Firstly, the reason we ended up in Bulgaria is all down to Skyscanner and a ridiculous £14 flight from London to Sofia. So we just booked the one-way flight and had two amazing weeks in a country just starting to get recognition it deserves!
While in Bulgaria we used the very cheap and very retro national train service (BDZ) to city hop. We got off the train at Plovdiv with our 13kg (Raph’s) and 8kg (mine) backpacks and walked into the centre. We recommend the walk through suburban Plovdiv.
Tsar Simeon’s Garden (A large city park) was recently renovated to resemble it’s pre-soviet style. The singing fountains in the park are central point that lots of locals seem to relax and meet around.
Plovdiv’s historic centre and cafe-lined neighbourhoods are easy to navigate (don’t hire a car!). The mood is FUN, prices are still low, and the crowds haven’t arrived yet– alongside the fact the city (Bulgaria’s second biggest) has just started its tenure as a European Capital of Culture 2019, it is the ideal time to explore. To celebrate the ancient heritage and it’s multi-cultural past and present, Plovdiv chose the motto ‘Together’ for this year as Europe’s Capital of Culture.
Anyone else feel obliged to get your photo taken when you see a sign with your name in it? There lots of boutique shops in Plovdiv, and great shopping opportunities!
There are lots of beautiful squares and open spaces in Plovdiv. Here I am outside the Stefan Stambolov square fountains.
And if all that shopping and walking around the city get’s too exhausting, Raph was pleasantly surprised about the beer situation in Bulgaria. This bottle of Bloody Muddy was reasonably priced and super rich in flavour! Brewed in Bulgaria by Trima I Dvama.
We visited the Cosmonauts Alley. In the 1960s, the Soviet cosmonauts visited the monument and planted trees. Yuri Gagarin (first man in space) was amongst them!
This soviet stonework supports Alyosha the Russian Soldier monument. Alyosha is also a song about this soldier, which was Plovdiv’s anthem until the fall of the soviet union.
Bunardzhika Hill offers the most commanding views over the city. It is 108m high, and well worth the walk!
And lastly, we found the Central Perk of Plovdiv! Clearly FRIENDS fans too, this café/bar was lovingly put together, and although I’m dubious about the legalities of the branding, it was fantastic! It’s exactly things like this that gave us so much to do, we didn’t even realise there was an old town! On the last night while walking back to our hotel from Central Perk, we got merrily lost and couldn’t believe we’d wandered back in time! How could we have missed the most touristy part of Plovdiv?! We didn’t take any photos, we just wandered blissfully around the cobbled streets and ancient stonework enjoying the lovingly preserved architecture. We’ll have to go back to Plovdiv one day to see the rest!
Plovdiv has all the right ingredients for a classic city break: impressive ancient ruins, lots of places to walk, an array of museums, an old town and a variety of cheap, lively and densely populated bars and restaurants. It was a great place to visit in ancient times, and in 2019 it still is!