Everything you have to know about the transportation in Sofia – underground (tube), trains, trams, busses, trolleys, taxis, uber, shared community drives, facebook car pooling, bicicling  and much more

Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria and the biggest city in the country. With a population of around 2 million people it can get really crowdy in rush-hours. If you are planning to visit Sofia take your time to read the lines below, because they can save you a lot of brain pain and money later on during your stay.

Sofia is probably one of the last capitals in Europe to start building its underground/metro/tube after  the 21^st century. Probably Warsaw is behind Sofia. The positive side of the story is that currently there are 2 major underground lines – Line 1 and Line 2 which cross the city and a 3^rd line is being built at the moment and has to be ready before 2020. You can find the website of Sofia’s underground/metro/tube on this link: http://www.metropolitan.bg/en/
and the map of the underground here: http://www.metropolitan.bg/en/map/
The underground/metro/tube connects all major hot points in Sofia and therefore getting around only using the tube shall be perfect for the average tourist or businessman.

• If you land on Sofia airport Terminal 2 you have to know that there is an underground/metro/tube station there which can take you straight to the following hot points
  – The city center –This is the red line. You will have to get off the tram on “Serdika Station”
                 – Business Park Sofia – Take the red line to “Mladost 1” station. When you arrive there go on the other side to catch the train going in the other direction. Watch out for the sing “Business Park” written on the train otherwise you will go back to the airport again.
                 – Central Railway – and Bus station – Take the red line in direction city center and get off on “Serdika Station”. Do not leave the underground. Look for the signs pointing out “Line 2” (the blue line). Pash through the tunnel and follow the crowd. It will bring you to the other metro line going to “Obelya”. When you hear “Central Railway Station” you have to get off. The Railway and the Bus Station are next to each other. You can’t missed it.

Ticket:
               You can buy a ticket from a ticket machine which is located in the tube station itself or from a desk-cashier.
               – The current price for a single ticket is 1.60 leva (app. 0,80 Eurocent).
               – If you intend to travel more than once during your stay probably the best choice will be to buy a travel card with 10 single rides for 12,00 lv. (6 Euro). In this way you will save 4 leva (2 Euro) in comparison to the single ticket price. Keep in mind that you will have to pay 1 lev (0,50 Eurocent) extra for the card itself and it is valid for 3 years.
               – You can buy a bunch of 20, 30, 40 or 50 travell cards but you will not pay less than 1,20 (0.60 Eurocent) leva per ticket.
               – If you intend to travel a lot in 1 day the best option for you might be the One Day Card for the whole public transportation network. It costs only 4 leva (2 Euros) and you can use it as many times as you like for all means of transportation – underground (metro), bus, trams, trolleys. If you buy this type of card you will have to show it to a cashier-desk and he/she will open the metro gates for you to enter. Here you can find the actual information about the ticket prices for using the metro, underground in Sofia: http://www.metropolitan.bg/en/schedule/type/1.html

If you don’t like to use the metro/underground/tube in Sofia, you can take bus number 84 from Sofia Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. The bus station is right in front of the airport. Bus tickets you can buy from the driver but you will have to give him exactly 1.60 leva (0,80 Eurocents) or more (if you don’t have change give him 2 leva (1 Euro)). This bus will drive you straight to “Orlov Most” which is the outer side of the city center in Sofia. From there you have many options – underground, metro, trams, and other buses.
On this link you can find a map of the city transport of Sofia: https://www.sofiatraffic.bg/media/uploads/A31.jpg%20KARTA%2006.07.2016%20G..jpg
Unfortunately, the map is not user friendly. If you have a question how to get from point to point, just let me know.

• If you land on Sofia airport Terminal 1 you have to know that there is NO underground/metro/tube station there. You can do the following:
                 – Wait for bus number 84 in direction Terminal 2 and catch the underground/metro/tube from there
                 – Catch bus number 84 in direction city center. You have to count with 30 mins bus drive and around 20 bus stops until you get to Busstation “Orlov Most”. This busstation is situated on the outer side of the city center and from there you can take the metro/underground for 1 station to get to the hearth of Sofia. Click Here to open the map of the location. Once you arrive at “Orlov Most” continue by foot to Metro Station “Sofia University Saint Kiril and Methodii”. Once you get there you are in safe hands.
  if you would like to take a taxi ride, please look further down or click here:
• If you land on the Central Railway or Bus station, then head your self toward the metro/underground station (look for the blue M sign when you are outside the station).

                              About TAXI companies in Sofia, their rates and how to avoid illegal taxi drivers

In case you would like to take a taxi, there are many taxis in front of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 on the airport. There are as well many incorrect black car drivers who will want to charge  you 4-5 times the  regular tariff. Make sure that you negotiate the price with the taxi driver before you enter the car.  One of the correct Taxi Companies in Sofia are:
               – OK Taxi – https://www.oktaxi.net/services_en.php – Official price on their website is 0.79 leva (0.40 Eurocent) pro kilometer with initial charge of 0,70 Leva (0,35 Eurocent); A regular ride from the Airport to the city center is a distance of about 10 km and shall cost you 0,70+0,79*10= 8,60 Leva (4,30 Euro).
               – Yellow Taxi – http://www.yellow333.com/en/ – As the competition between the legal car companies is fear the rates of “Yellow Taxi” are the same as the rates of “OK Taxi”