A day trip to Sofia

[Suraggu]

I am looking at using a leave day to take the relatively inexpensive day trip to Sofia, Bulgaria for a bit of cranking. Ryanair seem to have excellent prices even with the 3hr jaunt on a 737....

Having around 7-8 hours spare, I am looking to sight and see if their are any insect moves that can be done around the capital on loco hauled trains and any good locations to sight freight trains in that short amount of time.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[87015]

This is still, and may always be, work in progress but I have some outline BDZ gen on the pages here https://87015aewn.wordpress.com/bg-gen/

I' can reply properly over the weekend if anything particularly takes your fancy but ned moves available on all routes out if Sofia - but due to low train frequencies can be big big gaps somay need to return by tram. Check timetables carefully, anything that isn't noted Desiro should be hauled...

 

[Suraggu]

I am in two minds if the flight prices are worth it to book over 2 days and instead of booking a hotel book a sleeper berth (Single person supplement is dead cheap) and visit another part of Bulgaria before making my way back to Sofia Airport.
Either that or just stick with the out and back in a day using Wizz Air/Ryanair and my FIP coupon.

How does one find out on the timetable if a train is booked Desiro? With the sheer amount of Desiro's awaiting repair I am not surprised loco hauled is still the norm.

Is there any booked class 61 workings out of Sofia?

Many thanks again.

 

[306024]

Go for as long as you can! Bulgaria is well worth a visit, and cheap by our standards. I'm not particularly interested in types of locomotive although it was odd seeing some class 87s, so can't help you there, but the scenery on the line North from Sofia towards Gorna Orjahovica is excellent. Plovdiv is a fascinating town to visit. Varna on the Black Sea if you fancy a 7 hour trip is pleasant too.

Get google translate on your phone as English isn't widely spoken in my experience, apart from by younger folks in Sofia. The Cyrillic writing adds to the mystery.

Beware although the excellent metro runs to the airport, when I flew Ryanair we landed at the other terminal which is nowhere near the metro. This could eat into your time if only doing a day trip. BA fly to the main terminal. Taxi scams at the airport are common, agree a price before you get in the cab (if you can!).

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Beware although the excellent metro runs to the airport, when I flew Ryanair we landed at the other terminal which is nowhere near the metro. This could eat into your time if only doing a day trip. BA fly to the main terminal. Taxi scams at the airport are common, agree a price before you get in the cab (if you can!).

I'm going in June (train Bucharest-Ruse-Sofia, then flying out).
Metro Line 1 takes you to Sofia Airport T2 (the new terminal which BA uses).
Bus 84 (which starts from the city) also goes to T2 but then runs on to T1 (the older LCC terminal), every 15 minutes.
A one-day city transport ticket covers both metro and bus.
There is also an inter-terminal free shuttle but only every 30 minutes.
https://www.eway.bg/en/cities/sofia/routes/40
https://www.metrosofia.com//en/sofia-airport

 

[87015]

For the cheap terminal I don't think the metro and transfer is worth it. You can get a (official) taxi for under a tenner or a shared minibus for I think three euro into town. Go to the taxi info hut in the arrival area and they'll give you a piece of paper - and take you to one of their legit 'OK Taxi' - which guarantees a set price.

By the time you've faffed with the transfer and Metro (and changed again I think if you want the main station, unless you fall into the right time at Iskar Shoe) you are just loosing time piffleating!

A day trip is one thing, I think you'd need a full day free to make anything worthwile involving getting out of Sofia. If you could find three, then day 1 Sofia to Plovdiv, Day 2 Septembri Narrow Gauge and Day 3 back to Sofia and home would be a half decent toe in the water. The narrow gauge is probably the most 'Bulgarian' bit of the BDZ system.

 

[Suraggu]

Cheers for the info.
Decided on a 3 day trip for a taster. Sofia and Plovdiv are my destinations.
Can I ask how you can tell in the timetable what is booked Desiro?