A Weekend in Plovdiv
Since Plovdiv was named the EU City's of Culture in 2019, the city's popularity has skyrocketed and we found out why! From one of the oldest cities in the EU to fantastic food and drinks, we thoroughly enjoyed our weekend in Plovdiv.
Logistics:
Although the second largest city in Bulgaria, Plovdiv is still a hidden gem compared to other large Western cities. The logistics can be tricky so here is how I did it!
By Plane
Although we did not fly to Plovdiv, I did see several options to Plovdiv especially from London! On Wizz Air, the flying network keeps expanding and Plovdiv is gaining in popularity!
By Public Transportation
Once you’re inside the city, I believe it is rather easy to use the metro, tram, or bus system although we had no need to use them as most of our activities were near "Old Town".
Between Bulgarian cities, there are plenty of trains and buses. Although we arrived via train, it was an… interesting… experience! I used seat61.com for all my train questions!
To travel between cities, we preferred the bus service. Again, I utilized Sofia Adventures to help plan and figure out the bus system. For us, it was rather easy as we used TaxiMe App to get to and from the bus station. Because we were going to Plovdiv, I knew that we wanted a certain bus company and purchased our tickets in cash only. Once we received our ticket, we had to sit in the assigned seat - otherwise you will get yelled at in Bulgarian which is very frightening.
By Private Hire
Unlike Sofia, Plovdiv does NOT have a taxi app at the time of writing. From the bus station, we were definitely scammed by the taxi driver as we paid nearly 14B. On the way back, we had our hotel call EcoTaxi and the ride cost less than 5B.
Lodging
Compared to our Sofia lodging, our hotel in Plovdiv was a 5-star resort! Hillhouse Plovdiv is a fantastic B&B located in the heart of Plovdiv. Although located on a hill, the location is superb as we were seconds away from the Old Town and Kapana while less than 5-10 minutes from the city center. Our room was great with comfortable beds, hot showers, and great Bulgarian breakfasts in the morning.
Travel Tip: I relied on booking.com because most hotels are listed on this site. Plus, it offers better cancellation and good discounts.
Food & Drinks
Because Plovdiv was the City of Culture, the dining options are incredible here!
Top Recommendation: Pavaj
In the middle of Kapana lies one of the best restaurants in this wonderful city. Mostly outdoor dining, Pavaj offers all local and organic Bulgarian food. Every dish looked and tasted amazing! For our appetizer, we had baked Bulgarian cheese with cranberry sauce. Although it wasn't a French Camembert, the baked dish was delightful and a great introduction into Bulgarian food! For our mains, MF chose a roasted eggplant while I went with their house special of meatballs in a tomato sauce with fries. Each bite melted in our mouths! I highly recommend Pavaj! Reservations are required especially on the weekends.
Other Top Choices:
Hemingway Restaurant: Located next to the Roman ruins, Hemingway is a classic restaurant with a beautiful interior. Since we wanted a swanky lunch date, we definitely came to the right spot! Although we were seated in the foreign section (we sat next to a few Spanish tables that had to speak English to the waiter too!), we were in for a great treat! We split a fantastic bottle of Bulgarian red and settled into our meal. I had a tender duck breast in a sweet and sour sauce whilst Mary Frances chose a pork tenderloin in a gravy sauce.
Brickhouse: On our last morning, I wanted simple food and unfortunately Pavaj was completely booked. Thus, we "settled" for a great meal at Brickhouse in Kapana. Because I knew our bus to Sofia meant we wouldn't eat again until late, I went with a heavier meal of fettuccine alfredo. We had a great last meal in Plovdiv!
Vino Culture: In the middle of Plovdiv lies one of the best Bulgarian wine bars, Vino Culture! With a cozy interior, full wine menu, and tasty snacks, Vino Culture is perfect for a light evening meal or pre-dinner snacks. We sampled great Bulgarian reds as we enjoyed Plovdiv.
Click here for our Bulgaria Google map pins for all of our hard research of the top food and drink spots!
Activities
- Plovdiv Walking Tour via Free Plovdiv Tour
- House-Museum Hindiyan
- Stroll through Old Town
- Ancient Roman Stadium
Fixed Costs:
- Bus from Sofia: $11
- HillHouse Plovdiv: $11
- Taxi from the bus station: $15
- Taxi to the bus station: $5
- Plovdiv Walking Tour: FREE... with a $20 tip!
Onto Plovdiv
From Sofia, the great bus ride is soothing and relaxing - once you find the ticket stand, bus pickup point, and bus seat. Because Bulargian is in Cyrillic, I had to find the picture from a travel blog showing the stand and match it to the stand there. This is travel in 2020! Once we had the ticket, we then went outside to find the bus stand and luckily found it as they had written the number on our ticket. However, what was not helpful was not realizing that we had seats versus a free for all bus... Note the seat number!
Once the chaos had ended, we settled in for a relatively drama free bus ride. The countryside is beautiful and I cannot believe no one really comes here! I don't mind though because we get to spend more time here without mass tourists.
Travel Tip: Please call a taxi before or after you arrive at the train station so you don't get scammed! We used EKO Taxi on our return and saved $10.
Enjoying Plovdiv
After we settled into our awesome hotel, we took his provided recommendations and went to Pavaj. Luckily, it was 3pm on a Thursday so we nabbed a table! As we waited for our great meal, we people watched in the great area of Kapana. The district has many tiny cafes and cobblestone alleys and Pavaj is at the center of it all. Plus, we received a terrific meal!
To walk off our meal, we strolled through Kapana and Old Town. Surprisingly, historic Plovdiv is very, very small. While we enjoyed the picturesque Old Town with beautiful houses dating back to the 1700s, our walk did not take long. We even had time to accidentally stumble upon the Roman stadium at sunset.
In order to celebrate our great day, we went to a highly recommended wine bar called Vino Culture. Because we were some of the only English speaking tourists, we had great service and sampled a few more terrific Bulgarian reds.
A Day in Plovdiv
Although we could have easily seen all of Plovdiv in one day, we decided to spread out our activities and enjoy this magnificent city.
First, we went on a walking tour! Click here to read about our historic experience.
After our awesome walking tour, we went to the famous Hemingway restaurant for lunch. Rather than a date night, we had a date lunch and decided to make it a long one as we ordered a fine bottle of Bulgarian wine as well!
One Last Touristy Day
Upon hindsight, today was our last full touristy day of our three month trip across Europe AND in Plovdiv.
Roman Stadium
Seated high above a local highway and in Old Town is the famous Plovdiv Roman stadium. Uncovered this century, the stadium is completely made out of marble and is in remarkable condition considering the stadium was built in the early BC. We were in awe as we explored the seats and pretended to be on stage! Whilst our guide told us that one couldn't hear street noise inside, we could still hear cars and people - although I bet that would change if there was a concert playing!
Travel Tip: In the summertime, the stadium holds a concert series!
House Museum
Dotted throughout Old Town are various house museums. Each house has an unique attribute such as 1800 Indian furniture and decor or 1700 American. Each of them are unique and can be combined on a tourist pass. Despite my love for random historical houses, I made Mary Frances choose her favorite house and we would tour that one!
For our main house, we chose House-Museum Hindiyan. Don't ask me why! Similar to most of our experience in Bulgaria, we were the only people touring the house so that was really great! Each room is beautifully decorated and is 100% authentic. I wish I had more to say, but it was just fancy decor!
A Final Meal
After getting rejected from Pavaj yet again, we ended our time in Plovdiv by visiting Brickhouse in Kapana - soaking in the sunshine whilst sitting outside. Although there isn't a ton of mainstream tourist activities, we thoroughly enjoyed wandering the Old City streets.
The UnChartered Summary
Between the ancient Roman history to modern, hip boutiques, there is certainly plenty to do! Perfect for a weekend getaway, we cannot recommend Plovdiv enough!
- Check out Sofia Adventures for any planning questions from lodging to food!
- If you're in Plovdiv for a quick weekend, I would definitely make reservations at Pavaj. Definitely the best restaurant, we wish we could have a few more meals.
- Because of the loaded history, make sure to go on the free walking tour. The city is easily walkable and honestly is best enjoyed when there aren't crowds - aka sunrise!