Free Sofia Tour in the Media

Free Sofia Tour was recommended by the inflight magazine of Qatar Airways – Oryx. The airline is about to start regular flights to Bulgaria’s capital on 14th of September. They decided to mark this occasion by including an article about Sofia and Bulgaria in their August 2011 edition. Read the whole article in English (pages 46-50) or some highlights from it here: Qatar Airways‘ latest destination is the ancient, enigmatic Bulgarian capital. (page 1) You can see all of Sofia’s main sights with a free, English-speaking walking tour, leaving twice daily from the Palace of Justice. (page 48) In Sofia, things are always happening: maybe quickly, often quietly, underground, or out of sight. (page 48) Such unexpected encounters are part of the daily life in this often-underestimated capital. Too many still associate Bulgaria with strict Communism, Olympic goldmedals in weightlifting, and (more recently) cheap holiday properties. Yet there’s much more to the country and its people. (page 48) Plovdiv’s atmospheric old town, a network of cobblestoned streets lined with art galleries, […]

Прочетете интервюто във в. “Дума” с Ники от екипа на Free Sofia Tour. (English: Free Sofia Tour’s Niki was interviewed for the weekend edition of Duma daily, only in Bulgarian, see highlights in English from the article “If young people are successful in Bulgaria, they can also be successful abroad”). Highlights in English: Niki: “What brings our team together is the idea to present our history, culture and traditions in a real way. We want people to see the things the way they are.” Niki: “We want to present the information in an interesting way so that people could feel as part of the city.” Niki: “We wouldn’t hide anything. We would show every aspect of the city, sometimes even what is negative for us is considered ‘exotic’ and ‘interesting’.” Niki: “When something should be done and it’s for the benefit of everyone, despite the difficulties, things happen.” Niki: “I am convinced that young people have a future in Bulgaria. However, the truth is that nothing is done to stimulate young people to stay […]

Прочетете интервюто във в. “Пари” с Петър и Кристиан от екипа на Free Sofia Tour. (English: Free Sofia Tour’s Peter & Kristian were interviewed for Pari daily, only in Bulgarian, see highlights from the article “Showing friends around” below). Highlights in English: Peter realized the importance of the Free Sofia Tour when people started telling him: “We read that there’s no reason to visit Sofia but actually it’s one of the nicest places we have visited.” Peter: “It’s a lot of fun, it’s not just a tour around Sofia.” Peter: “The only continent we haven’t had guests from is Antarctica – we expect a penguin to tag along very soon” Peter: “Other places like Budapest, Berlin and Prague use their socialist symbols as a tourist attraction. They are also a part of our history – dark but valuable. Instead, we have almost deleted 50 years of our history.” Peter: “We aim to show not only the clean, the beautiful and the shiny stuff in our city but also other things connected […]

A couple of days ago we got a visit from several members of the Embassy of the United States community, including a representative of the Community Liaison Office. Our guests liked the tour so much that they decided to spread the word and write a review for the bulletin of the Embassy. We would like to thank them a lot because spreading the word through our happy guests is the best way to promote the Sofia free walking tour.

One of our guests at yesterday’s evening tour told me he learned about the tour on the plane to Sofia. My first guess was word-of-mouth but imagine my surprise when he reached out for his backpack and took out a copy of Wizz Magazine – the inflight magazine of Wizz Air (the biggest low-cost airline flying to Bulgaria). Free Sofia Tour is one of the recommendations in the August edition: You can also download the whole page about Sofia in PDF or browse for free the whole August 2011 edition on the magazine’s webpage. We would like to thank the editors of the magazine who have been on the tour and enjoyed it together with our other guests. This is actually not the first time when an airline likes us. Recently, we also got presented in the Austrian Airlines red|guide.

Two of the founders of Free Sofia Tour – Kristian and Boyko – were interviewed by GRAZIA for the August edition of the magazine. The interview is in Bulgarian, but here are some highlights in English: Kristian: When I was abroad, I travelled a lot and had heard about free tours in other countries. When I came back I realized that in Sofia there are no free tours, that it’s difficult for the guests of Sofia to get oriented and that they leave our capital without knowing much about it. Then I decided that this should change – so that the guests of Sofia can get to know the city better, come back again or prolong they stay. Boyko: A substantial percentage of our guests are Bulgarians. They learn about things, which they didn’t know before. They see the city from a different perspective. We have also had guests, who live here and say that they haven’t seen Sofia in the way they’ve seen it with us. It is fantastic […]

Free Sofia Tour was presented in the prime time of Bulgarian National Television. The evening news reporter went on a tour with Mitko to see how we reveal Sofia to our guests every day, twice a day. The video is still in Bulgarian, but soon we will publish it with subtitles on our Youtube channel. Here’s a highlight from it in English: Foreigners see the city through the eyes of their young voluntary guides – well-educated, funny and sincere. They depict an image of Sofia and Bulgaria that does not include only Shopska salad and rose oil, an image far from the clichés, an image that doesn’t hide even the beggars and the burned rugs in front of the mosque… And yet tourists like the capital.

Free Sofia Tour is one of the things that could make your stay in Sofia cheaper, confirms a news report on bTV (in Bulgarian, unfortunately we are not allowed to use the video and add subtitles). Moreover, it’s also a very good value. Our great quality is checked every day, twice a day and constantly testified for by our guests. Read what they say about their experience with Free Sofia Tour.

Free Sofia Tour’s Denica Todorova was interviewed in the morning show of BBT in Bulgaria. Watch the whole video on the TV’s website and even download it from there. So far only in Bulgarian but hopefully we would soon publish it with subtitles in English on our Youtube channel.