a weird eastern-european city break in that area, go to Bucharest. It's just as crappy, but at least it has the old part with the charming (yet derelict) villas, and Ceausescu's palace...
Jul 7, 2013 | 9:20 am
#9
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Op, there are so many flight options from LON for a weekend city break. If you're interested in a nice Eastern European city to visit, Krakow would be my top pick.
Jul 7, 2013 | 1:27 pm
#10
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Oh, and good thing I documented these before they went away with EU money
Jul 10, 2013 | 12:53 pm
#11
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I was away travelling around Colombia for a while and I hate to be that guy that seems to ask for advice and then doesn't come back to say thanks.
So a big big thanks to all of you for the great advice, I will read and digest and hop right back on project book a European city break
Cheers
So a big big thanks to all of you for the great advice, I will read and digest and hop right back on project book a European city break
Cheers