Food Scene
Forno Cipollini
36A ul. "Oborishte"Pizza, pasta and good wine selection.
Best grilled meet in town. Greta place to try tripe soup. Fresh, delicious, consistent food and service. Limited indoor seating; call for a reservation.
86 locals recommend
SkaraBar
2 ul. "Dimitar Grekov"Best grilled meet in town. Greta place to try tripe soup. Fresh, delicious, consistent food and service. Limited indoor seating; call for a reservation.
New to the neighbourhood: all coffee, all day. Locally roasted coffee from all over the world.
Percolate Coffee Shop
New to the neighbourhood: all coffee, all day. Locally roasted coffee from all over the world.
Cakey Bakey
5 Shipka StreetCafe Ma Baker
163 ulitsa „Georgi S. Rakovski“Lively and cozy atmosphere delicious sandwiches, salads, daily lunch menu. Good coffee drinks.
106 locals recommend
Фабрика ДЪГА / Rainbow Factory
10 ul. "Veslets"Lively and cozy atmosphere delicious sandwiches, salads, daily lunch menu. Good coffee drinks.
A little further away from the apartment, but THE place to try authentic Bulgarian cuisine sans the tourist-tailroed ethno-kitsch .
54 locals recommend
Moma Bulgarian Food and Wine
28 ul. "Solunska"A little further away from the apartment, but THE place to try authentic Bulgarian cuisine sans the tourist-tailroed ethno-kitsch .
Best gourmet burgers in town, cooked in front of your eyes in a vintage camper-turned-food stand.
43 locals recommend
Street Chefs Foodtruck | fine burgers & steaks
22 ul. "Angel Kanchev"Best gourmet burgers in town, cooked in front of your eyes in a vintage camper-turned-food stand.
Great for coffee, tea, deserts and working. Peaceful, spacious, furnished with items from Bulgarian designers and featuring a small but thoughtful selection of books, jewellery and art objects for sale.
11 locals recommend
+ Tova
30 ul. "Marin Drinov"Great for coffee, tea, deserts and working. Peaceful, spacious, furnished with items from Bulgarian designers and featuring a small but thoughtful selection of books, jewellery and art objects for sale.
Best sourdough bread, banitsa and kozounak (challah bread) in town. Seasonal lunch menu cooked daily.
41 locals recommend
HleBar
Str ul. "Tsar Ivan Shishman"Best sourdough bread, banitsa and kozounak (challah bread) in town. Seasonal lunch menu cooked daily.
Drinks & Nightlife
KANAAL - craft beer bar
2 bul. "Madrid"Large selection of craft beer, good music, nice crowd.
Everything rakiya, great cocktails, occasional live music gigs, including monthly Harlem Jazz nights.
40 locals recommend
Sputnik Cocktail Bar
17 bul. "Yanko Sakazov"Everything rakiya, great cocktails, occasional live music gigs, including monthly Harlem Jazz nights.
A small, family-owned neighbourhood wine and tapas place, which is often open late at night.
Декантер -винен Бутик
ulitsa "Professor Asen Zlatarov"A small, family-owned neighbourhood wine and tapas place, which is often open late at night.
Funky, chill bar, hidden in a basement, with a name that is a wink to the bars that served alcohol during the 1920s prohibition era in the US. Great cocktails.
27 locals recommend
5L Speakeasy Bar
15 ul. "Tsar Ivan Shishman"Funky, chill bar, hidden in a basement, with a name that is a wink to the bars that served alcohol during the 1920s prohibition era in the US. Great cocktails.
Essentials
BILLA
116 ulitsa „Georgi S. Rakovski“Your large supermarket in the neighborhood.
The neighbourhood's wonderful brand new gourmet food and wine store. For these are "essentials", you know :)
Food Folie
43 Shipka StreetThe neighbourhood's wonderful brand new gourmet food and wine store. For these are "essentials", you know :)
CASAVINO Заимов
48 bul. "Yanko Sakazov"A vast and wonderful selection of both Bulgarian and worldwide wines and spirits.
A wonderful selection of organic, nature-friendly cosmetics and wonderful customer service.
shop Shipka
23 ul. "Professor Asen Zlatarov"A wonderful selection of organic, nature-friendly cosmetics and wonderful customer service.
Калин hair
141 бул. „Евлоги и Христо Георгиеви“Your hair, nails, waxing, skin care salon right downstairs.
Traditional and Eastern massages and therapies; healing, purifying, and detoxifying programs; cosmetic and beautifying procedures.
Галерия за масаж „Рудраакша“ / Gallery for massage RUDRAAKSHA
15 Shipka StreetTraditional and Eastern massages and therapies; healing, purifying, and detoxifying programs; cosmetic and beautifying procedures.
Shopping
A wonderful, carefully curated selection of contemporary hand-made jewellery, pottery and art from Bulgarian artists.
6 locals recommend
Art Gallery Testa
8 ul. "Tsar Ivan Shishman"A wonderful, carefully curated selection of contemporary hand-made jewellery, pottery and art from Bulgarian artists.
Probably the best collection of jewellery from contemporary Bulgarian designers -- from the nature-inspired, to the romantic to the avant-garde.
Sabai
63А ul. "Neofit Rilski"Probably the best collection of jewellery from contemporary Bulgarian designers -- from the nature-inspired, to the romantic to the avant-garde.
Our wonderful independent neighbourhood bookstore, which also has a small selection of stationary and gifts.
Birdhouse
22 ul. "Professor Asen Zlatarov"Our wonderful independent neighbourhood bookstore, which also has a small selection of stationary and gifts.
A small, cozy, wonderfully stocked English vintage bookstore with a great selection of books, comics, albums and creative gifts.
18 locals recommend
Elephant Bookstore
31 ul. "Tsar Ivan Shishman"A small, cozy, wonderfully stocked English vintage bookstore with a great selection of books, comics, albums and creative gifts.
Serdika Center
48 bul. "Sitnyakovo"The closest large conventional shopping mall.
Sofia’s largest and busiest market, Zhenski Pazar (Women’s market) has a wide range of seasonal fruit and vegetables, cheese, cured meats, dried fruit and nuts, homemade halva and other goodies. Truth be told, the stands’ owners are not always very kind and helpful, but it's still a good place to get a taste of local life. You’ll also find people siting on the side of the street trying to sell what little the have harvested from they’re garden that morning. There are also sidewalk antique dealers who offer cheap stuff from both pre-socialist and socialist times. Many small middle-eastern shops and Turkish restaurants around.
39 locals recommend
Women's Market
bulevard "Stefan Stambolov"Sofia’s largest and busiest market, Zhenski Pazar (Women’s market) has a wide range of seasonal fruit and vegetables, cheese, cured meats, dried fruit and nuts, homemade halva and other goodies. Truth be told, the stands’ owners are not always very kind and helpful, but it's still a good place to get a taste of local life. You’ll also find people siting on the side of the street trying to sell what little the have harvested from they’re garden that morning. There are also sidewalk antique dealers who offer cheap stuff from both pre-socialist and socialist times. Many small middle-eastern shops and Turkish restaurants around.
Arts & Culture
A lovely multifunctional spot that combines an exhibition space, design store, cultural events venue, and a coffee corner
9 locals recommend
Gallery 2.0
46 6th September str,A lovely multifunctional spot that combines an exhibition space, design store, cultural events venue, and a coffee corner
The newest museum building in Bulgaria – the National Gallery – opened on May 25, 2015 in the building of the former State Printing House on Alexander Nevsky Square. Almost 2,000 artworks from the gallery’s rich fund of over 42,000 pieces by Bulgarian and foreign artists, are exhibited in 28 halls on four levels. The Bulgarian collection dates back to the 1890s, while the greater part of the foreign collection was formed in the 1980s.
53 locals recommend
National Gallery
1 ul. "19-ti fevruari"The newest museum building in Bulgaria – the National Gallery – opened on May 25, 2015 in the building of the former State Printing House on Alexander Nevsky Square. Almost 2,000 artworks from the gallery’s rich fund of over 42,000 pieces by Bulgarian and foreign artists, are exhibited in 28 halls on four levels. The Bulgarian collection dates back to the 1890s, while the greater part of the foreign collection was formed in the 1980s.
Sightseeing
Built between 1904-1912 in the Neo Byzantine style, the cathedral's breathtaking interior is the work of the most famous Bulgarian and Russian artists at the time. Find time to visit the crypt under the cathedral with its fascinating collection of icons.
369 locals recommend
St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral
ploshtad "Sveti Aleksandar Nevski"Built between 1904-1912 in the Neo Byzantine style, the cathedral's breathtaking interior is the work of the most famous Bulgarian and Russian artists at the time. Find time to visit the crypt under the cathedral with its fascinating collection of icons.