Team
Yana was born and raised in Sofia. Аfter studying Film in the UK and China, she returned to live and work in her hometown. Her passions are cinema, literature, nature and endlessly exploring new places and characters. She believes meeting people from different cultures and sharing stories with them fuels creativity like nothing else, and that is why becoming part of Free Sofia Tour is a dream come true for her! She can easily direct you to some of the hidden gems of Sofia, which only locals know, so do not hesitate to ask her! 🙂
As a geographer, Vasko loves travelling and exploring both cities and nature. The 3 years he spent studying in London made him even more passionate about his hometown – Sofia. When he is not out exploring the built environment, you can probably catch him running up the mountains or doing any other outdoor activity. He also enjoys a good book.
Nina’s motto is “Carpe Diem” and she definitely lives by it, just ask her what her everyday schedule looks like: from doing presentations across Bulgaria for a global anti-human trafficking NGO, to giving private English lessons, to attending an art and/or cultural event, or mingling at a startup event, to meeting friends for dinner at a local hip restaurant, or having a weekend getaway, she can always find a way to make it work.
Living life to the max, is a must for her! Also, if you are a foodie, she will let you know where to go in Sofia. Although she is a local, be forewarned, she has spent many years in America, so don’t be surprised by her slight American accent. Some of her favorite things to do are traveling and meeting new and interesting people from all over the world, hence she loves, being a FST guide!
Tommy was born and raised in Sofia until the age of 17, when he moved to live in Belgium for a few years. Then he studied in the Netherlands and eventually in Munich, before moving back to Sofia to start a job in teaching. As a tour guide, he tries to show the same passion in his storytelling as he does in the classroom and believes that learning should be connected to some kind of an unique experience. Tommy is also interested in photography and movies and works for the Free Sofia Tour team in different projects.
Dimitar grew up in Sofia. He was 11 when the Berlin Wall fell down and he has a lot of personal stories from the Cold War times to share. In 2004 he went to Paris where he spent 10 years learning and working in theatre and cinema. He came back to Sofia in 2015 and joined Free Sofia Tour team in 2016. Dimitar is a keen traveller and adventurer and he has been to 65 countries so far. He loves foreign people visiting Sofia and he is very happy to share his knowledge about the city and the country.
Anina was born and raised in Sofia. She studied Spanish and Portuguese and got a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations. She is in love with Latin America and her true passion is volunteering. That’s why she spent two weeks in Brazil training volunteers from all over the world who wanted to help the locals. Anina has been very active in Bulgaria as well. She has been a member of various NGOs and she was selected for Bulgarian Youth Delegate to the United Nations for 2015-2016 when she had to defend youth rights and interests on national and international level.
Born, raised and lived all her life in Sofia. Named after Louis Carol’s “Alice in wonderland” she keeps searching for wonders wherever she goes and whatever she is doing. Actress, dancer and restless traveller. Believes that life is a never ending learning experience. Becoming a guide is her way of exploring the city through the eyes of her guests and meeting people from all over the world. She would do her best to make you feel the spirit of her city. If it is true that the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players – let’s play together 😉
Vyara likes to present herself as an explorer of new places and people. She is not originally from Sofia but has been living here for the past 8 years which gave her the opportunity to discover the city’s many diverse sides. Besides a tour guide, Vyara is also an architect and would love to give you an insider’s glimpse to Sofia’s landmark buildings. She likes art, dancing and the nature and is always ready to recommend a nice hiking tour in some of Bulgaria’s mountains.
Kathy’s career as a tour guide began in 2014 with Free Plovdiv tour at her hometown Plovdiv, but eventually she had to move to Sofia to study law at the Sofia University. This gave her the perfect opportunity not to give up on her passionate hobby, but to expand it in Free Sofia tour. She spends her time travelling from Plovdiv to Sofia almost every day, trying to make every tour a one of a kind experience both for the tourists and herself.
VIKI is studying law at the Sofia university. She really loves travelling and meeting new people. Her dream is to travel around the world, but in the end she will always want to come back home cause Sofia rocks:D and it will be a real pleasure for her to show you her city and try to make you fall in love with it as well.
STEFAN was born in a 19th century house in downtown Sofia, spent most of his childhood in the ghetto, while still studying at the central part, so he has seen both sides of the city. He started learning English when he was four and ended up working as a freelance translator for several years. After graduating from the American College of Sofia, he spent a semester studying Public Administration in his hometown, then three semesters studying Political Science in Teaneck/Hackensack, New Jersey, USA, before returning to Sofia University and starting his education in Law. Apart from English, he has also studied French, Spanish and German and insists he will become fluent in at least two of those as well. In his spare time Stefan likes meeting old friends and new people, writing, traveling, the seaside, the mountains, skiing, swimming and football, but above all he loves history and sharing his thoughts, so he enjoys doing the tours as much as the tourists, if not more so. When asked about an opinion on whether Stefan will make a valuable contribution to the Free Sofia Tour, a reference once said: “I bet my head on that. He is practically a reincarnation of one of those yellow paving stones…” What this means you will learn when you visit our tour!
Niki is a deep thinker and observer. His eyes – wide angle lenses – trying always to capture every single detail, even what`s behind the curtain or invisible. Nevertheless, don`t consider him to be the most serious guy, as he is fond of goofing and joking around all the time. Appreciates the people with great sense of humour. Considers himself proud inhabitant of the lands of the Rhodope Mountains, however Sofia has been his home for the past several years and he’s got nifty advices in order to make your time here even better. A music addict — dubstep & hip-hop bangin’ through his earphones. Extremely passionate basketball player, if you dare to challenge him… you be stuck playing with him till he finally gets more wins & beats you.
DANIEL was born and raised in the beating centre of Sofia. In March 2012 he came back from a student exchange programme Erasmus in Prague, where he visited a free tour and then started showing his friends all around the city. He has graduated Finance, but at the same time decided to study History, so now he is on his way to graduate his second Bachelor. Daniel has taken part in different voluntary projects, especially with the youth organisations AEGEE and ESN. His passion is to discover new and interesting places, so he will be happy to share with you about his travelling adventures. His other interests are watching movies, running or just enjoying a cold drink in the park with friends.