What to Do on a Rainy Day in Sofia

There is no better way to strengthen the bond with your friends than a bit of a rivalry. Visit a board games club and spend a unique day out — or, rather, in. The 3 Trolls is a chain of board game bars in the city center with a total of more than 400 games, while Restart is a place where you can choose between board games and video games (How do two PS4 consoles loaded up with all the latest couch co-op and multiplayer titles sound?).

There are places in Sofia which were created specially for bookworms, like Orange Cafe-Bookstore where you can grab a book from the shelves and read it with a cup of good coffee, or the Peroto Literature Club where you can swap the coffee for wine. If you want to get an idea of Bulgarian literature but can’t read in Bulgarian, head to Chitalnyata, a public reading room in the small park in front of the National Theater.

Sofia doesn’t suffer from a lack of shopping malls, but instead of seeing the same clothes of the same brands all over the world, you could plan a route to discover some Bulgarian designers.

As a capital, Sofia is a home of the biggest museums with the most impressive exhibits- – the gold treasures of the ancient Thracians are kept in the National History Museum, while the golden chariot of the Bulgarian King Ferdinand is displayed at the Sofia History Museum. If you are a mineral buff, the National Museum “Earth and Man” keeps more than 40% of all minerals known to science in its halls.

Eating is something you can’t skip, but when you have not many options left, you can undertake this activity in a more serious manner. Exploring the Bulgarian food, from breakfast to dinner, involves a lot of pastry, dairy products and grilled meat. Pour a lot of rakia (the local strong spirit) on top of it, and you can call yourself a half-Bulgarian.

Or at least get a general idea of Bulgarian art — both classical and contemporary. If you are an art aficionado, tour the best galleries and art museums in Sofia to understand why Zlatyu Boyadzhiev is considered one of the classics in Bulgarian art and what modern painters and sculptors have been creating recently.