TurboBobi
I am from Sofia and a colleague of mine recommended that I take our guest from Russia to the free tour.
The group for the tour turned out to be a total of 40 people from different nationalities – Belgian, German, English, Indian, Russian, etc. Our tour guide was Kristina.
The route took us through most of the inner city center stressing on the ancient and recent history of the places that we saw left and right.
The tour is outdoors only – the guide states this explicitly. It’s cool that she told us which of the places that we saw can be visited as museums.
What to bring to the tour: definitely a camera. A lot of architectural wonders to behold and from different angels too!
Check out the weather forecast before taking the tour – it’s 2 hours long so you don’t want to freeze or be sweaty by the time it’s over.
Best parts: very good route; knowledgeable, professional, positive guide who handled with care a group of 40(!) people on a late and chilly autumn afternoon. Very good sense of pace and positioning for the lectures.
Worst part: during two of the stops for a lecture, there was some or a lot of background noise so we couldn’t hear Kristina very well.
I do have some recommendations for places that can be included in the tour:
– the Bulgarian Parlament – it’s near the destination of the tour so it can at least be mentioned if someone wants to see it. It’s a beautiful building and the Tzar Osvoboditel square is also very nice.
– the National Library – it’s also near Alexander Nevski so it can at least be mentioned as a subsequent visit.
– the National Theater Ivan Vazov – it’s a very beatiful building with an awesome facade and a nice fountain and part in front of it.
– the Halls of Commerse (Halite) – it’s a shopping hall within a well renovated building.
22.10.2015
hassan s
You can’t visit Sofia without taking the Free walking tour .I’ve been to Bulgaria mid SEP. 2015 where I found Sofia one of the most friendly capitals I’ve ever visited. Start your visit to Sofia with the free walking tour which will introduce thousands of years history in couple of hours , then you can spend two more days I Sofia heading to all the attraction points you’ve seen during your tour one by one as they are all worth seeing and the free walking tour will only stops outside the attraction points without entering it , so you better come again later. Recommended
20.10.2015
Meltem Ö
Actually, I have been to sofia 2 times. At first, we did not know about this tour but then we found this during our second visit to sofia. It was really great. In my opinion, it should be the first thing during your sofia visit. Join the tour and have a general idea about the places, city and known things actually which are wrong. It takes 2 h. Meet the group at the palace of justice. It happens twice in a day. Guides are very friendly and have knowledge about their city. Our guide was Alex. She was very nice, helpful and well informed. We visited important parts of the city and learned what we didnt know about the city. After the tour, you can decide the places that you want to see more detailed.
18.10.2015
Nrarp
I have been to Sofia with my son (21 year old) and we took the free Sofia tour.
We have walked through the churches, mosque, and synagogue in the streets of Sofia. We felt the history of the empires and the atmosphere of the statues, buildings, palace, and mountain nearby. We heard the stories about Boris the 3rd, the monarch, the communists and world war 2.It was real pleasure to discover the known and hidden parts of the city. Our guide, Victoria knew the way how to merge history, art, architecture, communists, humor and lion stories in a very intelligent and interesting way.
18.10.2015
Agnieszka800425
It was just the best tour I ever had. Our guide – Radina was so nice and so entusiastic about Sofia that we forgot about the bad weather. I enjoyed this tour very much and I truly recommend it to everybody who will visit Sofia 🙂
16.10.2015
Catherine W
Offered twice a day at 11am and 6pm, the Free Sofia Tour is a must for anyone who wants to learn about the city and be introduced to its main attractions. The guide was a local who was highly knowledgeable, engaging, personable and a great storyteller. She made Sofia’s history come to life for her very large audience. I recommend this to all visitors with a couple hours to spare – a fabulous introduction to the city!
16.10.2015
Norman Y
Nikola was very good in Sofia history, great walking tour. We took the one at 6:00 pm, the late part getting dark, suggest to start at 5:00 pm.
He gave us a rough idea what we can visit again on next date, it was very good then we also took the Communist tour on next day with him again. Both are very enjoyable.
15.10.2015
Simon P
Smart guide. Seen from a western point of view the information provided during the tour about the country’s political past can be called balanced…
14.10.2015
Jesus M
We had a lovely tour and our guide Viktoria was very friendly and she knew lots of interesting things about the city, this free tour is a must in Sofia.
13.10.2015
mightygeo
It is a free 2 hour tour that goes at casual pace walking to the main sites in Sofia. They don’t go in any of the places, but they give you the history, times, and prices if you want to come back and visit any of them. They do a great job keeping it interesting. They do appreciate a tip at the end. If you go on the 11am tour, ask the guide where the balkin bite tour starts. That tour starts at 2pm about 4 blocks from where the walking tour ends. That tour lets you try Bulgarian food and gives you insight to some things off the beaten track. The bonus is that tour actually ends in the location that the walking tour started. Both tours together give you a fun and insight day to Bulgarian life. I recommend both.
13.10.2015