Free Sofia Tour – now twice a day, every day

Illuminating insights into the Bulgarian capital are promised by organisers of the Free Sofia Tour which, from March 28 onwards, now runs twice a day – at 11am and 6pm. No reservation is required – you just have to show up at the meeting spot at the corner of the Palace of Justice (Vitosha Blvd. and Alabin Str. crossing).

The tour leaders are young, multilingual and passionate about their home city. More than 500 people from more than 45 countries have visited the Free Sofia Tour since it started on August 13 last year. Most guests come from Germany, Spain, UK, USA and France but there are visitors from countries as far away as Uruguay, Malaysia and New Zealand.

To date, more than 100 tours have taken place, irrespective of weather conditions, every day, barring two days off for the New Year celebrations. The tour still runs even if only one person shows up.

Tours usually last about two hours and go around the main tourist sites in the central part of the city, including, among others, Sveta Nedelya Church, Banya Bashi Mosque, Sofia Synagogue, Central Mineral Baths, Ancient Serdica Open Museum, Archaeological Museum, Rotunda of St. George, National Theatre Ivan Vazov, Prince Alexander of Battenberg Square, the Russian Church, Hagya Sophia Church, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the National Library and Sofia University. Although the route is fairly similar, organisers say that each tour is different.

The tour is the perfect introduction for further exploration of the capital. Besides essential information about "
must-see"
places, tourists can learn lesser known facts about each site such as why the bell of the the Hagya Sophia church is hanging on a nearby tree. Moreover, organisers try to integrate various traditions and customs such as martenitsa, horo, kukeri, etc. Sometimes they even have small quizzes with a souvenir prize for the winner. A quick look at the Facebook wall of the initiative shows that most visitors appear to have been very satisfied with the tour so far.

Free Sofia Tour Association cooperates actively with the tourist service municipal company at Sofia municipality, other NGOs and youth organisations, many tourist publications, as well as similar organisations all over the world.

Free Sofia Tour Association 2011 / +359 886 993977 / [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] / [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I might give this a try, its not often you see anything in Bg for free and this clearly says "
Free"
having said that its this kind of thing that will encourage others to the city if only they could do more things like this they would surely turn around the tourist trade and make people see things very differently.