Friday Evening — Arrive & Get Your Bearings
Drop your bags and head straight for Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Even if you don't go inside tonight, the golden domes lit up against the dark sky are worth the walk — it's one of the largest Orthodox cathedrals in the world and it announces the city immediately.
From there, walk down towards Vitosha Boulevard, Sofia's main pedestrian street. It's lined with cafés, low-key bars, and restaurants, and on a Friday night it has a relaxed, unhurried buzz rather than a chaotic one — Sofia doesn't do nightlife theatrics. Have dinner at a mehana (traditional tavern) for shopska salad, kavarma, and a glass of rakiya, and end the evening at a rooftop bar if the weather holds — several along the boulevard have views towards Vitosha Mountain, which looms over the city even at night.
Saturday — Cathedral, Ruins & Vitosha Views
Morning: Alexander Nevsky Cathedral properly, ideally before 10:00 to beat tour groups. The crypt below holds one of the best collections of Bulgarian Orthodox icons anywhere, some dating to the 9th century. Just behind it, the small St Sofia Church — plainer, older, and the building that gave the city its name.
Late morning: walk to Serdica, the excavated Roman city beneath modern Sofia. Ride the metro one stop to Serdika station and look down through the glass at the ruins preserved under the platform, then cross to the open-air archaeological complex by the Sheraton, where a 4th-century Roman forum sits in a sunken plaza right in the middle of the city.
Lunch: a bakery window for banitsa (flaky cheese pastry) is the local move, or sit down for tarator, a cold cucumber-yoghurt soup that's ideal in warm weather.
Afternoon: take a taxi or bus 64 up to Boyana Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the southern suburbs. Its 13th-century frescoes are considered among the finest surviving examples of medieval painting in Europe — book your timed slot in advance, visits are limited to ten minutes inside to protect the murals.
Evening: dinner back in the centre, then Vitosha Boulevard again — quieter bars, a walk past NDK (the National Palace of Culture), whose plaza is one of Sofia's best spots for people-watching.
Sunday — Markets, Communist Sofia & Departure
Morning: the Zhenski Pazar (Women's Market), Sofia's oldest and largest open-air market, for fresh produce, cheese, and a genuinely local scene rather than a tourist one. Go before 10:00 while it's still working, not performing.
From there, walk through the city centre past the Largo — the trio of monumental Soviet-era buildings (the Council of Ministers, the former Communist Party headquarters, and the President's office) that still define central Sofia's architecture. The changing of the guard happens on the hour outside the Presidency.
If you have time before your flight, join the Free Sofia Tour (11:00 departure from the Palace of Justice, tip-based) for a fast, well-told 2.5-hour walk through the city's Roman, Ottoman, and communist layers — it's one of the better free city tours in Europe and a good way to tie everything you've seen together.
Grab a last banitsa on the way to the airport — Sofia Airport is only 10km out and Metro Line 2 gets you there directly.