Date arrived: 13th September 2023

Date Departed: 15th September 2023

Distance Travelled: 369KM

Average Cost: £61.58 PPPD

13th September 2023

Sofia's central bus station is just on the edge of the city centre, and we had booked accommodation less than 400M from it, so getting there was quite straightforward. We dumped our stuff at about 2.30, then set off into the city to get bearings  and lunch. A nice coffee and piec of cake later, and we found we had wandered some 3KM through the city, coming out at the fabulous looking National Palace of Culture. 

As the main aim of being here was to get the sleeper train to Istanbul, we decided to jump on Sofia's modern and efficient Meto and head up to the main train station. Here we spoke to the helpful lady on the international ticket window, only to learn there were no sleeper tickets for at least 4 days!

As Sofia seems a moderately expensive city by standards, we debated spending the time here, but with a limited amount to do we decided against it, and re-thought our plans. Initially intending to train to Istanbul, then south to Capadoccia, we decided that we could go to southern Turkey via the Greek Islands instead! This opened up the optino to go to the stunning Pamukkale, with it's distinctive travertine rock formation and thermal springs. This would also allow us to visit the truly stunning ruined theatre at Ephesus, which I have seen before but Julie hasn't.

So, we boooked a bus to Kavala, 5 nights accommodation there, and an overnight boat on to Samos! A slight detour, but we're sure it will work for the best. We'll have to see the rest of Istanbul another time!

We ate dinner at a traditional Bulgarian restaurant, in an old timber house round the corner from our hotel. It was certainly interesting - especially the traditional band!

14th September 2023

With a full day to spend in Sofia, we determined to make the most of it and so set out on  walking tour, no less than the Free Sofia Walking Tour project! We had a very informative and educational 2 hours seeing the sites of this ancient city - whose name is apparently pronounced SOF-ya  with the emphasis on the Sof.

After lunch I visited the Red Flat museum about living in communist Bulgaria, whilst Julie went to a small modern art gallery. We enjoyed both, and then, shattered from a busy morning, cheated and took the Metro back to our hotel to recover!

15th September 2023

Today was an early start, with an 06:00 bus journey to Kavala in Greece. Thanks to help from the friendly team at the various ticket offices in Sofia, we knew where our bus would be leaving, and managed to walk into the bus station directly behind it!

Boarding was straightforward, and we briefly stopped just before reaching the Greek border, where we were able to grab a coffee and a service station sandwich, before resuming our journey to Greece!