chelya

I'm going to spend 4-5 days in Bulgaria, probably around Sofia, in July/August. Does someone have experience on hostels there - price, quality, location etc? Any suggestions for scenic day trips, except for Rila monastery? I would actually prefer smaller towns/countryside to a big city, although I do want to see bits of Sofia as well.

George Holt

Do a search on Bulgaria, there's lots of info on the forum. In particular you'll turn up a reply I posted in <BR> <BR>italy, bulgaria and amsterdam <BR>1 response; most recent on 04/18/2000, 16:46 pm ET

Ben Haines

Fodors <BR> <BR>You'll find ideas of se toou on two guide book sites: <BR>A fifth of the texts of all the guidebooks that Rough Guides print: http://travel.roughguides.com/ <BR>Similar, Lonely Planet guides: http://www.lonelyplanet.com, then "Destinations" and "Postcards". <BR> <BR>A small city I like is Ruse, on the Danube <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR> <BR>

Charlie

I was in the Peace Corps in BG and I'll tell you, there are a tom of great things to do around Sofia. For starters you can climb Mt Vitosha that over looks the city. Great view from the top, great Balkan experience. You can also go to Koprivshtitsa which is a few hours away but is a beautiful Mtn. village. The trains go from the Sofia station, are cheap and a great experience in and of themselves. You can also get busses from across the street there. Don't know about Hostels. Great country though.

Rumen

If you still didn't arrived - call me <BR>I can help <BR>I am from Varna -Bulgaria

jwagner

Actually, you might enjoy taking the train to Varna, on the Black Sea. It's where all the Bulgarians will be this time of year. In Sofia, check out the downtown department store for a little sociological study. The Natural History museum downtown is quite good and the city still has it's share of statues in tribute to the old Soviet regime. The downtown buriel site for the old president has been turned into a public bathroom. Fitting, I think. Sandanski, to the south, is a quiet little spa town that you might enjoy. You can still see some of the old Roman Aquaducts there. I enjoyed the nightly strolls through the town center--everybody shows up--and found the Bulgarians to be quite congenial.