Sofia has a well-developed and efficient public transport system () that consists of buses, trolleys, trams, subway line. The public transport operates from 5AM to about 12AM. Taxis are the only transport option in the night.
The price of a single ticket is 1.00 lev (~ 0.50€) only paid in the local currency. There are also 10 (8.00lv) tickets for one passenger, combined ticket for subway and ground transport (1.40 lv), daily cards (4lv), valid for all lines, and 5-day cards (15lv). Tickets, daily and 5-day cards can be bought at most newspaper stands especially ones adjacent to public transport stops. If you can't find any, you can also buy tickets from the driver if he has any available, though this is not guaranteed. Punch a ticket immediately after you enter the vehicle. The inspectors rarely understand English and you might have problems with the security if you travel without a ticket or even with an unpunched one. Inspectors ambush and board buses and trams in groups (and their attitude is generally not friendly at all), sometimes accompanied by police, and make no exceptions. The fine is 10 lv or €5.
There are 15 tram lines, 9 trolley lines, 93 bus lines and one metro line. Some of the buses cover the area outside the city center including neighboring villages. Useful routes are bus #84 from both terminals of the airport to the center; from the train/bus station to Orlov most - bus #213 or #214 or tram #1, #7 and #18 to Vitosha Street and Nedelya Square, #1, #6, #7 to the National Palace of Culture, #18 to Slaveykov square or #6 to Macedonia square.
The subway in Sofia is still under construction and a few more lines will be available in the next years. Currently there is one line that crosses from the western edge of town (Lulin, Obelya) through the city center to the southeast (Mladost r.d.), where it will eventually connect to the airport. From the last station in Mladost you can currently take bus N. 384 to the airport. (However, this is an experimental line and you should allow at least 30 minutes for waiting and travel time to the airport.)
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Sofia
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Sofia Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
