Anyone here been to Sofia? Recommendations? Thinking of using

>>1227606
Use Budapest as a base instead

>>1227607
Why? Is it the location? Or is Budapest just better/nicer?

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>>1227606
Living in Sofia. AMA.

It's definitely nice is you know your way around. It's extremely cheap, safe, organized and all around manageable. Day trips from Sofia to 50% of Bulgaria are also possible.

What do you like?

>>1227613
I'm up for pretty much everything. Whenever I go to a new city I tend to check out the museums/do cultural stuff, wander around a bunch, then start drinking.

Do hipsters exist in Bulgaria? Are there cool little bars to go and hang out in?

Also want to go hiking and camping, in and out of Bulgaria - are there such things as military surplus or camping shops around the city? I live in Moscow right now, so if I can pick up a cheap pair of boots in Sofia I'll do that (boots are fairly expensive here for their shit quality).

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Yeah I see.

There's definitely a hipster area in the city centre. Bars, burger joints, the works.

Attached is a picture from the foosball room of one of those. This one is more towards backpackers, there are also classic hipster ones.

Museums a plenty. Including 1 very big one. ;)

>>1227606
>Thinking of using it as a base to travel around the Balkans.

No offense but that's a terrible idea. If anything Zagreb or Belgrade is the best spot. Zagreb doesn't have that much to do but I think it's underrated. There are TONS of flights throw there though

Sofia is great though definitely go.

>>1227606
I'm from Sofia, it is a great place, some of my favorite places are the Natural History Museum and the National Gallery. Some cool lesser known places are the Museum of Socialist Art, the ruins below Sveta Sofia and the old bath building, I believe it is a Museum of Sofia now, not really sure though. There is a Museum of Paleontology located inside of Sofia University which I think very few people know of, however, it is great, it has the fully preserved skeleton of some mammoth-like creature.

If you want to try good Bulgarian food go to the restaurant in the middle of Ariana lake, Manastirska Magernica or Raketa. For a more contemporary and modern approach to traditional dishes try Cosmos. I believe the best traditional food is served in a small place called Kontesa which is right next to the St Nicholas church, however, I'd advise you against going there, the owners are an old couple that I don't think speak any English, furthermore, it is not the most touristy area, seeing that there are a lot of gypsies and heroin addicts who are given medicine very close to this park. If you want fast food you can do Boom Burger or Wok to Walk. An Irish pub with a lot of foreigners called JJ Murphys is located right in the city centre, for bars and nightclubs you can have everything, traditional pop, rap, techno, bulgarian chalga, just tell me what music and places you like so I can recommend.

The city is pretty safe, but don't be stupid, stay out of the Zhenski Pazar area that is close to the center, other than that you will really have to wander off your way in order to get to a bad neighbourhood. It's better to avoid Borisova Gradina at night, the park is well lit, but there are no cameras and/or police, as of now I think it's really safe, but the place seems to have a bad reputation so it's better to just not go there during the night, it's perfectly fine throughout the day.

>>1227963
Getting to anywhere in Bulgaria that is not the seaside is fast and easy. Same goes for Athens, Belgrade and Bucharest. I recommend you hike in Vitosha mountain for a day, you can visit Plovdiv if you want culture and history, for ancient history go Stara Zagora, more traditional Bulgarian towns are Korpivshtitsa, Karlovo, Kalofer, Kotel and the old capital - Veliko Tarnovo. If you want mountains go to Vratza, for socialism the place is Buzludzha, however don't get your hopes up of getting in, I believe they closed the entrance last year. Rila monastery and Rila lakes are great. You said you are Russian so with a bit of effort you can understand this website perfectly fine, just go and check the catergories you are interested in - opoznai.bg Oh, also, if for some reason you are interested in Thracian mysticism go to Begliktash or Perperikon. Seaside is also lovely, but with your plan to tour the Balkans I do not think you will be able to get there.

That's all I can think of, just ask anything you want and I'll try and answer.