Sofia: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria (Sofia-Capital), 562 m (1,844 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Sofia Airport (SOF), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre. It has 1 railway station on record, including Sofia-Sever. Our booking partner lists 1,815+ places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Sofia runs from about 9 h 6 min a day in late December to 15 h 23 min in late June (computed for 42.7° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Sofia is served by one airport with scheduled flights. The closest large one is Sofia Airport (SOF), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre, whose 11,811-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft.
Flights to Sofia: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Sofia-Sever. Trains to Sofia
Buses to Sofia · Driving and car hire
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 1,815+ places to stay in Sofia (statistics below are from the first 1,000). Of the 785 with a star rating, the largest group is 4-star (602), and 16 are five-star. Across 509 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.9 out of 10. Guests have left 415,858 reviews in total.
Hotels in Sofia: the full picture, and book
What people come for
UNESCO World Heritage in the city: Boyana Church.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Sofia
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Bucharest, 296 km (Romania) — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Belgrade, 328 km (Serbia) — flights · trains
- Pristina, 176 km (Kosovo)
- Skopje, 174 km (North Macedonia) — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Tirana, 327 km (Albania) — flights · trains
- Plovdiv, 132 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Varna, 378 km
- Thessaloníki, 231 km (Greece) — buses · car rental · tours
- Braşov, 375 km (Romania)
- Timişoara, 379 km (Romania) — flights
Twin towns and sister cities: Algiers, Ankara, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels-Capital Region, Bucharest, Bursa, Helsinki, Karlovac, Kyiv, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow.
Common questions
Which airport serves Sofia?
Sofia Airport (SOF), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre.
How big is Sofia?
About 1.2 million people live in Sofia, across 492 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Sofia in?
Europe/Sofia, currently UTC+3.
What currency is used in Sofia?
The Lev (BGN). Traffic drives on the right.
How many hotels are there in Sofia?
Our booking partner lists 1,815 or more places to stay in Sofia, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Sofia?
Bucharest (296 km), Belgrade (328 km), Pristina (176 km), Skopje (174 km), Tirana (327 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.