Easter in Sofia
March 18, 2018
Night Transport in Sofia
April 3, 2018
Riding a bike in Sofia
Hooray! The snow is gone, the temperatures are slowly rising, everything around you, including yourself, is waking up from a long winter’s slumber and what better time to take out your bicycle, hop on it and feel the wind whistling in your ears? Cycling in Sofia? There is no better time of the year to ride a bike in Sofia than spring or summer, so we decided to give you a little bit more information on the topic, should you ever decide to go around on two wheels.
Riding a bike in the city could be quite frustrating and cycling in Sofia is indeed a challenge due to the bad infrastructure, lack of proper cycling lanes and bike parkings, but mostly because of the poor bicycle culture in general. However, this doesn’t stop thousands of people to choose the bike as a means of transport in the city and that number is growing steadily every year.
There are quite a few reasons and a lot of benefits of riding a bike, for example:
- it’s healthy. You will get in shape in no time and it will help you to cope with stress
- It’s cheap. No more fuel costs, no more tickets every time you hop on, no parking fees or taxes, only pure happiness.
- It’s fast. Forget about traffic jams and being late all the time due to traffic, because the bike gives you a lot of mobility and access to shortcuts that save time.
So should you have already made your mind first you should know these rules about cycling in Sofia. Once you are familiar with them you might wonder where can you ride a bicycle? Although the city is quite green with a lot of parks, the infrastructure and culture for cycling is far from being well developed, but the ideas and the efforts put to change this are great. There are more and more people who resort to the bicycle and the municipality is also contributing to address those needs. Here is a map of the currently developed bicycle lanes in the city and keep in mind that there are more planned for implementation by the local authorities.
Cycling in Sofia – DOs and DONTs
DOs
- watch out for rods, slats, drains, holes, gravel, stones, ice, glass, oil or debris. Pass a rail or tram line at right angles.
- use lights when it is dark. A front white light (visible at least 200 m); a red rear reflector or rear light (visible at least 150 m) and DO use reflective vests.
- wear a helmet and dress yourselves properly when cycling
- always ride your bike in direction of the traffic
- pay attention and follow the traffic signs and markings
- lock your bike alwas
DONTs
- drive in between cars
- ride with earphones/listening to music
- ride on pedestrian crossings as they are designed for pedestrians, not cyclists. Get off your bike and walk on them
- ride recklessly (excessive speeding, no handed or listening to music)
- drink and ride
- lock your bike in entrances or shady places, it’s better to choose lively ones
Tips and tricks
Parks, parks, parks…
It is always best to avoid streets if possible, as this will lower the chance to have an accident. Unless you are in a hurry try going through the parks. Sofia is full of parks, it is a very green city and you will find a lot of people riding in the parks. The parks are great for cycling in terms of infrastructure and most of the parks and gardens in the center are actually connected through cycling lanes.
Social cycling
If you are looking for someone to share the wonderful experience of cycling or just need some company the association “Velorazhodka” is organizing various events. Every Thursday at 20:30 at the Ariana Lake the “Night Sofia” takes place. People from all ages gather together for a two-hour ride in the capital during the night. Every Sunday at 10:30 at the same location the “Sunday biking” takes place. Should you feel lonely and want to make some friends or you just don’t like riding alone, this presents you with great opportunity to meet likely-minded people
Bike Rental
More information here.
Prefer walking?
