Sofia Getting there & around

Getting around

Public transport

The various forms of public transport – trams, buses, minibuses and trolleybuses, as well as the underground metro – run from 5am to 11.30pm every day.

A ticket on any bus, tram or trolleybus within Sofia costs 0.70 lv, or 0.80 lv from the driver. Most drivers on public transport sell tickets – make sure you have the right change –but it’s far easier and quicker, especially during peak times, to buy tickets from kiosks at stops along the route before boarding.

If you plan to use public transport frequently, buy a strip of 10 tickets (6 lv) or a pass for one day (3 lv) or one month (37 lv), which are valid for all trams, buses and trolleybuses (but not the metro). All tickets must be validated by inserting them in the small machine on board; once punched, tickets are nontransferable. Inspectors will issue on-the-spot fines (7.50 lv) if you don’t have a ticket; unwary foreigners are a favourite target. Don’t forget to buy an extra ticket for each piece of oversized luggage, too – officially, this means anything exceeding 60cm x 40cm x 40cm.

Probably the most useful trams for visitors are 1 and 7, which link the central train station with bul Vitosha, via pl Sveta Nedelya. Public transport routes for buses, trams and trolleybuses are indicated on Domino’s Sofia City Map, and tram routes are marked on the excellent (free) map inside the Sofia City Info Guide.

Buses for Boyana, Zlatni Mostove and Aleko depart from the Hladilnika bus terminal. It is near the southern terminus of Trams 2, 4, 9 and 12 from pl Sveta Nedelya. (From the final tram stop, walk through the tiny park to the bus stop on the main road.)

Private minibuses, known as marshroutki, are a popular and efficient alternative to public transport, but cost slightly more (1.50 lv per trip). Destinations and fares are indicated (in Cyrillic) on the front of the minibus; pay the driver upon boarding. There are 49 routes in operation, with most services running between the city centre and the outlying suburbs. Routes of interest to travellers include 30, which goes to the airport; 5, which goes to the central train station; 21, which runs to Boyana; and 41, to Simeonovo.

At the time of research, Sofia’s metro system (www.metropolitan.bg) had only one line, running between the western residential suburb of Obelya and the city centre (Serdica station), although construction was underway on expanding the line, which will eventually cross the city to the southeastern suburb of Mladost. The first of the new stations, including one near Sofia University, should be in operation by 2008. Metro tickets cost 0.70 lv per trip and cannot be used on other forms of public transport.

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Car & motorcycle

Frequent public transport, cheap taxis and horrendous traffic all provide little or no incentive to drive a private or rented car around Sofia. If you wish to explore further afield, though, a car would certainly come in handy. Rental outlets include:

Avis (945 9224; www.avis.bg; Sofia airport)

Eurodollar (875 779; bul Vitosha 25)

Hertz Central (980 2467; ul Rakovski 135a); Sofia airport (945 9217)

Sixt (945 9276; Sofia airport)

Tourist Service (981 7253; www.tourist-service.com; ul Klokotnitsa 1)

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Local transport

Taxi

Taxis are an affordable and easier alternative to public transport. By law, taxis must use meters, but those that wait around the airport, luxury hotels and within 100m of pl Sveta Nedelya will often try to negotiate an unmetered fare – which, of course, will be considerably more than the metered fare. All official taxis are yellow, have fares per kilometre displayed in the window, and have obvious taxi signs (in English or Bulgarian) on top. Never accept a lift in a private, unlicenced vehicle, because you will (at best) pay too much or (at worst) be robbed.

The rates per kilometre may range enormously from one taxi company to another, but the standard rate is 0.59 lv per minute in the daytime, 0.70 lv per minute at night.

In the very unlikely event that you can’t find a taxi, you can order one by ringing OK-Supertrans (973 2121) or Yes Taxi (91 119). You will need to speak Bulgarian.

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