The Great Balkans Road Trip: Sofia (Day 4)

This is Part 4 of The Great Balkans Road Trip. If you’re new to the series you can start from the beginning here. I’m doing a circular tour of the Balkans with a solo travel company called Just You, starting in Romania, travelling through Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, ending up back in Romania two weeks later. Today, we’re in Sofia. This blog includes affiliate links to help support my writing.

Are you a bean chiller or a fork prodder?

Now you may recall from Day 3 that there was a Bulgarian stand-off in the Astoria Grand Hotel restaurant last night, with our group staging a sit-in and the staff refusing to serve them. Meanwhile I had been smugly scoffing a two-course dinner and quaffing beer in a beer hall across town. Today it was my mission to get the goss on #Dinnergate. I grabbed my breakfast and joined some of the others at a table.

Apparently our guide was in the wrong because he shouldn’t have recommended we eat in the hotel. They should have served them without complaint despite being understaffed and faced with a large party because ‘we’re their guests’. And, after they had finally been served food (which was apparently very nice, but that’s beside the point) it was unreasonable of the staff to be funny about the bill being split 20 ways (I exaggerate) so they could all pay separately on their cards. Paying with cash was working well for me when dining in group situations but I realised this wasn’t the best time to mention that.

I spotted another member of the group smirking over his breakfast. I hoped my face was more subtle than his, but I don’t have much of a poker face (as evidenced by anyone who’s met me who I don’t recognise will attest to).

There were also complaints about breakfast items being served cold but I’ve been to Bulgaria before and it seems that’s just a thing; they don’t serve food piping hot like we do. I was quite happily tucking into cold baked beans for my breakfast because that’s how I eat them back home anyway. Who needs the extra washing up? I just eat them straight from the tin. Plus, if you expect things overseas to be the same as back home, you’re always going to be disappointed. Sometimes life dishes you up cold baked beans and you have a choice whether to eat them or leave them, enjoy them or moan about them. Although I do appreciate the temperature of baked beans is a particularly contentious one for the British. How do you like yours?

Even pub expectations have to be moderated. Guinness might be in a can as opposed to from the tap. You might have to drink (gasp!) lager. There might not always be an AF beer option and, if there is, it might be Heineken 0.0 everywhere for a few days. If I have to drink pop somewhere, it’s not going to ruin my night. My philosophy was to simply enjoy myself and embrace the local culture because I knew I’d be happier that way.

Someone had asked for their safe to be fixed and, when this request wasn’t accommodated, she just said ‘give me a screwdriver and I’ll fix it myself.’ What a legend! It mystifies me what people bring on holidays that they need a safe for. Do you use a safe on holiday? What for? That said, I’ll confess that I was delighted to have half a dozen offers of nail scissors when I broke a nail and put an appeal out on the WhatsApp group. I was even given an emery board to keep. They weren’t a bad bunch, this lot. And it wouldn’t do it we were all the same, would it?

Now, as we gathered in the foyer to had out for the day, the receptionist was refusing to hand out enough maps for all of us. Why do people need maps in 2026? Perhaps I might have added a link to Google Maps into the group WhatsApp at this point but, like I said yesterday, it was too early in the holiday to be incendiary and that would keep until the last night, where I’d throw something in for a giggle.

Our group football fanatic got me up to speed on Southampton being kicked out of the play-offs – and we agreed this wouldn’t have happened to Manchester City, but that’s money football for you.

Anyway let’s get away from this hotel and out into the sunshine and hope the group temperament improves.

What is Sofia like?

There are lots of museums in Sofia. I had several mapped up (on Google Maps, not the elusive hard copies). These included:

• The Dolls Art House Museum
• The Red Flat
• Regional History Museum of Sofia
• Museum of Illusions
• National Museum of Natural History

This exhibition looked great and I tried to edge over there so I could see if it was free to get in (sadly we’d just missed International Museum Day, when it had been). I didn’t dare venture too far because our guide was quite stern when it came to people wandering away from the group. I did get that, as I wouldn’t want to be in charge of 32 people out in the wild. I’d be on the receiving end of a telling off back in Romania but I stayed in line for now, despite suffering while we were standing around in the heat. I amused and distracted myself by finding interesting things to look at.

We learned that orthodox churches look like crosses from above and all face in the same direction by the compass. We also learned that the congregation stands up during mass. That’s another black mark against taking up religion for me. We learned that Catholics and Orthodox make the sign of the cross in different ways: the former starting with the west and the latter with the east.

Meanwhile more grumblings about how our tour guide wasn’t living up to expectations. I found myself stepping away from the group – and finding more peace outside churches than in them. Was I people intolerant, I was beginning to wonder.

Here’s a statue of Tsar Alexander, the liberator of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.

We learned a fun fact about frescoes. I’d seen plenty of these on my Pompeii trip with Just You last year. Apparently they’re painted on wet plaster, which is how they retain their colour through the years.

This was an impressive statue of Saint Sofia, who replaced Lenin here in 2000.

As lunchtime approaches, thoughts turn to beer…

In between tourist attractions (which seemed to be mainly churches, which were impressive buildings but yawn), I appeared to be collecting beer drinkers.

In advance of this trip, as I’d been conducting my research into (a) where we had free time and (b) where the pubs were, I’d happened across an American Balkans beer blogger (Pivoslavija) who lives in Belgrade and offers guided beer tours. Obviously I was all over that and booked on immediately. It was therefore my mission on the early days of this holiday to find other people who wanted to come along on this tour. Throughout the day today, as word spread, the numbers increased to ten. This was a lot of responsibility and I was beginning to feel like a tour guide myself. Did I want that responsibility, given the very particular expectations of this group? What if they didn’t like it?

One of my recruits started telling me about Northwich beer festival, which he used to be involved with but they started serving gin and he didn’t approve of that nonsense. I couldn’t disagree, really, as I know gin to be the drink of the devil, given that I catastrophise after just one gin. That said, I’ve started drinking AF gin and tonics lately and they’re rather refreshing (without the mental health impact).

By now I was gravitating towards the joyful members of the party, where conversation turned to Paddington The Musical. I was recommended some seats with a good view to book for my visit next year (the six seats at the back of the stalls). They’re now duly booked.

At last we escaped the churches and were given free time to explore Sofia. I wasn’t sure exactly where we’d be released from our group captivity but I was overjoyed to discover it was right by a restaurant that Copilot had recommended for reasonably priced traditional local food. I led my beer buddy straight there.

Where’s good to eat in Sofia?

Shtastliveta Restaurant

This restaurant was on the main Vitosha Boulevard, which was lined with shops, bars and restaurants, either side of a wide pedestrian walkway. It was a little tricky to find – I walked past it twice – but eventually we got there and took a seat outside. The main outdoor covered seating area contained smokers – which I didn’t mind, and actually enjoyed, but my companion was not a fan. Happily there was a separate seating area away from the smoke and in the fresh air.

Now let’s take a look at the menu.

What would you have gone for? We had limited time here, so I wanted something that wouldn’t take too long to prepare and would be reasonably healthy and also tasty. Here’s what I had.

They do like to overcook their fish over here, so I would quickly learn to avoid it where possible. Still, this did the job very nicely and it was filling.

Beer here was Heineken 0.0 so, chilled and comfortable as we were, we weren’t staying here for a second.

Where’s good to drink in Sofia?

Well we tried a couple of places last night, which you can read about here.

There were more places on my map that sadly we didn’t get to visit, including:

• Kanaal
• Vitamin B Craft Beer Bar
• Tap Local: Craft Beer Bar

But right now we were where we were and how could we resist a big sign offering craft beer at Vitosha Street Bar and Dinner?

Here’s what I had.

Have you been to Sofia? Did you find any good pubs or beers?

We had been given the option of extra free time in the centre of Sofia or meeting up to take the coach back to our hotel. By now I was more than ready for some ‘me’ time, so we rendezvoused at the agreed meeting point and stood there awhile.

‘Who’s your new friend?’, someone whispered in my ear.

Unbeknown to me, a random woman had joined our group and been standing next to me for ages. Our guide politely pointed out we were an organised group, but said she could come back to the hotel with us if she wanted to. She opted against this and went on her way.

Astoria Grand Hotel

Back in my room, I took the opportunity to charge my phone and decided to see what was on Bulgarian tv. The highlight was Paw Patrol in Bulgarian, which I enjoyed and could follow quite well despite the language difference. It was an episode about a farm being serviced by robots which were controlled from the inside by chickens. Perhaps that could be the future, who knows?

I also caught up on the SlimmingWorld podcast to try and keep me focused on my healthy eating. I felt I was doing reasonably well, with all of my breakfasts on plan, and doing as well as I could at places where we got what we were given. I’m a big fan of SlimmingWorld. It’s not all about losing weight but eating healthily and reaping the health benefits. For example, I no longer have migraines or indigestion and my gammy foot doesn’t give me grief any more, which I think may be linked to having less weight on it.

I also took the opportunity to make progress with my latest book, which I was really enjoying. I struggle with sci fi sometimes but this one was easy to follow. I can’t remember if I’ve seen the film but I can recommend this book:

Hit me up with any good book recommendations.

We were going out for dinner as a group tonight, which was probably just as well after last night’s #Dinnergate fiasco. What could possibly go wrong…?

I got bored of waiting in my room and headed down early for a drink in the hotel bar. Sure, it was only Heineken, but beer was beer, right?

Looks like the lift was on the receiving end of an angry guest…or staff member…?

The barmaid was in no better spirits than she had been last night, but at least it didn’t take me by surprise this time. Heineken in hand, I headed to join another thirsty member of our group seated in the window.

It was at this point I realised that the barmaid didn’t hold a personal grudge against me but had a reputation amongst our party for being particularly miserable. In fact, she would grow to become quite a memorable character in our anecdotes.

My drinking companion tonight explained her experience of ordering her glass of wine. Apparently the barmaid had practically thrown it at her, with it landing precariously on the very edge of the drip mat, where it teetered momentarily until my companion had had to catch it to stop it spilling everywhere.

The barmaid’s response?

‘Cash or card?’

God bless Copilot for being kind about the brusqueness of Bulgarians but, as someone pointed out:

‘She wouldn’t last an hour in a pub in Manchester.’

Anyway, my companion was by now relaxing into said glass of wine and was cheered by the idea that she’d:

‘Just invented a new sport: catching a glass of wine.’

Drinks duly quaffed, it was time to board the bus to dinner.

Possibly in an attempt to ease the tension and improve the mood of the group, our guide was starting to make little jokes. Bless him. He was trying and he was getting a bit of a bashing from our lot. I’ll be honest and admit that I’d actually moved seats on the bus away from him today because I didn’t want him giving me any more jobs (like setting up the WhatsApp group) but I’d soon be getting his side of the #Dinnergate saga so I ended up being the group mediator. Why did I keep getting jobs? I was supposed to be on holiday.

While others were picking holes in our guide’s imperfect use of English (which was undoubtedly better than their Romanian), I actually found it quite endearing at times. The word ‘universitary’ has quite a ring to it and I adored the term ‘bubble water’ for sparkling water. I might adopt that one myself.

There was entertainment on the road while we were waiting at traffic lights in the middle of Sofia, including people juggling fire. It’s always worth looking out the window, dear reader, as you never know what you might see (see Day One for giraffes and dinosaurs).

What’s Restaurant Vodenitzata like?

Tonight’s meal was at a traditional restaurant in the middle of nowhere (up a mountain, I think) and featured several particularly terrifying elements.

This is what greeted us on our way in:

Then there was the folk dancing. This did not go down well with me and my phobia of folk dancing. This took place very close to where I was sitting but I averted my gaze, which did help considerably.

The food was platters, from which I attempted to select only the healthier options. I avoided the bread.

The pork over here was really nice.

The potatoes were a particular highlight of this holiday. I didn’t eat all of these – but I did pretty much eat all of the little cakes that came out afterwards. Soz no pics because I scoffed them as soon as I saw them (sorry Paddington). Perhaps I should have eaten some bread after all…

Then I needed to conduct a #LooReview. This started badly enough, with me having to squeeze past folk dancers. But nothing could have prepared me for the horror that awaited me in the toilets…

Dear reader, I not only urge but strongly advise that you look away now. Navigate away from this page and follow this link to a more joyful place. Do not read on. You will regret it.

This is what I saw on the wall to my left.

WTF was I looking at?!

What was on the other wall? Dare I look?

I got out of there as quickly as possible, actually preferring the alternative of the folk dancers to whatever the hell that was.

Needless to say, I was relieved when it was time for us to leave. Back in my drinking days, I’d have been keen to stay out to drink more (and would doubtless have been on the rakia here, all things considered), but these days I favoured a good night’s sleep. I was certainly noticing the difference, sleeping through the night and waking organically with the sun, feeling refreshed and ready for further adventuring.

As we waited outside for others to finish their conversations, drinks and comfort(?) breaks, I caught some unfamiliar birdsong and whipped out my Merlin app. I never see any of these birds but I guess that’s phase two of my birding journey (update: I recognised a goldfinch this morning – yay!).

Back at the hotel, it was straight to bed. On the first few nights of my holiday, I’d experienced nightmares. I expected the same tonight…

Mercifully tomorrow we would be saying a firm adieu to Sofia and Bulgaria, as we headed to the best city of the trip.

What did I learn today?

• My social battery needs recharging after three days.
• It is important to allow for an element of flexibility on your travels.
• When eating with a large group, paying cash is easiest.
• Food might be served colder than you expect in Bulgaria.
• A lot of people travel with manicure kits.
• People still like paper maps.
• International Museum Day is a thing.
• Orthodox churches look like crosses from above.
• The congregation stands up for an orthodox mass.
• Frescoes are painted on wet plaster.
• The best seats for Paddington The Musical.
• They overcook fish in Bulgaria.
• Working in the hospitality business isn’t for everyone.
• Taxidermy can be terrifying.
• I definitely don’t like folk dancing. Would I enjoy it more if I went with the flow?
• Not all toilet wall art is good. Sometimes I wish I didn’t take my camera in there. It would have been forgotten by now. Instead it haunts me and possibly you too if you ignored my earlier advice and are still reading….

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. The journey takes me from Romania, through Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, before heading back into Romania.

If you’d like to keep travelling with me, the full collection lives here:

Travel Diaries