Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
Minibus 21 runs to Boyana from Sofia's city centre (pick it up on bul Vasil Levski). It will
drop you right outside the gates of the National Museum of History and also connects the
museum with Boyana Church. You can also take bus 63 from pl Ruski Pametnik, or bus
64 from the Hladilnika terminal. Signs advertising the museum line the motorway, but it's
not easy to spot the building, which is set back from the road behind a screen of trees. A
taxi (about 8 lv one way) from the city centre to the museum is probably the easiest option
of all; for the museum, ask for the 'Residentsia Boyana'.
Vitosha Nature Park
02
The Mt Vitosha range, 23km long and 13km wide, lies just south of Sofia; it's sometimes
referred to as the 'lungs of Sofia' for the refreshing breezes it deflects onto the often pol-
luted capital. The mountain is part of the 22,726-hectare
Vitosha Nature Park
(
www.park-vitosha.org
)
, the oldest of its kind in Bulgaria (created in 1934). The highest
point is Mt Cherni Vrâh (Black Peak; 2290m), the fourth-highest peak in Bulgaria, where
temperatures in January can fall to -8°C.
As well as being a popular ski resort in winter, the nature park is popular with hikers,
picnickers and sightseers on summer weekends, and receives around 1.5 million visitors a
year. There are dozens of clearly marked hiking trails, a few hotels, cafes and restaurants
and numerous huts and chalets that can be booked through the Bulgarian Tourist Union.
