Luxury holidays in Sofia

Sofia captures Bulgaria’s East-meets-West cultural heritage in microcosm: a city of contrasts, where mosques and Orthodox churches sit alongside grand Austro-Hungarian architecture and stark Soviet housing blocks. The Bulgarian capital has vibrant art and culinary scenes and serves as a gateway to the Balkan mountains, which double as its camera-ready backdrop.

When to go

With the right gear, cities are generally weatherproof all-season escapes: summer rain is a feature of July and August in Sofia, so we’re drawn to the still-clement months of late spring and early autumn.

Getting there

  • Planes

    Sofia International Airport’s roll-call of routes served across the Continent reads like a country line-up for Eurovision, and extends to Middle Eastern countries, too.

  • Trains

    Sofia Central Railway Station serves up Seventies Brutalist architecture and connections across the country, as well as border-crossing routes to Bucharest and a year-round sleeper service to Istanbul.

  • Automobiles

    Bulgaria’s relatively lower speed limits give you more time to admire its wealth of scenery. If you’re picking up a domestic rental at Sofia airport, it should come with the digital toll pass you’ll need to travel on out-of-city motorways.