Getting There By Rail
The Bulgarian State Railway, Balgarski Darzhavni Zheleznitsi (tel: (02) 931 1111 or 932 3333; website: www.bg400.bg/bdz), runs cheap and extensive services throughout the country, although trains can be very slow. The monumental, concrete Tsentralna Gara, Sofia’s main station, is located at 112 Maria Louiza Boulevard, a 20-minute walk north of the city centre. Facilities include left-luggage, money exchange kiosks, ATMs, bars and fast-food outlets. Tickets for lines covering the northern half of Bulgaria are sold on the ground floor of the station – all others are sold in the basement.
To avoid queuing, tickets can also be purchased from the Transport Service Centre (TsKTON) in the National Palace of Culture (NDK) underpass (tel: (02) 932 4280) or from Rila Tours, 5 General Gurko Ulica (tel: (02) 987 0777). Visitors should direct all national rail enquires to Balgarski Darzhavni Zheleznitsi (tel: (02) 931 1111 or 932 3333).
Rail services: From Sofia there are six main routes – to Varna or Burgas on the Black Sea coast, to Plovdiv and beyond on the Turkish border, to Kalotina on the Yugoslavian border, to Kulata on the Greek border and to Ruse on the Romanian border. There are also daily services to Belgrade (journey time – 8 hours), Bucharest (journey time – 11 hours), Budapest (journey time – 16 hours), Istanbul (journey time – 15 hours), Kiev (journey time – 38 hours), Moscow (journey time – 45 hours), St Petersburg (journey time – 65 hours) and Thessaloniki (journey time – 10 hours).
Transport to the city: Public transport trams 1 and 7 run from the station forecourt to Ploshtad Sveta Nedelya in the city centre. Taxis are also available.
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