To top off a tour of Russia and the Baltic States in September ’11, I decided to tour Bulgaria as an independent traveler. My local travel agent arranged air transportation from Warsaw, the end point of my escorted tour, to Sofia, Bulgaria. She also arranged a reservation at the Best Western Plus City Hotel (6 Stara Planina Str., Sofia 100, Bulgaria; phone +359 2 915 15 00), in the heart of downtown Sofia. From there, I was on my own.
I stayed at the hotel on Sept. 23-24 and 27-28 at €74.70 (near $93) per night for a single room and breakfast. All of the hotel employees spoke English.
As this was my first trip to Bulgaria, I had some of the normal tourist reservations about being alone in a strange place. These were quickly allayed with the assistance of the manager of the hotel, Alex Popov (e-mail reservations@sofiahotel.com), who was trained in the hotel business in Switzerland.
Alex arranged for a city tour and an additional tour to the Rila Monastery. The guides were young, polite college men.
He also arranged for my train ticket to Varna, on the Black Sea, as well as taxi service to the train, including having the driver walk me to the train to make sure I got on the right one. Another driver met me upon my return to Sofia.
In Varna, I stayed at the Best Western Park Hotel (190 Chaika St., Varna, Bulgaria; phone +359 5 238 97 89), also arranged by Alex, on Sept. 25-26. It cost €34 ($42) a night for a single room, with breakfast.
There I had a cab driver who spoke excellent English. The highlight of my tour was seeing the ruins of the ancient Roman baths in the center of modern Varna.
JOHN DAVIS
San Diego, CA
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