The Great Balkans Road Trip: Veliko Tarnovo to Sofia (Day 3)

This is Day 3 of 13 of my Balkans road trip with Just You, doing a circular tour from Romania, through Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia – and ending up back in Romania. If you missed the start of the journey here’s the link to take you there.

I woke up in my third country in three days: Bulgaria. This morning I was in Veliko Tarnovo and we’d be heading to Sofia this afternoon.

What’s the Yantra Grand Hotel like?

A neatly made bed with a soft grey padded headboard hanging from a wooden rail by two fabric loops, a white pillow tucked underneath, and a brass reading light on the wall. A small, quiet moment of hotel-room order before the day gets messy.

Once again I had a great night’s sleep on very comfy pillows. You never know what pillows you’re going to get in hotels – and this can and has affected my sleep – but this was something that proved excellent in the Balkans. Perhaps I don’t stay in hotels of this quality when left to my own devices, favouring cost over comfort. I still have fond memories of my pillow from a Mercure hotel from my train journey to Latvia in 2008 so I do like a good pillow.

A cream boucle chair with sharp, modern lines and brass legs, sitting on a grey patterned rug beside a curtain and wooden wall panel. The kind of hotel‑room chair that looks stylish but dares you to actually sit on it.

I also like a good chair, although I’m not sure who ever sits in a chair in a hotel room. Do you? I only ever sit at a table when I’m drying my hair. For me, hotel rooms are for sleeping only. Which is probably why I don’t usually spend too much on them.

Oh and there’s breakfast, of course.

A white plate with two boiled eggs, a slice of ham, a piece of sausage, and two tomato wedges on a white tablecloth.

A small glass bowl of plain yogurt topped with bright peach slices on a white tablecloth, with a spoon just in view.

There are always healthy choices if you look. I normally have eggs for breakfast anyway and you’re always going to get them in a hotel.

Breakfast was my first interaction of the day with my companions and I’d sit with whoever had a spare seat at their table. Today it was someone who recommended I read Clare MacKintosh’s books. My reading list was growing by the day! I think I’ll start with this one:

The music of choice in the hotel restaurant this morning was Jason Donovan. And why not?

The hotel is in an excellent central location. It was a gorgeous day and I took the opportunity of a leisurely morning to take a stroll on my own. It speaks volumes for how comfortable and relaxed I already was, that I ventured out alone. This is a new thing for me on overseas holidays, having previously not felt safe to do so. Whether that’s because I’m a woman or wasn’t widely socialised or travelled in my childhood, or a confidence thing, I don’t know. Historically, I’ve seen women travelling completely solo and wished I had the confidence to do that. After all, I’ve travelled all over the UK on my own watching Blackpool. Why not overseas too?

I headed out in the direction of where there may or may not have been a retro telephone museum (my research proved inconclusive). What I really wanted was somewhere I could sit in peace and finish my latest Star Trek book. It seemed I was travelling with a chatty group, so I had to grab my reading time where I could, without seeming rude if someone sat next to me on the bus.

If you like reading and like Star Trek, I highly recommend the New Frontier series, which has never been adapted for television. I’ve been picking up the books either second hand paperback or in Kindle format from Amazon. Check them out here (this one is the first in the series, not the one I’m reading).

I found a little park to sit in, close to a library (where people were loitering outside, so I assumed it wasn’t open yet). I finished my book to the sound of birdsong and I could have happily have spent the whole morning here. But we had touristing to do just down the road, so I headed back to the hotel, packed my toiletries back in the suitcase I was living out of, and boarded the bus.

What is there to see in Veliko Tarnovo?

What is Tsarevets Fortress like?

A bronze 3D model of Tsaravets Fortress set on stone supports at an outdoor viewpoint, with an information board and a terracotta pot nearby. In the distance, a hilltop fortress rises above green trees under a streaky blue sky

They like a fortress in this part of the world. It was as if Just You were deliberately attempting to buck the ABC / ABC trend (Another Bloody Church / Another Bloody Castle), replacing it with a new one: AFF.

Here’s the weather forecast for today:

And we were spending it outdoors. I don’t want to keep harping on about my low blood pressure but what it doesn’t like is me (a) being hot and (b) standing still. Plus (c) I’m learning from my older companions that ailments and medication are the future, so I’m just bedding you in, dear reader. I was armed with a bottle of water and determined to seek out shade and seating wherever possible.

I was in birding mode today, having already whipped out my Merlin app to identify the birds in the park (the same ones we have at home, which was disappointing). And so the conversation turned to birds.

‘Did you know robins kill each other?’

Did you know this? Or has someone just ruined robins for you too? I did not need this information. I like robins; they make me laugh when they get angry if anything changes in the garden. But then, now I come to think about it, I do only ever seem to see one at a time…

Now, of course, I need to verify this information for you, dear reader. Over to Copilot…

I can’t see that particular image making it onto Christmas cards.

Anyway back to the fortress. Our tour guide was busy telling us all about it but I was distracted by storks overhead. So let’s learn about it together now. This is a great two-minute video that shows you what it’s like and gives a bit of background.

We were given free time to explore the site which frankly I could have done without in this heat but it gave me the opportunity to have a leisurely stroll and a chat with a member of the group I hadn’t met properly yet (there were 32 of us and this was only Day 3). We discovered a common love of cats so had a bit of cat chat before moving onto other subjects. My main takeaway from our conversation was when he said:

‘You sound just like my son. He does things like that. Not that I’m saying you’re autistic…’

A green, tree‑covered hill topped with a dark statue raising its arms to the sky, with modern buildings tucked just behind it. A clear blue afternoon with faint contrails overhead

We headed down early to the rendezvous point.

A black metal bench under a decorative arch covered in bright artificial flowers and greenery, set in a sunny pedestrian square with people walking in the background. A cheerful little photo spot that looks determined to brighten your day whether you asked for it or not.

While other members of the party looked to add to their fridge magnet collections, I found myself unable to resist the Nuii ice cream lollies I’d seen advertised everywhere (sorry Paddington).

A hand holding a black‑and‑gold Nuii ice‑cream bar wrapper, flavoured Lemon Cheesecake and South Korean Yuzu, with bright illustrations of the bar and a Korean landscape.

‘What’s South Korean Yuzu,’ I asked anyone in earshot.

No-one knew.

Copilot identified it as a citrus fruit. I decided the Lemon Cheesecake bit sounded nice so I’d probably like it. What’s foreign travel for if not for trying new foods? Dear reader, I bought it.

It seems I’d piqued the curiosity of the group.

‘Go on then – what did it taste like?’

‘Well…let’s just say I think it would work better as a shower gel…’

We were surprised to see a police car whizzing past in such a charming and peaceful tiny city.

‘What’s the worst crime they get round here? Theft of magnet?’

I howled at that one.

We boarded the bus back into the city centre (I call it that but it was basically one street). We were despatched here for a couple of hours of free time. The shops were pointed out to us but to me, when the guide utters the words ‘free time’, my brain screams ‘pub o’clock’. I always seem to find people who hear the same thing on these holidays, so a couple of us headed off to find a pub lunch.

None of the pubs on my map were open (see Day 2 for some of them), as it was early, so we dived into the first place we saw.

What’s the Panorama Hotel like?

We sat out front here. It wasn’t the best spot, with passing traffic providing quite loud white noise. But I was just glad of a sit down and a beer – any beer – so Heineken 0.0 it was (again).

We were soon joined by another member of our party, who told us about his appearances on Mastermind, before I started teaching him some letters in the Cyrillic alphabet. You never know where conversations are going to go on a Just You trip.

I popped inside the hotel/restaurant/bar/whatever foyer an exploratory mission to investigate food and toilet options. I found this funky bin that opens in the middle via foot pedal.

A stainless‑steel corner bin with a semicircular lid and black base, tucked neatly into the tiled corner of a room.

As with the bathrooms in my hotels to date, there was a bit of a drainy smell in the toilets. I mentioned this to my ~~beer~~ lunch buddy and he said he hadn’t noticed anything. Was it me?

During my exploration, I realised the interior looked very comfortable and was much quieter than where we were sitting out front. We decided to move inside. When doing so, we happened across a little balcony at the back with a panoramic view (hence the name), so we sat out there.

A wide green valley with a river curving through it, overlooked by a tall monument of statues on a raised platform. Big hotel‑style buildings sit on the hillside, with smaller houses tucked into the trees. A bright, hazy sky above — the kind of view that makes you stop and take a breath, even if you weren’t planning to.

I got straight onto Merlin to identify the swooping birds (Western Housemartins – got them in France last year so not a new tick – not that I’m a ticker, you understand…).

We weren’t that hungry thanks to the ice cream earlier, so we opted to share a toastie-type-thing.

The service here was good so we tipped as is our custom (when service warrants it, which we wouldn’t be troubled with again for the next couple of days).

Veliko Tarnovo to Sofia

We then ambled back to the bus and headed off to Sofia, which was a good few hours away. As my book had left me on a cliffhanger, I immediately began the next book in my Star Trek New Frontier series. Surely the Borg were imminent after all this foreshadowing…?

In between chapters, I engaged in conversation with my neighbour on the bus, which was only right because he kept feeding me sherbet lemons. He explained the difference between trams and trolleybuses, which I’d never understood. Trolleybuses have wheels, apparently, as opposed to trams, which run on tracks (obvs I know that bit, being from Blackpool).

Given that I had my head in my book, there are no further notes or observations from my journey to Sofia.

What’s the Astoria Grand Hotel like?

Well it’s very grand! There was a casino attached to it, the foyer was massive and we had high hopes for a hotel where we’d be spending the next two nights. Lets take a look around.

A gold abstract face sculpture on a black base, holding a finger to its lips, with no eyes, set against beige and white paneled walls and a tiled floor.

We’d soon find out that this was an indicator that guests should be neither seen nor heard.

I headed up to my room as quickly as the checkin process allowed, delighted that there was more than one lift in this hotel (unlike the previous two), which meant less waiting around.

An ornate armchair with a curved wooden frame, tufted fleur‑de‑lis upholstery, and scroll‑carved arms, sitting on a beige carpet with metallic drapes behind it.

Ooh there’s another fancy chair I won’t be sitting in.

A wall‑mounted hotel panel with two lit buttons: a green “Make Up Room” icon and a red “Do Not Disturb” icon, set in a metallic frame on a textured wall.

I love discovering tech innovation on holidays. I clicked on my Do Not Disturb right away. We were here for two nights but I could live without my room being serviced for that long; it’s more environmentally friendly plus I don’t really want someone going in and moving my things. How much mess can I create overnight anyway? All I do in the room is shower and sleep. Oh and check out the tv, if time allows.

I took the opportunity of a private comfort break, with many of these on this trip (which I won’t be documenting, in the main) involving the entire group queueing at service stations (often for one cubicle). We tended to stop once an hour on long journeys, which meant no-one was dancing. Well, not until we get to the Romanian border next week, but that’s for another day. Anyway, the thing that made my notes about the toilet in this hotel was that my feet didn’t touch the floor. Perhaps they make them taller in Bulgaria (to be fair, at 5’2, most countries do).

We had free time this evening so of course I had a little pub crawl planned, ignoring our guide’s recommendation to eat at the hotel. I’d arranged to meet a couple of others in reception at a later time than I really wanted (I like to head straight out, but they wanted showers or whatever people do to settle into hotel rooms).

What could I do to kill the time? I decided to embrace my new role as IT support for the group, providing instructions in the WhatsApp group I set up yesterday for how to use Google Lens to read things in foreign.

I was pleased to receive a message in reply that one of my drinking buddies was ready early, so I headed down to reception.

However, it seemed that me mentioning the bathroom odour had manifested this with others. A couple of my companions had requested to change rooms – including one of those I was trying to get out the door. Ironically, my bathroom in this hotel didn’t smell. I feigned patience, assisted by the presence of a bar just off the hotel lobby, into which I quickly trotted.

‘Do you have alcohol free beer?’

The barmaid (can we still call them that? She’d be called worse by others later) grunted in the direction of the fridge. Perhaps she didn’t speak English, which I shouldn’t expect. I hadn’t bothered to learn a word of any of the languages of the countries we were visiting, which was pretty poor really. I always used to. In fact, that’s how I ended up learning Russian. Not that I’ve been there, but I wanted to learn Latvian, as we were going to Latvia every year to watch Blackpool at the time, and I wanted to communicate beyond alus and paldies and ludzu and counting to ten. Anyway, in the course of seeking and failing to find a Latvian class, I happened across the Brasshouse Language Centre in Birmingham (where I worked at that time) – the largest language school in Europe (not any more as it’s gone now). Anyway they didn’t have a Latvian class but it only cost about £125 for a full academic year and I wasn’t missing out on a bargain like that so I picked Russian, figuring it might come in useful (which it has on this holiday, as I can read things in Bulgarian).

But back to our barmaid. I got a few more grunts and scowls out of her and eventually established there was Heineken 0.0 available. I can’t remember if I had one or decided against it because I was getting bored of Heineken and she was so miserable I didn’t want to give her my business.

Mercifully, my companions soon arrived and off we headed to the pub.

What are the pubs like in Sofia?

As our hotel was not the one on the itinerary we’d been provided with (which happened a few times), I’d had to find some local pubs on the fly. Copilot proved very useful for this. I’d tell him where we were staying and ask for quirky craft beer places in the vicinity. Here’s what he came up with for us tonight.

What’s Halbite Beer Hall like?

This was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel (could have been shorter but I took a wrong turning).

On arrival we walked in past the beer garden and into a downstairs room, selecting a table from all the empty ones available.

‘No. You can’t go in there. Upstairs.’

Yes boss. We did as instructed and headed further inside and up some stairs, being seated at a table next to a loud couple in a room with poor acoustics (or good, if you want to listen in to people on the next table and not hear what people on your table are saying).

Now let’s have a beer, shall we?

Given that I (a) couldn’t hear what my companions were saying and (b) thankfully didn’t need to, as they could talk to each other, I checked my phone. And it was kicking off back at the hotel!

Of course I relayed this news to the others straight away and we didn’t find this funny at all, as we tucked into our food and beer. I toyed with the idea of sending them photos of my food but decided it was too early on in the holiday to be incendiary, given that I had another nine days to spend with these people (although I would on the last night, just for a giggle).

A white plate piled with chunks of meat tossed with red and green peppers, all glossed in a savoury sauce and finished with a scatter of fresh herbs. A glass of beer waits in the background — the sort of hearty, no‑nonsense pub dish that arrives steaming and smells like comfort.

This pork stir fry was lovely but not filling enough.

A slice of glossy chocolate tart on a white plate, topped with a generous scatter of crushed nuts that spill onto the plate.

So I had cake for afters.

A bottle of Primator alcohol‑free beer with a cartoon granny on the label sits behind a glass of amber beer crowned with a thick foam head. The table is set in a cosy pub, with blurred diners and framed pictures in the background

And another beer.

By now the cavalry (our guide) had arrived in the hotel restaurant so we had no further updates on the #Dinnergate drama. I was too scared to ask in the WhatsApp chat but I’d find out later for sure! On our way out of the pub (en route to the next), we spotted a room that looked like a traditional pub with a long bar. I wished I’d seen that on the way in. That’s not to say we’d have been allowed in there, of course…

What’s High Five Taproom like?

A blue and yellow sign for a craft‑beer bar called “High Five,” with two cartoon beer glasses clinking above the words “taproom” and “craft beer bar & shop.” Through the window below, a chalkboard crammed with beer names glows under warm geometric lights

I loved this place! It was a fridge fest! And just a little one-room micropub with a little bar by the front door.

But I’m only here for the AF beer, so asked for directions to the requisite shelf.

A can of Põhjala Prenzlauer Ø non‑alcoholic raspberry sour on a metal table, next to a glass of bright pink beer. Another darker drink sits in the background — a quiet little bar moment with a pop of raspberry colour doing all the talking.

And here’s what I might have had if I still included alcohol in my diet.

A row of Funky Fluid “Gelato” sour beers chilling in a fridge, each wrapped in loud dessert‑themed artwork — blueberries, muffins, melting ice‑cream swirls — all looking more like a bakery window than a beer shelf. Yellow price tags sit below them, quietly insisting this is, in fact, alcohol.

A row of Hop Hooligans smoothie‑sour cans in a fridge, each wrapped in loud, playful artwork — lemon balm and elderberry on one, a pineapple‑crowned cat on another, and two toga‑wearing black cats advertising gelato‑themed flavours. Below them, neat yellow price tags spell out the Romanian origins and the 6% punch behind all that cheerful chaos.

I enjoyed a lot of Hop Hooligans beer on my previous visit to Romania – and would find (and enjoy) more next week on my return to the country.

The music in here was not to our taste at all – that repetitive chill out stuff with no words.

I headed to do a #LooReview.

A cluster of colourful craft‑beer labels layered together, with a wide‑eyed grey kitten half‑submerged in water dominating the centre on a label titled “Mokro Kote.” Around it, bold graphics, bright blocks of colour, and brewery logos jostle for attention

A jumble of colourful craft‑beer labels layered over each other, with a cartoon giraffe front and centre on a label reading “El Raffe DIPA.” Around it, bright fruit graphics, bold typography, and brewery logos crowd the frame — a loud, joyful mess of design that feels like standing inside a very enthusiastic taproom fridge.

Great label art!

When I got back to my table the others were chuckling about this beer they’d seen in the fridge.

Cans of Vinohradský Pivovar craft beer lined up in a fridge — Hazy Galaxy, Seaman, and Liberator — each with bold colours and clean designs, with yellow price tags listing the styles and ABV.

We didn’t fancy the walk back to our hotel in the dark across broken cobbles and amidst grumpy natives, so our host called us a cab (well did it on an app, as that’s what we do these days).

In frosty silence in the cab, squashed in between two men on the back seat because they were too scared to sit in the front, I asked Copilot what it was with these locals.

Yes, I suppose it was like London in a way. We would notice a marked difference in how we were welcomed in each of the five countries on this tour – even in different cities within the same country, as with Veliko Tarnovo and Sofia offering completely different vibes.

Had I been expecting Eurovision parties in Sofia, following their win only two nights previously? Perhaps. I can’t say I felt any Eurovision joy here tonight – but I’m delighted that 2027 will be bringing this to Sofia.

I’m prepared to be told I’m wrong here, as I want to like everywhere I visit. If you’ve been to Sofia, what was your experience? That said, we’d be here all day tomorrow, too, and see a bit more of it. In fact, I’d be seeing the most disturbing thing of the entire holiday…

Of course we headed straight to the hotel bar to get the goss on #Dinnergate – but I’ll leave that update for Day 4, where I’ll be picking up further snippets of information from various parties throughout the day. Breakfast was going to be fun!

Have you been to Veliko Tarnovo or Sofia? Tell me what I missed.

What did I learn today?

Veliko Tarnovo is a charming little city
I felt safe as a sole female traveller in Veliko Tarnovo
Robins kill each other
South Korean yuzu tastes like shower gel
Sofia doesn’t feel friendly

Is this part of a wider Balkans travel series?

Yes! If you want to start at the beginning you can find Day 1 here or navigate below or via the European Travel Diaries menu. The journey takes me from Romania, through Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, before heading back into Romania.

What’s the Yantra Grand Hotel like?