I was fortunate enough to spend my 28th birthday in my 28th country: Bulgaria🎉
Bulgaria has very recently been added to my travel wish list, due to falling in love with Montenegro and wanting to explore more Balkan countries and their surrounding neighbours. After lots of research I discovered that Sofia is a vibrant city with a respectable reputation of being home to some delicious cuisine and after a visit, I can confirm that to be true!
We were only in Sofia for two nights to celebrate my birthday in style. We started off our travels by landing in Sofia and experiencing their metro transportation, which was extremely efficient and easy to use. Within 25 minutes we were in Sofia centre and a short walk away from our hotel. Normally when booking a short stay, I don't tend to bother too much with luxury hotels, however due to it being my birthday I thought I would splurge out on a stunning 5* hotel, which I will soon be writing a review on, to hopefully inspire your next trip. After getting settled in and exploring the hotel for a couple of hours, we made our way to a wine tasting tour that we had booked, which was absolutely incredible and we left feeling very merry and well looked after (wine tasting review is also pending). Due to having a belly full of a mixture of different wines and a shot of Raki, we decided that it was wise to find somewhere to have a sit-down meal. We made our way to the centre of Sofia and I was pleasantly surprised with how bustling the city centre was for a Monday evening.
After looking at a variety of menus for different appealing restaurants, we eventually decided on a quiet restaurant with stunning décor. I was sure that the food would be delicious, however I wasn't expecting the food to be as enjoyable as it was. I had the truffle & mushroom lasagna and I was pleasantly surprised with how delectable it was. It feels like an understatement to say that it is the best food that I have ever eaten, as nothing comes close to the outstanding flavours of the lasagna. We also had some tasty drinks and almost couldn't believe it when our bill came to less than half of what we were expecting! If anybody is looking to travel on a budget, I can assure you that Sofia is the place for you!
After our amazing wine tasting adventure and experiencing the most delicious food that we have ever eaten, we were feeling extremely satisfied and made our way back to the hotel ready to explore more of Sofia in the morning, when I would be a year older🥳
The next morning we had breakfast and quickly made our way back to Sofia city centre to have a walk around and see the historic sites such as the cathedral and the Roman ruins. We also decided to take a walk to the National Palace of Culture and whilst the fountains were not in operation, it was snowing lightly and the settled snow on the fountains was a beautiful sight to witness. Whilst we were exploring the palace and admiring the stunning, snowy mountain views, we noticed a Lindt shop and being lovers of Lindt chocolate we had to explore. We came across some of the most intriguing chocolates that I have ever seen and we were able to taste lots of new flavours that we have not tried before. Once we were full of chocolate, we headed back to the hotel and decided to have a relaxing birthday celebration where we enjoyed the pool in our hotel and played lots of the hotel games such as billiards, table tennis and darts. Once we were all sported out, we made our way back up to our deluxe room where we ordered room service and finished my birthday celebrations with some delicious food whilst we enjoyed the exquisite taste of a beautiful bottle of white wine that we had purchased from the wine tour the evening before. It really was a wonderful birthday and I felt extremely grateful to be able to celebrate it in Sofia.
The next day was our last day in the country and because we had an afternoon flight, we decided to stay in the hotel and have lunch in the hotel's amazing restaurant where we would be able to have seconds of the unbelievable food that we had eaten the night before through room service. It wouldn't be a holiday without a shot of the finest local Raki so before we left to catch our flight, we shared a generous shot of Raki whilst we toasted to the beautiful city that is Sofia.
I would highly recommend a trip to Sofia for anybody who enjoys travelling on a budget and seeing some incredible sights. The Roman ruins is something that has to be witnessed with your own eyes to appreciate how truly incredible it is and I can guarantee you that you will have some of the best food that you've ever tasted in Sofia.
Sofia, you were a treat and I look forward to visiting you again✨️
