Sofia Peace Hostel

Walking Tours

If you only have a day, head out early for some site-seeing. Walk across the street from Sofia Peace Hostel, and on to the pedestrian Vitosha Boulevard. Turning left you will reach Sveta Nedelya church (St Sunday), and beyond it - an area where three major religions share the city centre, their temples only 5 minutes away. Going further down the road, take the metro underpass with the medieval church Sveta Petka, dating to the 11th century. Sticking to the right side of the street leads you to the Sofia Mosque. Turning left at the traffic lights, and continuing one block away stands the largest synagogue of the Balkans.

Today diverse religious communities share the city centre, but they have not always lived togeter in peace. Bulgaria proudly saved the lives of its Jewish community during the Second World War. Sveta Nedelya was bombed in 1925 in an attempt by military extremists from within the Bulgarian Communist Party to take over the government. The mosque is one of the few remaining monuments from the Ottoman rule further back in time. The historic buildings are silent witnesses of many ethnic, religious, and political tensions, which are hopefully left in the past.

The pretty building next to the Synagogue and opposite the Mosque hosts some fresh food stands and a market-style shopping centre called Halite, Bulgarianised from Les Halles. Pop in for a snack, and take a break in the garden behind the Mosque. You can fill up your bottle with fresh mineral water from the springs that used to fill the Turkish baths (the colourful building in the background, currently under restoration). 

Go back towards St Nedelya, but continue left along the right hand side of the boulevard paved yellow, aspiring for a 19th century Viennese look. Ahead of you rises the former Communist Party Headquarters, currently government buildings. Behind, on a column stands St Sophia, the patron of the city.  She inherited the elevated place from a Lenin statue, unmounted in the early 1990s. Continue along the yellow-paved street, popping in under the arches to your right to walk around the ruins of the Roman basilica St George and Roman baths. Be sure to have a look at the murals inside.

Coming out to the far end of the ruins, walk out on to the square with the fountain, and you can pay a visit to the National Archaeology Museum. In about an hour, the museum takes you from the Old Stone Age 1.6 million years ago (finds at cave Kozarnika) through the exquisite metalwork of Thrace from the 1st millennium BC, through the Roman empire and the Bulgarian state to modern times. The building itself deserves attention, being a converted 15th century Ottoman Mosque (Büyük Camii).

Continue your walk along the yellow-paved boulevard, grabbing some lunch and a break in the garden opposite the National Gallery and ethnographic museum / former royal palace. The garden hosts daily chess tournaments, where you can try your luck against the old gross-meisters, and most likely, have a bit of fun and lose a bit of money. On the other side, the garden borders the National Theatre, and the Slaveikov bookmaket is near by.

If you are not tired of monuments, leave the chess and bookmarket for later. Continue along the yellow street, which leads you to the Natural History museum (stuffed animals straight out of the 1980s), the National Assembly, and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. In front of Alexander Nevsky there is a flea market. Behind the cathedral, you can spot the National library, and the streets around it are a good area to wander around, have a drink, and find some restaurants.

For a 3 day tour, do the walk suggested above, spend a day between the National History Museum in Boyana and the Vitosha Mountain.