By plane
Sofia Airport (http://www.sofia-airport.bg/) IATA: SOF ICAO: LBSF is the busiest airport in Bulgaria and it was built around 1930. The new Airport terminal is now the main active one and was constructed in 2009. The airport is located only 10km from the city center, in the eastern part of Sofia.
Over 25 airlines fly in and out of Sofia Airport with daily flights linking Sofia with Athens, Paris, Vienna, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Munich, Warsaw, and other European cities.
Some of the traditional airlines with flights to/from Sofia are Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Czech Airlines, LOT, Lufthansa, Olympic Airways, Tarom and Turkish Airlines.
Also, low-cost carriers traveling to Bulgaria are EasyJet (http://www.easyjet.com/) to/from London-Gatwick, Madrid, Manchester, Germanwings (http://www.germanwings.com/) to/from Cologne-Bonn, Wizz Air (http://www.wizzair.com/) to/from Paris-Beauvais, Barcelona, Brussels-Charleroi, Dortmund, Eindhoven, London-Luton, Milan-Bergamo, Rome-Fiumicino, Valencia.
Bulgaria Air, (http://www.air.bg/en), the national carrier flies to Alicante, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Berlin - Tegel, Brussels, Bucharest - Otopeni, Frankfurt, Istanbul - Atatürk, Kiev - Boryspil, Larnaca, London - Gatwick, London - Heathrow, Madrid, Málaga, Manchester, Moscow - Sheremetyevo, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Paris - Charles de Gaulle, Rome - Fiumicino, Skopje, Tel Aviv, Tirana, Tripoli, Valencia, Vienna, Zürich. Bulgaria Air`s operates domestic flights to Burgas and Varna.
There are a few domestic flights, from Sofia to Varna and Burgas, including some charter flights.
By bus
The Central Bus Station Centralna Avtogara/ЦенÑÑална авÑогаÑа (http://www.centralnaavtog...) is located near the city center. The website gives a listing of all domestic and international departure & arrival times and costs. Bear in mind that there are three other bus stations for minor destinations.
Many Bulgarian and International bus operators maintain scheduled lines covering all major domestic and European cities, like many cities in Greece and Macedonia, Istanbul Turkey, Vienna Austria, Belgrade and Niš Serbia and several times a week to different cities in Western Europe all the way to Portugal.
Timetable of International bus by major bus company MATPU 96: (http://www.matpu.com/bg_i...) in Bulgarian.
By train
International trains provide a large number of routes to Sofia, arriving from such places as Kiev, Istanbul, Vienna, Belgrade, Bucharest, Moscow and other common cities.
The primary trains from Bucharest to Sofia, and back, run twice daily through the border cities of Giurgiu and Ruse. For example, recent trains are scheduled from Bucharest to Sofia in the daytime departing 12:16/arriving 21:33 and a night train departing 20:04/arriving 06:00. From Sofia to Bucharest there are also two trains: a) Sofia 07:45 - Bucharest 17:19 and b) Sofia 19:30 - Bucharest 05:44. One way ticket is around â¬25up. Passport control and customs takes place in Giurgiu RO and Ruse BG, approximately mid-trip. Check local train stations for more up to date information.
Unfortunately trains to Greece are discontinued March-2012
To Istanbul, the train costs 70 leva, the train departs at around 18:30 and arrives at 9:00.
All services are operated by the Bulgarian State Railways (http://www.bdz.bg/), whose schedules are available on the internet in English.
The main railway station Tsentralna Gara can be somewhat confusing. Domestic departures go from the main terminal and that is where you can buy tickets for domestic travel. If you want to travel to an international destination, on entering the station from the front, turn to your left, walk past the heated waiting room on your left and some small shops and go to the office at the end of the wide corridor with "RILA" on it. It is straight ahead of you. They speak some English and to book a ticket, you will need your passport. They take credit cards.
Platforms can be accessed from the main floor down the escalators at the far left corner. Platform numbering is somewhat confusing: Roman numerals indicate the platform number I to VI, and Arabic numerals 1 to 12 indicate the actual track. Each platform is divided into East and West. Departures and arrivals are indicated on reliable electronic panels, but, beware, they indicate the track number, not the platform! In any case, leaving by train is mostly recommended if you want to travel overnight to destinations on the Black Sea, since trains for Varna and Burgas will leave late in the evening and get you there in the early morning a couchette to Varna is 16 leva.
By car
All highways in Bulgaria are often under construction.
Access to Bulgaria's Capital is via several entry points:
1. From the North & South via E79/A6
2. From the East - via Thrace Highway E80/A1-A3 or from the old road paralelling the E80 Highway - Zlatitza - Pirdop - Pazardzhik route.
3. From the West - via A1/E80 Liking the city and the Bulgarian-Serbian Border point of Kalotina.
A1 is planned to be from Sofia to Burgas, but as of July, 2012 ends at the outskirts of Nova Zagora.
A2 is planned to be from Sofia to Varna, but ends around Pravets and continues from Shumen to Varna.
A3 is planned to be from Varna to Burgas, but currently has only a few kilometers built.
Otherwise coming from Greece the road E79/A6 is in very good shape, so the 300 km from Thessaloniki are done fairly fast if you don't happen to fall into Friday/Sunday traffic jams in the area of Sofia or Pernik.
Coming from the Republic of Macedonia, via Kiustendil the roads are relatively good but driving within speed limits would avoid you much hassle caused either by traffic police, or road conditions. From Central Europe you can drive almost the whole length on highways via Slovenia-Croatia-Serbia or Hungary-Serbia, with only the last 100 km between Niš in Southern Serbia and Sofia being heavily trafficked mountain roads around the Nishava ravine in not the best shape.