Day trips from Sofia in 2026: Rila Monastery, Boyana Church and Plovdiv

Most guides to day trips from Sofia were written before Bulgaria switched to the euro on 1 January 2026, and many still describe a daily bus to Rila Monastery that we could not confirm. This guide covers three trips: Rila Monastery, Boyana Church and Plovdiv. Every price and time below is dated and linked to the official or operator page it came from. Where we could not confirm something, we say so and tell you where to check.

For the city itself, see our Sofia city guide and the Bulgaria country guide.

Which day trip fits your day

All figures as of October 2026. Sources are linked in the sections below.

Rila Monastery by public transport

The direct bus: not confirmed. Many guides describe one daily bus from Sofia's Ovcha Kupel bus station to the monastery. We could not confirm that it runs:

• The monastery's own "How to get there" page says that, despite "numerous attempts" by its management to restore public transport, access "is now only by" private transport, organised transport, travel-agency tours, or "bus to Blagoevgrad, and from Blagoevgrad... to the Monastery by taxi" (Rila Monastery, checked 13 October 2026). The page is not dated.
• Ovcha Kupel bus station lists "Rilski manastir" among its destinations, but the timetable page behind it returned "page not found" on 13 October 2026 (Ovcha Kupel bus station).
• Sofia Central Bus Station's departures board had no service to the monastery on the same day (Sofia Central Bus Station, checked 13 October 2026).
• We found no operator page for the route.

If you want to try the direct bus anyway, call Ovcha Kupel bus station on +359 87 510 5097 (6:30–18:00) before you travel. The station itself says timetables "always" change on public holidays and weekends (Ovcha Kupel bus station, as of October 2026). Ask for both the outbound time and the return time from the monastery, and do not go without the return time.

The route the monastery describes: bus to Blagoevgrad, then a taxi. Buses to Blagoevgrad leave from Sofia Central Bus Station. Every service that shows a fare to Blagoevgrad lists EUR 7.00 one way. Morning options on the departures board included (Sofia Central Bus Station, as of October 2026):

Struma 11 runs further direct buses through the afternoon, the last listed at 19:00. All of these are marked as valid from 1 January to 31 December 2026 (same source, as of October 2026).

For the way back, the arrivals board we read at about 14:00 on 13 October listed four buses leaving Blagoevgrad between 16:30 and 18:44, reaching Sofia between 18:20 and 20:29 (Sofia Central Bus Station arrivals, as of October 2026). Check the board for your date.

We found no official taxi fare or journey time for Blagoevgrad to the monastery, so we do not give one. Agree the price, the waiting time and the return trip with the driver before you set off.

Trains also run to Blagoevgrad. BDZ lists 7 trains from Sofia on Thursday 22 October 2026, taking 2 h 5 min to 3 h 6 min; the 07:30 arrives at 10:02 (BDZ timetable, checked 13 October 2026). The fastest listed bus (1 h 45 min) is 20 minutes quicker than the fastest train (2 h 5 min).

Rila Monastery on a tour or by car

Tours. The monastery lists "organised transport by travel agencies" as one of the ways to reach it (Rila Monastery, as of October 2026). Before you book any tour, check three things:

1. Whether the price includes the museum ticket. The monastery says museum tickets are sold only on site, and its Bulgarian page adds that "tickets bought online are not valid in our museums" (Rila Monastery museums, in Bulgarian, as of October 2026).
2. How long you get at the monastery. The museums close at 16:30 outside the summer season (see below).
3. Whether a guide is included, or whether you would book the monastery's own guide.

We checked Tiqets on 13 October 2026 for a Rila Monastery, Boyana or Sofia tour and found none; Bulgaria was not in its list of destinations. We therefore do not link a tour seller here.

The monastery's own guides. A guided tour in English or French costs EUR 15 and lasts about 50 minutes. Book on 0896 872 016 (Rila Monastery museums, as of October 2026).

By car. The monastery's address is Rila Monastery, Kyustendil district, 2643 (Rila Monastery contacts, as of October 2026). We found no official page on parking or parking fees, so check on arrival.

The Seven Rila Lakes. If a tour offers the lakes and the monastery on the same day, know what the lakes involve. They are a high-mountain walk: Rila National Park puts them between 2,095 m (the Lower Lake) and 2,535 m (the Tear, the highest), and says the highest lake is frozen for almost 9 months of the year (Rila National Park, as of October 2026). The park asks visitors to stay on marked trails and not to enter the lakes.

A chairlift runs up from Panichishte, but its operator's website returned an error on 13 October 2026 (Rila Lakes lift). We could not confirm whether the lift is running this autumn, its hours or its price. Unless the tour operator confirms the lift is running on your date, plan the lakes and the monastery as separate days.

Boyana Church

Boyana Church is a medieval church on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1979, inside the city of Sofia. Since 2003 it has been a branch of the National Museum of History, which publishes the current visitor rules (National Museum of History, in Bulgarian, as of October 2026).

Getting there by city transport. Two bus lines serve the church, according to the official timetable data that Sofia Urban Mobility Centre publishes (Sofia Urban Mobility Centre, GTFS data, feed dated 13 October 2026):

• Bus 65 ends at the "Boyanska tsarkva" stop, outside the church. It starts at the Zh.k. Krasno Selo stop next to metro station Tsar Boris III (line M3). The ride takes about 17 minutes. Around midday it runs every 20 minutes, on both the weekday and the Sunday we checked.
• Bus 64 passes metro station Vitosha (line M2) and stops at "Boyansko hanche", about 200 m from the church (our estimate from the stop coordinates). The ride takes about 24 minutes. Around midday it runs every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on Sundays.

The church's own older website still lists buses 64 and 107 (Boyana Church, checked 13 October 2026). In the current timetable data, bus 107 no longer goes to the church. Use bus 65 or 64, and check live times on sofiatraffic.bg.

Fares. A "60 plus" ticket costs EUR 1.10 and allows transfers within 60 minutes, so it can cover the metro and the bus. A "30 plus" ticket costs EUR 0.80. Both work on a contactless card (pay-as-you-go), the Sofia City Card or an Ultralight card. A single ticket bought from the driver costs EUR 1.00 and allows no transfer (Sofia Urban Mobility Centre fares from 1 January 2026, PDF, as of October 2026).

Tickets and visitor limits. These are the National Museum of History's figures (National Museum of History, as of October 2026):

• No more than 9 people are allowed inside at once, and each visit is limited to 10 minutes.
• Tour-operator and school groups enter only with a confirmed booking, in fixed time windows. The rest of the day is kept for individual visitors and small groups of up to 5, with or without a booking.
• You can book on site after buying a ticket, or by email to reservation@boyanachurch.info. If you book by email, you pay by bank transfer and the payment order acts as your ticket.
• Entry is free on the last Monday of each month after 15:00, and on 18 May, 17 September and 1 November. Bookings are not taken at those times.
• Drones, smoking and vaping are not allowed. Dogs are not allowed, except guide dogs in the churchyard.

The church's older website lists prices in leva only, with a lower student price (Boyana Church, checked 13 October 2026). Leva-only prices predate the euro, so use the museum's figures above.

Opening hours. The church opens every day. In summer (April to October) it opens 09:30–18:00, with the ticket desk open until 17:50. In winter (November to March) it opens 09:00–17:30, with the ticket desk open until 17:20 (National Museum of History, as of October 2026).

Plovdiv as a day trip

Plovdiv works as a long day trip by train. On Thursday 22 October 2026, BDZ listed these direct trains (BDZ, Sofia–Plovdiv and BDZ, Plovdiv–Sofia, checked 13 October 2026):

The 08:22 out and the 18:35 back give you just over 7 hours in Plovdiv. BDZ's discounted return ticket for Sofia–Plovdiv–Sofia costs EUR 9.00 in 2nd class on a fast train, and EUR 12.22 on a train with compulsory reservation (BDZ fare tables, as of October 2026). Our Plovdiv on a budget guide covers the days when fares are higher, the bus alternative, Old Town ticket prices and what you can see for free, so we do not repeat them here.

Day trip or overnight? A day trip leaves about 7 hours on the ground and two long train rides. A night in Plovdiv adds an evening and a second morning, and removes one early start. To compare places to stay, search hotels in Plovdiv (opens Booking.com in a new tab); our Plovdiv guide lists the price bands we found. The Plovdiv city guide covers the city itself.

What to know before you go

Dress code at Rila Monastery. The monastery does not allow shorts, short skirts, vests or "all other kinds of skimpy outfit" anywhere in the complex. Men must remove their hats in the church. Photos and video are not allowed inside the church or the museum. Tourist backpacks, prams and other bulky bags are not allowed in the church, and pets are not allowed in the complex (Rila Monastery visitor rules, as of October 2026).

Rila Monastery opening hours. As of October 2026 (Rila Monastery contacts and museums):

A combined ticket for all the museums costs EUR 12. It is sold only at the monastery (Rila Monastery museums, as of October 2026).

Winter roads. We found no official notice on winter access to the monastery road. If snow is forecast, call the monastery office on +359 7054 3383 (Monday to Friday, 08:30–17:00) before you go (Rila Monastery contacts, as of October 2026).

Prices in leva. Bulgaria's fixed conversion rate is EUR 1 = BGN 1.95583 (European Commission). If a page shows only leva, it probably predates the euro switch; confirm the price before you pay. The Rila Monastery price list shows both currencies (EUR 12 / BGN 23.47 for the combined ticket), and the two figures match at the fixed rate. For data on the road, see our Bulgaria eSIM guide.

Sources

Checked on 13 October 2026.

• Rila Monastery, How to get there: https://www.rilskimanastir.org/en/how-to-reach/
• Rila Monastery, Museums (English and Bulgarian): https://www.rilskimanastir.org/en/museums/ and https://www.rilskimanastir.org/bg/museums/
• Rila Monastery, Contacts and working hours: https://www.rilskimanastir.org/en/contacts/
• Rila Monastery, Requirements to the visitors: https://www.rilskimanastir.org/en/about/iziskvaniia-k-m-posetitelite/
• Ovcha Kupel bus station, home and departures: https://avtogarazapad.wixsite.com/avtogarazapad and https://avtogarazapad.wixsite.com/avtogarazapad/about1-c1ka
• Sofia Central Bus Station, departures: https://www.centralnaavtogara.bg/avtobusi/sofia
• Sofia Central Bus Station, arrivals: https://www.centralnaavtogara.bg/avtobusi
• BDZ, Sofia–Blagoevgrad timetable (22 October 2026): https://razpisanie.bdz.bg/en/sofia/blagoevgrad/22.10.2026
• BDZ, Sofia–Plovdiv timetable (22 October 2026): https://razpisanie.bdz.bg/en/sofia/plovdiv/22.10.2026
• BDZ, Plovdiv–Sofia timetable (22 October 2026): https://razpisanie.bdz.bg/en/plovdiv/sofia/22.10.2026
• BDZ, fare tables in leva and euro (PDF, in Bulgarian): https://p.bdz.bg/www/t/a/tarifni-tablitsi-leva-i-evro-4484.pdf
• National Museum of History, Boyana Church (in Bulgarian): https://historymuseum.org/boyana-church/
• Boyana Church website (older), About and Contacts: https://boyanachurch.org/abouten.htm and https://boyanachurch.org/contacten.htm
• Sofia Urban Mobility Centre, GTFS open data: https://www.sofiatraffic.bg/bg/info-center/gtfs-danni
• Sofia Urban Mobility Centre, public transport and route changes: https://www.sofiatraffic.bg/bg/public-transport
• Sofia Urban Mobility Centre, ticket prices from 1 January 2026 (PDF): https://d2ftgf10aqtt1f.cloudfront.net/8-1765443616-PRICES%20OF%20TRANSPORTATION%20DOCUMENTS%20IN%20VALIDITY%20FROM%2001-01-2026.pdf
• Rila National Park Directorate, Seven Rila Lakes (in Bulgarian): https://rilanationalpark.bg/
• Rila Lakes lift operator (site returned an error): https://rilskiezera.bg/en/lift-working-hours/
• Tiqets, search for Rila, Boyana, Sofia and Bulgaria (no products found)
• Booking.com, Plovdiv hotel search
• European Commission, Bulgaria and the euro: https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/euro/eu-countries-and-euro/bulgaria-and-euro_en