PLACE FOR SPENDING LEISURE TIME

 

The Sofia environs are rich in splendid places for a rest, cultural and historical sight-seeing

"Копитото""Kopitoto". Vitosha mountain, situated in the vicinity of the Capital, offers a number of places both for summertime and wintertime tourism. 
The Sofia Public Transport Company offers comfortable and fast connection with its buses. 

Points of departure for tourism to the Vitosha mountain are the following housing estate: 

Another possibility to go the mountain is provided by "Vazheni Linii" AD (Rope Way" AD).

Chair lift 'Dragalevtsi - Goli Vrah" - bus No. 93 from the "Hladilnika" terminus travels to the rope way terminus. 

МоренитеMorenite - a cabin rope way along the "Simeonovo - Aleko" route -buses No. 122 from the "Hladilnika", and No. 123 departing from Darvenitsa housing estate, travel to the rope way terminus. You can also reach the rope way terminus on foot from the ring road stops of buses No. 11, 68 and 69. The "Aleko" complex is the main tourist centre in the Vitosha mountain. Bus No. 66 travels to the Moreni hotel, and from there you can go to each Aleko on foot within 15 min. The bus terminus is at the "Hladilnika". Another interesting sight-seeing places are: Motel "Belite Brezi", which can be reached with bus line No 69 from the Darvenitsa station, Manastisrski livadi with No. 65 from the Ovcha Kupel station, "Morenite" - bus No.66 from "Hladilnika", Lyulin mountain - bus No. 103 from Ovcha kupel station. 

The Sofia surroundings are rich in mineral waters. The most developed balneotherapy resort near Sofia is the town of Bankya - some 17 km to the south-west of the city. You can get there by buses No. 42 and No. 43, departing from the "Slivnitsa underground station" and "Lyulin-4" housing estate, respectively.

 

Interesting places to visit are also the churches and monasteries, 

related to the Bulgarian history. 

One of the greatest sights is the church in Boyana "St. Pantaleymon". The history of the Boyana church goes back to the Middle Ages. It is located in the Boyana housing estate, and has mural paintings from 1259, with a high artistic, historical and documentary value. The church has been included in the UNESCO list for world cultural inheritance. Currently, the construction is a parish church in the Boyana housing estate of the city of Sofia, and it also serves as a museum of Bulgarian Fine Art.
There is a convenient bus transport to the Boyana church - line No. 107, which you can easily get on from a stop in the Pavlovo district. You can reach such a stop by tram No. 5, from the Court Chamber and/or No. 11 from the Iliyantsi district, and/or No. 15 as well as any of the buses to Boyana - No. 64 with terminuses at - the "Hladilnika" and the Center of Hygiene or No. 63 from "Tsar Boris ІІІ Blvd". 

The Dragalevtsi Monastery "Sv. Bogoroditsa" (the St. Virgin Mary), which is located at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, near the Dragalevtsi district. There is a hypothesis that it had been found by Tzar Ivan-Alexander around 1345. It had been destroyed, when Sofia was seized by Osman's Turks, later restored in the second half of 15th Century. The Monastery's church "St. Virgin" has preserved the founder's portraits and some icons from Nikola Obrazopisov. You can reach the Dragalevtsi district by buses Nos. 64, 93 and 96, from the "Hladilnika". 

The Knyazhevo Monastery "Pokrov na Sveta Bogoroditsa" is located around 4 km away from the central area of the Knyazhevo district at the foot of Vitosha. It is a virgin's monastery. It has premises for guests. Every year on 1 October there is an anniversary of the Pokrov na Sveta Bogoroditsa is celebrated is a feast. A comfortable transportation from the central area of Sofia is tram No. 5 from the Court Chamber. 

Lozenski Monastery "St. Spas" 
It is located at the foot of the Lozenska mountain, under the peak of Polovrak. The church at the monastery is decorated and fretted, with preserved founder’s inscriptions. It is located 5 km away from the village of Lozen, in the Sofia Municipal Region. Bus line No. 7 makes the connection between the village of Lozen and the Gara Iskar district. Tram No. 20 travels from the inner city to the Gara Iskar district.

The Obradovo monastery "St. Mina" is located 7.5 km. to the north-east from Sofia, in the "Benkovski" housing estate, on the south side of the Vladaya river . There are two -chapels in the monastery. - "St. Bezsrebrenitsi Kozma and Damyan" and "St. Bezsrebrenitsi Petar i Pavel. On 11 November the monastery celebrates the Day of St. Mortyr Mina, and on 1 November in the Day of "St. Bezsrebrenitsi Kozma and Damyan", a feast is celebrated. Bus line 24 goes to the Benkovski housing estate.

After the National Historical Museum was moved to Boiana, the guests of the museum may use the trolley bus line 2 to the last station "Bakston" and bus lines 111 and 63 - station "Rezidentsia Boiana".