Bulgaria
Sofia
Match
56
- Beach first51
- Culture first60
- Food & nightlife60
- Family trip56
- Nature first57
- Good weather54
- On a budget63
The nine measures
Each scored 0 to 100 against fixed anchors, so a score means the same thing on every page. Open a row for the figures behind it.
Beaches & swimming. Scores 0 out of 100.0
| Score | 0 |
|---|---|
| Swim season months | 0 |
| Beaches 10 km | 0 |
| Coast distance | 214 km |
| Water distance | — |
No swimmable water within reach: no temperature series exists for any water body near the city, and the 0 spots mapped within 10 km are pool, canal or river water.
Places to eat. Scores 64 out of 100.64
| Score | 64 |
|---|---|
| Restaurants within 2 km of centre | 845 |
| Effective number of cuisines within 2 km | 28 |
845 restaurants within 2 km of the centre, spread across an effective 28 kitchens.
Museums & heritage. Scores 57 out of 100.57
| Score | 57 |
|---|---|
| Museums within 10 km | 51 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 40 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 78 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 1 |
51 museums mapped within 10 km, 78% of them within 2 km of the centre, and 1 whole UNESCO inscription within 50 km.
Nightlife. Scores 61 out of 100.61
| Score | 61 |
|---|---|
| Drinking venues within 4 km | 958 |
| Drinking venues within 2 km of centre | 608 |
| Share of drinking venues within 2 km % | 63 |
| Nightclubs within 4 km | 102 |
958 places to drink within 4 km, 102 nightclubs among them, and 63% of the drinking venues within 2 km of the centre.
Nature & day trips. Scores 51 out of 100.51
| Score | 51 |
|---|---|
| Protected land share 50 km % | 12 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 4 |
| Land share of disc % | 100 |
| Park area within 2 km | 229 hectares |
12% of the 50 km disc around the city is protected land, and there are 229 hectares of park within 2 km of the centre.
Good for families. Scores 55 out of 100.55
| Score | 55 |
|---|---|
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 20 |
| Park area within 2 km | 229 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 0 |
20 tourist attractions within 2 km beside 229 hectares of park, and 0 theme parks within 30 km.
Sights concentration. Scores 57 out of 100.57
| Score | 57 |
|---|---|
| Notable places within 2 km | 104 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 |
104 notable places within 2 km of the centre, counting places with a Wikipedia presence in at least five languages.
Value for money. Scores 99 out of 100.99
| Score | 99 |
|---|---|
| Price level global | 21.4 |
| Daily budget | €77 |
National price level of 21.4 against the United States at 100, scored on a fixed scale from 20, the cheapest countries anyone travels to, to 160, the most expensive. The estimated daily budget there is €77.
Year-round weather. Scores 64 out of 100.64
| Score | 64 |
|---|---|
| Monthly daytime high | 3.5 °C to 28.4 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 36 mm to 78 mm |
| Dry months | 3 |
Daytime highs run 4-28 °C across the year, with 3 month(s) at 40 mm of rain or less.
When should you go?
The figures behind each month, shaded against this city's own year: the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Sofia: 1991-2020 normals, Sofia Observ. (7.3 km from centre).
Getting there
| Flying from | Sofia |
|---|---|
| LondonLHR, LGW, STN, LTN +2 | 3 h 5 m €70-85 1 stop SOF · 8 km |
| ViennaVIE | 1 h 35 m €74-99 SOF · 8 km |
| FrankfurtFRA, HHN | 2 h 20 m €130-210 1 stop SOF · 8 km |
| MilanMXP, BGY, LIN | 2 h 5 m €56-159 SOF · 8 km |
| MunichMUC | 2 h 0 m no fares SOF · 8 km |
| IstanbulIST, SAW | 1 h 15 m €116-123 SOF · 8 km |
| Tel Aviv YafoTLV | 2 h 30 m €154-198 SOF · 8 km |
| BangkokBKK, DMK | 10 h 0 m €614-660 2 stops SOF · 8 km |
| RomeFCO, CIA | 1 h 45 m €55-68 SOF · 8 km |
| BarcelonaBCN | 2 h 45 m €88-145 1 stop SOF · 8 km |
The busiest departure cities for Sofia, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Typical return fares for 2026-08 to 2026-10, cached market data up to 7 days old. The figure is the middle half of the offers found, so a single price means they agreed and a range means they did not; for a typical route that middle half spans about a quarter of the median, and for the least settled routes rather more than the median itself.
Before you go
| Measure | Sofia |
|---|---|
| Official language | Bulgarian |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) |
| Sockets | CF230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer |
| Emergency number | 112 |
| Elevation | 560 m |
| Main airport | Sofia Airport (SOF)8 km from centre94 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 15 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Sofia |
|---|---|
| City population | 1,213,134 |
| People per km² | 2,466 |
| Museums within 10 km | 42 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 51 |
Compare Sofia with
Every comparison with a written verdict behind it.