Sofia travel guide – useful info and advices

What to do on your arrival

It is a scientific fact that the moment of arrival at a foreign ground is the one that makes the traveler anxious the most. Well in Bulgaria, many people will use that fact to fool you. The first to do so are the taxi drivers. The local law says that any taxi driver must put a sign with his rate at the back-door window. As seen here:

But, he has the full liberty to put whatever rate he wants to. Basically the normal rate per kilometer is bellow 1 leva or 0,5 eur. So check-out the rate before getting in the cab. Look also for the rate per minute. It’s the rate at which you are charged when the taxi stays still waiting for you or at the traffic lights. So even if the rate per kilometer is ok, there could be still a fraudulent rate per minute.

Even if everything is ok with the rates the drivers still have some gadgets to pump up your bill.

So the best thing to do is to catch an “OK Supertans” taxi. It looks like this:

Because of the fact that it is the most honest company, there are a number of replica companies that use the “OK” sign and the “2121” numbers featured on their taxies. Be careful. The real ones have the letters OK and the phone number 9732121 featured on the car.

If the 2 things are ok – go ahead.

If you are fooled and your bill is rising too fast the best thing to do is to stop the car, pay and wait for another one. Don’t try to fight with the drivers about the bill. They are usually armed and prepared to fight back. Plus they use their radio stations to call back-up. So in minutes you could get beaten very badly.

At the Sofia Airport (both terminals) and at the Central Bus Station you can easily find the “OK Supertrans” cabs. They are the official taxies of the airport and the bus station and won’t trick you.

They won’t come searching for you so if you are approached by some stranger at your arrival that offers you a fare, don’t accept it. It’s a trick!

Not to be blamed for making free advertising I can recommend you also the “Radio SV Taxi” company that can be easily distinguished by the 1263 phone number on it.

If you arrive at the Central Railway Station you should go in front of the Central Bus Station and take a cab there since the railway station doesn’t have an official taxi company to be serviced by so there you can meet many taxi cheaters.

Basically 20 leva or 10 euro are enough to reach any point in the city with a taxi from the airport or the Central Bus Station. That doesn’t count if you get stuck in a traffic jam which is pretty much possible if you are not arriving in the early in the morning or late in the evening.

Attention – always check if the driver has switched on the counter. Make him stop and get off the cab if he doesn’t. He is obliged to switch it on!

If you got into a cheater cab and he already has switched on the counter, but you decide not to take it because of fraudulent rates you must pay him the starting price, which is displayed on his counter.

There you have some maps of the exact places that the cabs can be found.

Terminal 1

Terminal 2

Railway station

If you don’t want to use a cab but the public transport you should bare in mind that you have to buy tickets at some kiosk. Usually there is one at every bus or tram stop. Its price is 1 leva and is valid for 1 fare with 1 mean of  transportation (bust, tram, troley bus). When you get off the transport it becomes invalid. Ticket in Bulgarian is “BILÉT” and is pronounced as written. Say the word and show with your fingers the quantity. If you have a large backpack or suitcase with you, you should buy another ticket when taking it into the bus or tram. Once inside it you should pierce it in one of the specially designed tools.

If not, you are considered committing fraud even having the not pierced ticket(s). The fine is 10 leva or 5 euro. The people that check tickets make inspections once in a while. The chance to be checked when traveling from the Airport or the Central Bus Station is about 100%. After 23:30 h local time, don’t expect to catch any public transport.

To pay for the taxi or the tickets you will for sure need some money. I strongly recommend you not to exchange large quantities of money at the Airport or the Central Bus Station. About 20 euro will be more than enough to pay your cab. I say euro because the exchange rate is fixed. Basically it is 2 leva per every euro, but the actual rate usually is 1,95 leva for 1 euro. With dollars it always depends, so if you can’t buy Bulgarian Levs in your country, arrive here with euro – it’s the cleanest way.

Check out how does our money look like.

You can always ask additional questions and I’ll try to answer them!