Nine must-do highlights of Sofia, Bulgaria

This little-visited European capital has streets paved in gold and a fascinating Communist past.

The cathedral

The Cathedral and the city of Sofia beyond.Credit: iStock

Take a deep breath, then step into the cool, dark interiors of St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, where rich incense burns in great brass braziers, its heavy plumes washing over the faithful. Drop a few leva (Bulgaria’s currency) into the box to join the stream of men and women lighting a votive candle to beloved souls. The Orthodox cathedral is set in the city’s main corridor and its gold-plated domes dominate Sofia’s skyline. Completed in 1912, it marks Bulgaria’s liberation from the Ottomans, and is dedicated to the Russian soldiers who died in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War. Just beside it, the much-overshadowed, sixth-century St Sophia is Bulgaria’s oldest church, and gave the city its current name. It is far smaller and darker, but with fine Byzantine brickwork.

The walking tour

This city is paved in gold – well, there’s allegedly one gold cobblestone in the yellow limestone streets of central Sofia, which you can learn about on a free walking tour with locals. Tours depart several times a day from the Palace of Justice, reservations not required. The company’s paid tours include a Communist tour, a tour of Jewish Sofia and a pub crawl. Afterwards, drop into the headquarters, Gifted Sofia, an urban culture hub off Vitosha Boulevard, which has great Sofia-inspired souvenirs by local artists. See freesofiatour.com, giftedsofia.com

The street snack

Banitsa – Bulgaria’s favourite snack.Credit: Adobe

Bulgaria is fuelled by banitsa, a flaky breakfast pastry that in its simplest form is filo stuffed with eggs, feta and yoghurt. Sold from kiosks on street corners, train stations, bakeries and anywhere Bulgarians gather, it’s wrapped in paper to soak up the oil, and costs just a couple of leva (about $1.50). HleBar is a warm and stylish bakery in the leafy diplomatic district – try its banitsa stuffed with leek and cheese, or the delicious lamb version with a decent coffee, though the classic accompaniment is Boza, a slightly alcoholic, fermented wheat drink. See instagram.com/hlebar.bakery

The restaurant

Chef Vladislav Penov heads up Sofia’s best restaurant, Cosmos, presenting classic Bulgarian ingredients with a modern interpretation. It’s the place for homemade charcuterie and elegant renderings of Bulgarian classics, the rare green cheese from the village of Cherni Vit and the Indigenous wine varietal, Mavrud. For a more rustic Bulgarian experience, Staria Chinar is set in a 102-year-old house. Order the wild boar sausage, the red-pepper spread called lutenitsa and the omnipresent shopska salad, said to have been invented by the ruling Communist Party in the 1960s in a burst of national pride to upsell Bulgaria’s fabulous tomatoes, cucumbers and capsicums. See cosmosbg.com

The drink

While Bulgaria has a surprisingly punchy wine scene, the drink of the country is rakia, a clear spirit distilled from fruit. Try the pear, apricot, sour cherry, plum, fig or even quince rakia. It’s almost impossible to avoid and is used to toast, as an aperitif, as a digestif, and often throughout a meal, balanced with a little water. It’s also a Bulgarian cure for upset stomachs and toothache, and always offered to guests.

The hotel

Every one of the spacious nine rooms is different at Oborishte 63, a boutique hotel in Sofia’s pretty embassy district. Each is designed around one of Bulgaria’s best-known artists, such as the Ahinora suite, inspired by the work of art nouveau artist Ivan Milev, with a full-sized bathtub and private balcony. The rates include a breakfast of produce sourced from farmlands in the Rhodopi mountains, and served in the little lobby bar or in your room. From $200 a night in low (winter) season and from $277 a night in high season. See oborishte63.com

The museum

With 7000 years and a host of empires behind it, Sofia doesn’t lack for a story to tell. It also doesn’t shy away from its most recent, Communist history. The hands-on Red Flat takes you into an average 1980s Bulgarian family home during Communist Sofia – book ahead for this popular museum, BGN18 ($15) – while the Museum of Art from the Socialist Period delivers a hit of paintings and propaganda sculptures from the Soviet period, from 1944 to 1989. See redflatsofia.com; nationalgallery.bg

The markets

The outdoor antiques market.Credit: iStock

For Soviet medals, coins, antique cameras and maybe a bit of Eastern European tatting by a Sofia baba (grandmother), this open-air flea market trades daily in front of St Alexander Nevsky cathedral. For a cornucopia of local fruits, flowers and Bulgaria’s fantastic tomatoes, the 140-year-old Zhenski Pazar (Ladies’ Market) is the city’s oldest market. With a distinctly Turkish influence, it’s close to the Sofia synagogue and Banya Bashi Mosque. Open daily, see zhenski-pazar.com

The souvenir

Bulgaria is famous for its damask roses, and Sofia has several shops devoted to rose products from the towns of the Rose Valley including Karlovo, two hours west of the capital. The shops, located on Sofia’s busy, pedestrian main drag, Vitosha Boulevard, are the place to pick up a beautiful rosewater face spritzer, rose-scented soap, rose jam, rose chocolates, or the precious and pure rose oil, which costs about BGN50 ($40) for a gram.

One more thing

Riding the trams in Sofia.Credit: Adobe

Hardworking yellow trams crisscross Sofia, and the metro train system links the city to its airport. It’s also the hub of the country’s rail network, a great way to see Bulgaria. The country is included in Eurail’s network of first and second-class rail passes, and links on to its neighbours’ rail networks in Greece, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia and Romania.

Belinda Jackson was a guest of Eurail, see eurail.com