Sofia was the surprise. We came for the price and stayed for everything else. A capital city with a mountain in its backyard, coffee for a euro, and meat served on a sword and/or on fire.
It’s the kind of place people underestimate until they’ve been. Then they start telling friends to skip Prague and come here instead.
Finding a long-stay apartment in Sofia
We stayed in a comfortable apartment in Bulgaria’s capital. It became the base for one of our most eventful stays. Sofia’s rental market is where the price comparison lands hardest. We paid less per month than a single week in Copenhagen.
Living in a Sofia neighborhood
Sofia rewards walkers. There’s a real neighborhood feel to it. And we were there for Baba Marta, the celebration marking the end of the cold winter and the beginning of spring. It was a joy to celebrate it with locals.
Bulgaria also introduced us to rakija. Delicious. Also, we later learned, an excellent lighter fluid.
A typical day in Sofia
Coffee at one of the small local cafés. A walk through South Park. Long lunches, longer dinners. Lance did most of the meat exploration on our behalf. That’s not a metaphor. There’s a lot of meat.
Weekends were road trips. We drove out to the small village of Melnik, played chicken with a cow, visited an old monastery, and sampled the wine from the vineyards. Belogradchik was incredible. To see such an imposing fortress so perfectly blended with its natural surroundings was something we’ll never forget.
It was in Belogradchik that we met Ivan, a Serbian who had relocated to Bulgaria to open his restaurant. He fed us massive amounts of the most delicious food and inspired us to move to Serbia for more. Winning the race against no one, while leaving to catch the train home, was a victory we never anticipated.
Plovdiv was a pleasant surprise. Artistic vibe, laid-back, Roman ruins, great cafés. We left there feeling like we needed to go back and live there one day.
Sofia: our verdict after 3 months of living there
Sofia is undervalued. It won’t wow you the first day. The architecture is a mix of communist blocks and turn-of-the-century elegance, some of it beautiful and some of it clearly waiting for renovation. But the city grows on you fast. The people are direct in a way that reads as rude the first week and refreshingly honest by month three. The food is honest and cheap. The mountain is right there.
If you want a long stay in Europe that costs a fraction of the west and gives you most of the lifestyle, Sofia is the answer we didn’t expect.
Sofia long-stay stats
- Duration: Three months, winter into spring
- Cost tier: Very affordable
- Walkability: Excellent
- Wifi: Fast and cheap
- Cat-friendly: Yes
- Best for: Long stays, budget-conscious remote workers, meat-on-swords enthusiasts
- Would return: Yes
Book the stay: Our Sofia apartment on Airbnb →
