Sofia In Your Pocket

Hotels Restaurants Cafés Nightlife Sightseeing Events Maps

April-June 2009

SOFIA

July- September 2009

Enjoy your COMPLIMENTARY COPY of SofiaIn Your Pocket

No 15

www.inyourpocket.com

Bulgarian Beers

Cheers!

Medical Tourismin Bulgaria

White Smile, Dirt Cheap

Sofia

In Your Pocketsofia.inyourpocket.com

3

Contents

ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES

&

Arriving in Sofia

7

Touching down

The Basics

8

Essential reading for those not sure wherethey are

History

12

How the past has shaped the present

Introducing Sofia 13

Mayor of Sofia

Keeping in touch

14

Let your Mum know how you are

Culture & Events

16

Rila Monastery Hot Djs on the beach”Bansko International Jazz FestivalBansko during summer?

Where to stay

24

Dining & Nightlife

Restaurants

32

Where to wine and dine

Cafés 41

Feed the addiction

Nightlife 42

Enough to keep any pub crawlers on their handsand knees

What to see

49

Contents

Puzzle

57

Golf

58

Golfing in Bulgaria, Golf Jokes

Getting around

60

Making sense of transport

Directory

Shopping 65Health & Lifestyle 68Sports

71Business 73

Maps & Index

Street index 74Index 75City map 76Public transport map 78Bulgaria map 79

Whether you came hereon a business trip or astourist, welcome to our city. Sofia has a lot to offer for everybody. I would rec-ommend you to read care- fully through this fresh copy of In Your Pocket where youhave a nearly completeoverview of places to stay,places to eat and where tospend your free moments.For every budget Sofia hasan appropriate answer.Sofia during the summer months usually can bequite hot. Together with the rise in temperaturealso the southern temper goes up. So here a wordof caution while you tramp our streets, look twicebefore you cross!Sofia is rich in opportunities for themed culturalitineraries relation to landscape and garden art. Thereare 38 monuments of the „green wealth” – one of themost significant ones is the Borisova Gradina (Boris’garden) which is a cultural monument of nationalsignificance and dates 120 years back. Parks in Sofiaare not only refreshing source of welcome shade, but often also a rich source of culture and chance to get in touch with the local population.If you need of further assistance I would kindly inviteyou to visit the National Tourist Information Centre.(p.6 ) The helpful stuff there distributes free advertis-ing materials and maps about Bulgaria as a tourist destination gives ansers to all sorts of queries.I wish you a wonderful time in our gorgeous capitalcity,

Anelia KrushkovaChairpersonBulgarian State Agency for Tourism

Sofia

In Your Pocketsofia.inyourpocket.com

4

Foreword

July - September

2009

sofia.inyourpocket.com

5

arriving in soFia

Summer is upon us despite the resistance from the cloudsand the mood of the city is one of relaxation & parties.As the temperature begins to soar, the layers of clothing diminish and the desire to work seems to fall with every degree that thermometer rises. The streets fill with pe-ople in the warm evenings and tables and chairs dot thepavement outside every bar, restaurant and café. Theparks are swarming with people during the evenings &weekends, making the most of the warmth and long hoursof daylight; you will see people drinking, mingling and eventhe occasional fire dancer. The city is at its most attracti-ve with all of the trees in full bloom and the atmosphereduring this time of year makes the city at its most vibrant.The current financial situation is of course having its impact on Sofia as much as anywhere else, but the Bulgariansare certainly hardened to difficult economic times andcompared to the dark days of the mid to late 90’s, thisis a drop in the ocean. As a result people are still eating out, partying and living the summer life; namely, it’s busi-ness as usual. Even the elections seemed to be a quiet distraction to the more important task of catching up with friends at a trendy café in the centre or nice bar in the park.To help also hotels, restaurants and other business morepro-actively, we gave these the possibility for their possiblepromotions, to be freely included within the text of their independently written review by us from In Your Pocket.We recommend you to keep your ‘Sofia In Your Pocket’ just where it belongs – in your pocket, so you can also benefit from these promotions. We from In Your Pocket Bulgariadisclaim however to be responsible for any of the offers madein this Pocket, or any other previous or future edition.In this edition you will find useful information to help you withsuggestions on where to shake your boots, fill your stomachor catch up on your beauty sleep.

ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES

Copyright notice

Text and photos copyright Discover BulgariaLtd. – Bulgaria In Your Pocket 2009. Mapscopyright cartographer. All rights reser-ved. No part of this publication may be re-produced in any form, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without writtenpermission from the publisher and copy-right owner. The brand name In Your Pock-et is used under license from UAB In Your Pocket (Vokieciu 10-15, Vilnius, Lithuania tel.(+370-5) 212 29 76.

Editor’s note

The editorial content of In Your Pocket guides is independent from paid-for advertising. Sponsored listings are clearly marked as such. We welcome all readers’comments and suggestions. We havemade every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information at the time of going topress and assume no responsibility for changes and errors.

Sofia In Your Pocket

Mladost 4, bl. 473, vh. 2-3,parter (opposite the Business Park)1715 Sofia, Bulgariatel.: + 359 2 881 01 02 fax: + 359 2 881 53 32sofia@inyourpocket.comwww.inyourpocket.comISSN 1312-742X© Discover Bulgaria Ltd.Printed by Delta High Print EADPublished 4 times per year 15 000 copies

Cover story

Church of the Holy Seven (Tsarkva SvetiSedmochislenitsi). It is one of Sofia’s fin-est neo-Byzantine churches. Read moreon p.53

Editorial

Editor-in-chief

Steven MacAulay

Research

Thomas Brailsford, RumianaBenova, Maya Kozareva

Layout & Design

Margarit Antonov

Photos

Veronica de Boer

Cover

Veronica de Boer

Sales & Circulation

Publisher

Discover Bulgaria Ltd.

General Manager

Veronica de Boer

Marketing Manager and PR

Petya Racheva

Sales & Circulation

To contact our salesteam send an email to info@discover-bulgaria.com, or call our office and ask for thesales department. Available from Airports – Burgas, Varnaand Sofia, airline companies, rent-a-cars,hotels, bars, restaurants, business centres,shopping malls, foreign embassies andinternational forums. To order your copy online visit www.inyourpocket.com

pick up tram No 1 or 7 outside the train station (see above).There is a taxi booking office just beside the main exit.Some international buses arrive at the

Trafik-Market

termi-nal mid-way between the main train and bus stations. As thisis nothing more than a parking lot bordered by ticket officesand café kiosks, you’ll have to walk to the main stations oneither side to find any facilities.

By car

Regardless of your point of entry, you deserve plaudits for being so brave. The first thing you need to do is reduce your speed to avoid the many police checks on incoming roads.Follow the lead of other cars (not the ones who overtakeand temporarily drive on the wrong side of the road) andget patiently in line should you encounter a traffic jam,which are unfortunately becoming more and more frequent,especially during rush hour. Parking can be difficult to findin the city, and you should be aware that the blue zonescost 1Lv per hour. Failure to pay can lead to clamping andyour car being towed away after 2 hours. Parking vouch-ers are sold on the spot by parking attendants or you can just send SMS to 1302 with your registration number (for Bulgarian and transit license plate numbers), and you willbe notified when the time is up, giving you the chance topay for the next hour.Relax. There seem to be more signs, written in theEnglish language on major roads, and there are more andmore Bulgarians, who feel confident to speak “English”.After all, they have been watching American subbedmovies for years, and even some gas-pumping peoplehave university degrees. The more you get stuck in traffic jams and the harder it is to park, then you must be in thecity centre.

By plane

Sofia International Airport

(Letishte Sofia), 10km east of the city centre, is divided into two terminals - the aging Terminal 1 and the modern Terminal 2, opened in 2006.The arrivals halls at both terminals boast cafés, car-hireand taxi counters, information desk, ATMs and exchangebureaux (although beware that rates here are not particu-larly generous, so it’s best to only change enough cash for immediate survival).Getting to town: avoid the taxi touts, thronging the arriv-als halls and head instead for the official ranks of yellowtaxis parked outside (OK Supertrans and Taxi S Express),or visit their counters. The fare into town shouldn’t cost more than 16Lv (

€

8).Alternatively, you can catch the bus - No 84 from Terminal1 or No 284 from Terminal 2. Both run to Orlov Most (C-5)on the eastern fringes of the city centre, departing roughly every 10-15 minutes between 05:00 and 23:00. Ticketscost 1Lv from the kiosks beside the bus stop, or from thedriver. You also have to buy a separate ticket for each bulky piece of luggage; otherwise, you run the risk of being finedby ticket inspectors.

By train

Sofia’s

Central Station

(Tsentralna gara), open 05:00- 24:00, is an unwelcoming concrete hangar 20-minutewalk north of the city centre. Facilities include left-luggage,money exchange kiosks, ATMs, bars and fast-food outlets.Beware of pickpockets who hang around the station and theadjoining underpass. There are coin-operated left-luggagelockers in the basement (2Lv for 24hrs), and a left-luggageoffice (garderob) just off the eastern side of the main ticket hall (open 06:00 - 23:00; 2Lv per item).Cheapest way of getting to town is to hop on tram No 1 or 7 (buy ticket from kiosks or from the driver - 1 Lv) fromopposite the station forecourt - head for the subterraneanunderpass to find the platform. Either of these will takeyou to pl. Sveta Nedelya, well placed for central Sofia’samenities - get off when you see the Sheraton Hotel loom-ing up on your left.The taxi drivers hovering outside the station are an unpre-dictable bunch; check that their meters are switched onor agree a flat fare before setting off; otherwise walk 200metres east to the bus station (see below) where the taxi firms are more reputable.

By bus

Most international and domestic buses arrive at thespanking new

Central Bus Station

(Tsentralna Avtogara),200m east of the Central Railway Station. Compared toother points of arrival the bus station is comfortingly civilized, with clean toilets, plenty of shops and cafés, apharmacy, and an ATM. There is a 24-hour left-luggageoffice (2-3Lv depending on size of bag) in the main ticket hall.To get into the centre of town from here, stroll either southdown bul. Maria Luiza (15-20 min), or walk 200m west toStreet

Улица (ул.)

Ulitsa (ul.)Square

Площад (пл.)

Ploshtad (pl.)Boulevard

Булевард (бул.)

Boulevard (bul.)Highway

Магистрала

MagistralaBridge

Мост

Most

Street smarts

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