Smiling in Sofia, Bulgaria

The first country I visited while studying in Greece was Bulgaria. This was a very spontaneous trip. A few friends and I were looking up cheap flights on SkyScanner and Sofia, Bulgaria popped up. It was not originally a place on our radar, but we booked the flight and soon after an Airbnb.

Wondering What To Do?

You must wander around downtown Sofia; however, this does not take that much time. We stopped by Sofia's Central Mineral Baths and admired the famously beautiful Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The rest of the day was spent mindlessly walking around. After our rooftop dinner in the downtown area, we ended up running into a free outdoor concert!

The absolute highlight of this trip was hiking the Seven Rila Lakes. We found a guide on Airbnb who picked us up and drove us 2 hours to the mountains. The hike took 4-5 hours as we trecked over varying terrain and were told the history of the area. It was an extremely breathtaking view, both at the top and the entire journey. And crazily enough, while on the very top of the mountain, we ran into an alumni from our school, Loyola Maryland!

I recommend visiting Sofia, Bulgaria if you're looking for something a little different. To me, being in Sofia felt like I was in a old fairytale, back in time, and while many things were gorgeous, it also seemed a bit mysterious.