'Sup nerds, your resident Bulgarian here to recommend you to visit the country and answer questions you might have about it. As with the previous thread, I'll try and respond with an image I've taken myself so you can see some non-meme stuff that locals will do and are worth seeing/doing. To those that have previously visited, please share your experiences.
Country in general:
Pros:
>4 distinct seasons, activities for each one
Beaches, Ski, Mountain Tourism, Architectural tourism, ATV/Horseback riding/etc
>Cheap af
0.35EUR (0,40USD) for 500ml water bottle
0.5EUR (0.60USD) loaf of bread (1kg)
12.07EUR (13.76USD) cross-country train (bus is faster and almost the same)
>Civilized and peaceful, guaranteed
Tfw no civil war or ethnic conflicts (Serbia all the time)
Tfw no government censorship or explosions every 2 seconds (Turkey)
Tfw no refugees cuz very secure borders and the accepted refugees are only in the displacement centers anyway
>Still in Europe (and EU, so EZ mode with regards to border)
With RyanAir or WizzAir it will cost you more to travel within England than to spend a weekend in Bulgaria.
Cons:
>Shitty administration for citizens
Baggage from the soviet years
>Shitty roads for sure
The conditions of the asphalt roads aren't acceptable in 2016, especially when we pay such taxes on them
>Parking on the pedestrian sidewalks
Soviets artificially restricted the amount of cars built, so roads and parking were plentiful 20 years ago. Not now.
Cont. with some city and location reviews.
Sofia, capital city and where I live
Pros:
>Architecture
Thracian earliest recorded settlements, Roman (Byzantines), Bulgarian, Ottoman, Soviet buildings can be seen, touched and entered to this day. The city's architecture is like a ring, oldest in the middle and younger as you leave the center. Pieces of Byzantine/Bulgarian fortresses are in the middle, Tzarist architecture (1876-1944) inhabits most of the city's center stepping out to brutalist soviet living quarters in the outskirts.
The meme sights would include St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Second largest orthodox cathedral on the Balkans, but the prettiest, in it's Neo-Byzantine style and gold-plated domes. Includes a museum in the Crypt. The Russian Orthodox church is meters away, colorful and beautiful. All churches are unique, so I would recommend seeing every single one. Sofia is also the place
In the same are you can view the People's Assembly, Sofia University (compared to Serbia's uni, ours is a legitimate sight). National Theater Ivan Vazov, the Tzar's palace (now a museum of art). National Palace of Culture is a concrete behemoth, some other stuff that might be apparent and I'm missing them now.
>Transportation:
Pretty well-developed metro/bus/tram/trolley system. Ticket is 0,5EUR for a single ride.
I would recommend the transport over a personal vehicle, as it's cheaper, versatile and goes faster due to dedicated bus-lanes and some tram roads are prohibited for cars.
>Pretty green city
The Borisova Gradina is a big park located off-center. Small ponds, in one you can rent a boat. Great way to relax for an hour or so.
At least 2 or 3 as-big parks layin' around.
>Near-by green/ski tourism:
Borovets, Vitosha mountain and lake Pancharevo are 30-60 minutes away by bus or 2 (for a total of 5EUR). rent ski, snowboard and boats, then go back to the city.
>>1111726
>Sofia is also the place where a mosque, an orthodox church and a Jewish temple are the closest to each other (within RPG range) on the Balkans, but we're cool
>Safe
Recently I was giving a tour for a friend visiting from Argentina. We were out until 3 in the morning and coming back to my place, we saw many women just walking around, either home from bars or walking their dog at absurd hours. I do most of my shopping at 4 in the morning and walk both ways to the shops. You really have to try hard to get in trouble in Sofia.
Cons:
>Parking in the sidewalks
>Kinda trash layin' around, not inhumanely littered, but def enough to be noticable
>Costs are higher than in the rest of the country
>Can be done in 2 days
As noted, with a decent guide, you only need 2 days in this city.
Budget for said days w/o hotels and special activities 30EUR to cover your food, drinks around +souvenir.
What's the deal with languages? In terms of practicality is it
>Bulgarian
>Russian
>English
>German
If I was having trouble with languages, how much would a guide/interpreter cost, 20 Euros a day?
Are there gypsy problems? Or did they go to western europe, and it's just a few areas of them to avoid?
>>1111734
>Bulgarian
Native language written in the Cyrillic script. The Cyrillic script was commissioned and paid for by the Bulgarian Empire because Byzantine (Greek) is shit and we had to record our point of view in a different script, too. The words are slavic for the majority, noticeable arabic/turkish influence in the words and sounds though. The rest of the slavic-talking countreis talk "softly". Here it's on the harder side.
>Russian
Similar enough to be understood. "Gde u vas hleb" in Russian (where's your bread) "Kyde e u vas hliaba" in Bulgarian. Older generation (around 40yr old people) have Russian knowledge due to soviet empire.
>English
Rapidly gaining ground. If a person under 28 can't speak it, something's wrong with him. 20 Euro a day is too much desu. If you can't find a local to tour you around (shouldn't be that difficult, if I have the time, I can do it for free), 10 per day is enough.
>German
The people who can speak it have a very good grasp of it. Others are as good as mute. That's why in slavic German-speaking people are referred to as "mutes".
>Are there gypsy problems? Or did they go to western europe, and it's just a few areas of them to avoid?
They aren't trouble here because they'll get their ass handed to them either by local population or by police. If they're rubbish people (as opposed to the few gypsies who try their hardest to earn an honest living) they don't have a lot of rights, if you know what i mean.
Areas to avoid... just the gypsy slum. Outskirts of the city, you won't even be able to find it.
Picture is friend0 in front of the national palace of culture at night.
I am more interested in grand architecture and history, and spectacular nature sceneries. Post them OP.
>>1111717
If you can tell me anything about what the food is like there, that would be great
>>1111717
Visited Veliko Tarnovo and Sunny Beach/Nesebar with my Bulgarian ex last year and fell in love with your country, it is a wonderful place! I really hope to go back sometime soon.
went to sunny beach but it was a stagdo holiday so I only participated in "lads" shit and a pretty good waterpark. I'd love to go back to travel around a bit, everything is cheap and everyone seemed nice, even the locals who aren't invested in tourism. Btw is it true Bulgarians generally dislike Russians?
>>1111717
Hmm.
Good option OP, to be honest I forget that Bulgaria exists but skiing and beaches in Europe for a reasonable price. For once /trv/ has given a good idea. I'll look into it.
A close friend of mine invited us to Sofia last year, I had a truly wonderful time in your country, OP.
And thank you so much for this thread and all the effort that you put into it, easily one of the best threads I have seen on this board in months. I hope to be back soon.
I have a somewhat unrelated question to you as well, as I met a girl from Bulgaria at my faculty. She moved to Germany to study Law here.
What's your opinion on students who move to Germany, what kind of person does that?
Also, how do I make her like me?
>>1111876
In terms of scale, the soviets built massive stuff to honour themselves. The National Palace of Culture from prev post comes to mind. The monument to the soviet army in Sofia and the one in Varna are big and the entire complex takes a lot of space. Google "1300 years Bulgaria Shumen" and the same in Sofia. Google image search "Bouzlodzha" too. In terms of interest, Koprivshtica and Old City Plovdiv are far more interesting as they contain Bulgarian National Revival architecture, which is unique to our country. Mountainous scenic views are in Rhodope mountain spring/summer or winter. The greener the better, or January/February when it's completely covered in snow.
>>1111884
Overall it is heavily balkan-influenced with turkish motives. First and foremost I would say that we include dairy in a lot of stuff. Sour Milk (meme name Yoghurt) is a staple food and the culture it is used to create it is named Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. A traditional tomato-based spread known as liutenitza is made. I would recommend white, warm bread with butter, liutenitza and white (brine) cheese. God-tier breakfast material. Another popular food (has been adapted into a cheap breakfast, alongside boza) is the banitza. Cheese, egg and dough pastry cooked in an oven. Goes great with aforementioned boza, or if had in a formal setting, ayran (yoghurt, water and salt, stirred, not shaken). Various salamis with turkish influences like the suzhuk, pastarma, lukanka, etc.Kashkaval is a type of yellow cheese not found outside of a very few countries (according to wiki), and I'd recommend having it. Both solid and melted on bread.
Attached picture is a miniature in a park in the remote city of Strelcha.
The miniature is of a church Mother of God, Tzar Asen's Fortress.
>>1112027
Perhaps you've gotten this in the tourist cities, where loud, obnoxious and drunk russians pester the local population. Bulgarians grow up with the notion of the Russian Liberation myth where, in the Russo-Turkish war of 1876, Russia set out to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. They did drive the Ottomans out, but only for their own political gains. After liberation small circles of intellectuals dubbed themselves "russo/slavicphiles" and started shilling for RU. It didn't go well. So anyway, we have some monuments for the Russians from that war and later in WW2 when they brazenly occupied Bulgaria the Soviets used the meme of "Russian liberation" to appeal to people and legitimize their installed government.
>>1112242
Thanks I am happy for anyone educating himself and taking advantage of all options the EU gives us.
Since olden times Bulgarian women expect to be treated equally in rights and responsibilities. Be active, engaging and interesting activities and show some logic when thinking loud. Invite her to do one-off extreme sports events like wall climbing, kayaking/boating, shooting clay pigeons, etc. The more you tell me about her, the more I can tell you.
Picture is of a rose in the family garden in Strelcha.
Strelcha is a spa town in central Bulgaria with hot and cold springs, pools, orthopedic stuff and all kinds of water treatment meme baths. It is also located in the "rose valley" of Bulgaria. We cultivate roses and extract rose oil from them, used to make perfume, soaps and anything you can shove a rose into.
Gonna be back soon posting about Plovdiv and some legitimate obscure places from my childhood.
Can you tell me anything about Sopot and the surrounding area? I'm considering going there for a week or two around the end of June to learn paragliding. They seem to have a good school there.
I'm into stunning nature. What can Bulgaria do for me as far as that goes?
>>1112524
Ah, Sopot! Pleasantly surprised that it's getting attention outside of locals. It's the city of our national poet Ivan Vazov and countless other nobles from our best recent period 1876-1944.
I would recommend the city for it's popular mountain lodges and treks. As a sample:
Summer lodge price: 7EUR/night, Winter: 17EUR as it offers ski lifts, transport to the lodge, etc.
Elevation: 1840 meters
Pix: http://www.dobrila.eu/gallery.html
The waterfall:
http://waterfallsbg.info/sopotski-vodopad
The first Bulgarian novel, Under the Yoke, is set in Sopot and mentions the girls' school. Perhaps you are referring to this? Other than that they have a high school and some professional high school.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Yoke
1. Sopot is home to the Shambala extreme sports center (mountain biking, zorbing, gliding)
2. Sopot is home to the annual biker festival from the 23rd to the 26th of September
In the area, Karlovo is absolutely not to miss and honestly most of the time Sopot is in it's shadow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlovo
In the area, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anevo_Fortress.
>>1112576
I don't think there is a single piece that will be truly "stunning" as the world is an amazing place.
The Melnik Pyramids, Prohodna Cave, the consistent, untouched greenry of Rhodope mountains and scenic railways. Seven Lakes of Rila Mountain, Vacha Reservoir
Image is google image search from the Sopot region. Caught me by surprise, as most of my time spent in the area I wasn't in a sober position to take pictures. Last time I was there, I was 17 drunk, unable to swim and it was freezing, so I took a dip in a pond. Almost died. Had fun anyway.
Pictures from my recent trip are still not processed.
I have a friend who's doing a summer internship at the US embassy in Sophia this summer. I'm going to visit him for a week in July, but he'll be working every weekday. Do you have any recommendations for a solo English-only guy to keep busy during the day?
>>1112796
As previously mentioned you can do Sofia in two days, but since you have your base set up, I'd say you can include the museums where you can see some authentic Soviet and Nazi hardware like tanks, aircraft, artillery. The museums (there's also one for rocks (minerals) and one for stuffed animals) should add a day or 2. At this point I would recommend a day trip to lake Pancharevo to rent a boat, eat some fish by the river. More day trips are available as transport is cheap and the country is small. If you can squeeze in a day for Plovdiv (130km away) either a day trip or a night's stay, that would be a very good initial impression of Bulgaria. My review for Plovdiv is coming up in this thread. Tell me your interests, so I can tell you more stuff.
Picture is a Yak-23 fighter from Plovdiv's Airforce Museum.
This thread is great! How do I archive this shit?
Thanks heaps for the effort you're putting into this OP! I have a few questions too as I will be visiting in August.
>Do you have any recommendations for hostels in Sofia?
>Any info on the underground music scene in Sofia?
>What other cities would you recommend visiting?
>What are the drug laws there like? Are they strict?
And last one which may be a bit off topic
>I need to get to either Pula or Zagreb (Croatia) from Bulgaria. What's the best way to get there by land? Do I take a bus or train from Sofia? How long would it take? If I was a first timer hitchhiker, how would I do it?
I might be asking a bit too much, so don't feel obliged to respond to this.
>>1112817
I'm mostly interested in food and exploring. I'm sure I'll hit a museum, but I'm not the kind of person who can do that every day. I was thinking of renting a bike to see all the parks and neighborhoods.
Do you have any good restaurant recommendations or specific food items I should try? Areas that would be fun to bike around?
>>1112888
>Do you have any recommendations for hostels in Sofia?
Crosspoint & Hostel Mostel
The latter are a safe bet because they are very professional hosteliers. Former are a bit cheaper and in a decent location, but for a slightly larger price Hostel Mostel seem to have it figured out. There's a decent enough guide on their website, too.
>Any info on the underground music scene in Sofia?
facebook/mixtape5/ (the place to be)
facebook/trl.bar/ (a bit more mainstream shit)
facebook/FABRICA126/ (artsy meme levels of underground)
facebook/apartmental (psychedelic druggie levels of underground)
Apart from that things may get organized in several official halls we have left over from soviet times, like Hristo Botev hall or Winter Palace Sofia, but the above are where regular things happen.
>What other cities would you recommend visiting?
Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Veliko Tarnovo are representative of Bulgaria as they are distinct and don't overlap each other in terms of things to see and do. There are reasons to visit Rousse for the architecture, Blagoevgrad for a university city with a lot of young people. And Bourgas if you can't afford Varna, kek.
>What are the drug laws
Strict. Though seldom you hear about bar raids or users getting caught. You can get weed (and perhaps more in the apartmental) but I would suggest to avoid anything harder than weed. it might not be the best quality and again, if you happen to fall into the cops' hands - the handbook is soviet.
>I need to get to either Pula or Zagreb (Croatia) from Bulgaria.
According to my research, Sofia bus is 46EUR to Zagreb, no direct train line (Sofia-Belgrade-Zagreb is possible though). I would just go with bus. Hitchhiking is as plain as it is everywhere. Be clean-shaven and attractive. Luck-based.
Pic is Bulgarian-made space-food for our guys. We had 2 cosmonauts.
>>1112903
>I'm mostly interested in food and exploring.
Okay, that's good. There is a lot to eat and explore. I would recommend beer hall Halbite, it's mostly not on the lists I'm seeing recommended to tourists, it's a nice, central location. Has a nice cold salami appetizer platter on offer and you'll get acquainted with all of them at once.
Halbite - there's 3 of them, I only go to Halbite 1 because location
Pri Yafata - traditional Bulgarian
Balkan Bites BG - free food tour stuff. I friend of mine from overseas visited Sofia and told me he used this and had a good time.
Besides this, there's also a free generic tour that you can take.
O!Shipka - this is where I'd actually go on a regular basis. Local chain with several locations. Good food, very reasonable prices. Check out the "Shekmbe Chorba" (Tripe Soup), but only at that place, because I know they make it good. With Tripe Soup it's either best or nothing.
There's a store called "100beers" selling a very large variety of beers from across the world. Home brands are Stolichno, which comes in Bock and Weiss. Kamenitza and Zagorka which are meme tier, Ariana is okay. Shumensko is good. Astika - that's you watch football and beat your wife-tier.
Mentioned some foods in the previous post too, Ayran, Boza are a must.
Exploring would be interesting because outside of the city centre you go into the living quarters and one way or another, they are still frozen in the 80s. Some children's playgrounds are renovated and recently constructed, but there are still old iron boats and trucks that the soviets used to build. There isn't a place to avoid during the day (or as a matter of fact, the night). There are 2 gypsy remote living quarters which I wouldn't go because of stray dogs. And the gypsies.
Picture is a random scene outside of Strelcha on the way to the train station.
Location review: Plovdiv! (2 days, 30EUR excluding hostel)
Plovdiv, the City of the Seven Hills, Kendrisia, Philippoupolis, Trimontium or by any other name in it's 8000 year history is the second largest in Bulgaria. The longest river in the Balkans - Maritsa splits the city in two.
I go there when visiting relatives and always enjoy my time.
The city is a must-see if you ever want to claim that you have visited Bulgaria, it is different to Sofia in the fact that contains the "Old City" which is preserved Bulgarian National Revival architecture found only in select cities Zheravna, Kotel, Melnik, Elena, Zlatograd & of course, Koprivshtica. Plovidv and Koprivshtica are by far the most accessible. Others are too, but Plovdiv is just 130km by train (4EUR) from the capital and there are other things, besides a perfectly preserved old Bulgarian city.
The Roman remains! The best preserved Roman Amphitheater in Bulgaria is in Plovdiv. It is still functioning and plays/concerts are held there. Mostly in Summer time, as it's outdoors. The roman horse-racing tracks are partially unearthed and you can have coffee right there on the stands and feel like a total pleb. I guess an entire new city can be unearthed, as you'll go across some digging in the center.
Chilling in the park is cool, especially since they've started to put on a music/sprinkler/lights show in the park fountain.
Pros and things to do:
>Clean air!
Sofia's air sucks. For it's size, the air in the city is mostly clean.
>See the old city!
One of the main draws desu
>Climb all hills!
There is unique stuff on each one, a big soviet monument, old clock tower, mini-train, etc
>Day-trip options:
Asenovgrad (Fortress), Karlovo (culture), Krumovo Airforce Museum
Cons:
>Gypsies
This one is big. Even though they get regular beatings, they aren't as afraid of Bulgarians as they should be. Ghettos are easier to stumble into and you might attract looks
>Public transport is worse than Sofia
Pic: One of the hills
>>1113061
Thank you so much for the great recommendations! You da man OP.
I google Hostel Mostel. It looks pretty good, as well as the party scenes.
Are there any other activities or attractions you can think of that are unique to Bulgaria or Sofia? For example, I'll be checking out the supposedly paranormal forest, Hocia Baciu, in Cluj; and a beer spa in Prague. Is there anything similar there? Doesn't necessarily have to be paranormal.
Also, which bus company would you recommend I take to Zagreb? I'd like to check their website.
>>1113571
Hm, thought about this quite a lot and researched a bit but I can't pin-point something that's unique to Bulgaria or Sofia in this sense. I guess this is an area where the city needs to improve. Maybe go to a pop-folk club in Studentski Grad, that's something I'm not particularly proud of as a human being, but it's only available in Bulgaria and Serbia and it's an experience you won't forget. Though you will wish. :P
http://www.busbg.com/ticket/travel.php?tr=161
I used this link and 1 more to compare prices. The previously quoted 46EUR-50 seems to be the norm. I didn't find any in English though, and the table was already confusing for me. If you need further help let me know and I'll translate their page + contact info.
Picture is An-24 operated by Bulgaria Air, now retired.
While researching Sofia stuff I remembered something I'm particularly proud of, will post a picture of ASAP because it is really a under-the-radar detail that the majority of tourists never see.
>>1113798
Apparently I posted the Bulgarian space suit instead. Here's the An-24.
>>1112293
Thank you for your exp. Would you mind showing the pictures of said places? And especially the best nature sceneries you can find in Bulgaria
I am going to visit Varna with 2 of my friends during my summer holiday. We got ourselfs an appartment.
Is the food cheap there? What about the night life?
How hard is it to find accomodations with dogs? The mother of my child moved there and I would like to be closer instead of bouncing my son back and forth from the states but I also have three dogs.
>>1114021
>Is the food cheap there? What about the night life?
It is. Both cook-it-yourself and regular food joints are cheap. Basically 3 times cheaper than London for a comparable pizza.
Night life in Varna can get expensive if you visit the most popular clubs, it's the most popular tourist destination on the coast, after all. And Summer is coming right the corner. Day-trips to more secluded beaches with a more relaxed night life are available and it will be noticeably cheaper. This is from my perspective, btw. You might be okay with prices.
>>1114065
It shouldn't be too hard at all. I'm not sure about your situation, the size of the dogs and your ability to take care of them, but if the mother if your child lives in a big city and you're willing to get accommodation in a near-by smaller city or village, it will be easy and cheap.
Picture I took of the Interior of a traditional Bulgarian pub - mehana - in Dobrinishte. Ski town near the meme ski town of Bansko.
Going to Bulgaria for a bit this summer. Not sure where exactly, I'm leaving that to my gf. I know we're avoiding tourist traps.
If there is one food unique to Bulgaria I must try, what should it be? I'll eat damn near anything.
>>1113798
Man I'm bad at checking this thread.
Thanks heaps OP! I really appreciate all the help and suggestions. Google translate seems to be enough to get me through the website :)
To return the favor, if you ever plan to visit Sydney or the Philippines in the future, I can give you my tips and advice.
>>1114107
Hey, mate. Glad to hear! Hope you have an unforgettable experience.
Check out the second half of my post for food:
>>1112293
Unique to Bulgaria that you definitely should try, it has to be the Banitsa. It should be noted that when made with filo dough, it's not traditional. Honestly the last time I had traditional banitsa it was from the hands of my grandmother 10 or 15 years ago. I really protest the use of filo (store-bought) in favor of hand-made stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banitsa
Pic is how a hand-made banitsa will look, soft. Filo is crisp.
>>1114211
Ayyy, thanks for the kind words, m8. I wasn't expecting the thread to be this much of a success and I appreciate everyone's interest in it and Bulgaria as a whole. I'm in the infancy plans for the Philippines, luckily you and others like you have got me covered on /trv/ with advice.
>>1114105
>Basically 3 times cheaper than London for a comparable pizza
Probably 3x better too, London's food was notably shit.
>>1111717
how are your whores and dope eurofag? no one gives a shit about your dying culture...nerd
>>1114277
Ayyyyyyyyyyyyy. Go to SEA for that. What's here in terms of whores and dope is mostly reserved for locals tbqh.
Pic: Bridge from commie period reads: Peace to live between the nations. Down with the war starters. The way it's worded it has to be from the 60s.
>>1111717
How long would you recommend to stay in Burgas, Varna, Plovdiv and Sofia? Do you think 3, 3, 3 and 5 is too much?
