Communist Walking Tour of Sofia
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Communist Walking Tour of Sofia
By 365 Association Sofia Tours
Recommended by 98% of travelers
This number is based on the percentage of all Tripadvisor reviews for this product that have a bubble rating of 4 or higher
Sofia is filled with famous monuments from Bulgaria’s communist era, but there are also many secluded places that are easy to miss on your own. Ensure you see the recognizable and hidden sights, and learn about their backstories on this walking tour. Exploring by foot grants you access to place inaccessible by traditional tour vehicles. Plus, discover the realities of daily life under Bulgaria’s 1946-1989 government from a guide—insight you wouldn’t get if sightseeing independently.
from per adult
$16.08
from per adult
$16.08
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation
Ages 1-99, max of 25 per group
Duration: 3h 30m
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
English
Highlights
- View Sofia’s communist-era landmarks on a walking tour
- Explore with a guide to see famous sights plus easy-to-miss places
- See the National Palace of Culture and secret police headquarters
- Hear about daily life during 1946-1989 from direct anecdotes
- Gain insight into communist dogma not provided on standard city tours
- Local guide
- Professional guide
What's not included- Gratuities
- Meet your guide in central Sofia and set off on foot to learn about the 45 years Bulgaria spent as a Soviet state. Your guide presents the facts and talks through the theories behind communism and the ideologies of Marxism and Leninism. Pass some of Sofia’s key attractions from other eras en route, and stop to view communist-era landmarks including the former Bulgarian Communist Party headquarters, the Secret Police Investigation Facility, and the destroyed Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum. Plus, see the Soviet Army Monument and National Palace of Culture as you hear the history of each. While you walk, hear fascinating anecdotes about life under communist rule, discovering the pros and many cons of the system, and the relation between the government, religion, and people’s ordinary daily lives. Your tour concludes at a central point in Sofia.
- Departure details
- Sofia City Court, bul. "Vitosha" 2, 1000 Old City Center, Sofia, Bulgaria Outside the Palace of Justice, at the corner of Vistosha Boulevard and Alabin Street
Return details- National Palace of Culture, бул. „България“, 1463 Ndk, Sofia, Bulgaria The tour will end next to a piece of the Berlin Wall on the left side of the park of the Palace of Culture.
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 14199P2- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
- What you can expect during your visit
- Regular temperature checks for staff
- Regularly sanitized high-traffic areas
- Guides required to regularly wash hands
- Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
- Transportation vehicles regularly sanitized
- Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
- Gear/equipment sanitized between use
- Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Community- Safety precautions are provided by the property and are not checked by Tripadvisor for accuracy.
- Which attractions will I visit with Communist Walking Tour of Sofia?
- During this experience, places you will visit include:
- Soviet Army Monument
- National Art Gallery
- National Palace of Culture Congress Centre
- Former Bulgarian Communist Party Headquarters
- The Presidency Building
- How much is Communist Walking Tour of Sofia?
- Communist Walking Tour of Sofia price starts from $15.97. Discover and book Communist Walking Tour of Sofia on Tripadvisor
- What is the Communist Walking Tour of Sofia cancellation policy?
- Communist Walking Tour of Sofia cancellation policy: For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience. Discover and book Communist Walking Tour of Sofia on Tripadvisor
- Which company provides Communist Walking Tour of Sofia?
- Communist Walking Tour of Sofia is hosted by 365 Association Sofia Tours. Read reviews, discover additonal experiences or contact 365 Association Sofia Tours on Tripadvisor. Discover and book Communist Walking Tour of Sofia on Tripadvisor
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 14199P2
Itinerary
- You'll start atSofia City Courtbul. "Vitosha" 2, 1000 Old City Center, Sofia, BulgariaOutside the Palace of Justice, at the corner of Vistosha Boulevard and Alabin StreetSee address & details
- 1Sofia Court HouseStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 2365 Association Sofia ToursStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 3Ancient Orthodox Church Saint Parascheva - the Old "St. Petka"Stop: 10 minutesSee details
- 4The Presidency BuildingStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 5Former Bulgarian Communist Party HeadquartersStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 6City GardenStop: 10 minutesSee detailsPass byNational Art Gallery
- 7Soviet Army MonumentStop: 15 minutesSee details
- 8National Palace of Culture Congress CentreStop: 10 minutesSee details
- 9Berlin WallStop: 15 minutesSee details
- You'll end atNational Palace of Cultureбул. „България“, 1463 Ndk, Sofia, BulgariaThe tour will end next to a piece of the Berlin Wall on the left side of the park of the Palace of Culture.See address & details
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About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator.
chrris1689
00Definitely Recommended
We joined the hostorical free tour on our first afternoon. Great way to get your bearings of the city and to learn …
isapdelab
00interesting cultural and historical tour
You should absolutely book this tour! Kris was a wonderful tour guide and was very knowledgeable on different monum…
KavN54321
00Free walking tour
Had a great time with Martin on the free Sofia walking tour. His enthusiasm for the history and the city was palpab…
Kush A
00Awesome Sofia tour with Tommy
Loved the way the rich history of Sofia was put across in a very interesting way, Tommy is really passionate about …
D9600DBmanuelc
00Boyan is an amazing tour guide.
Had a great experience with Boyan in the tour in spanish, very nice, kind and he gave me one of the best tours I’ve…
David C
00Tommy Terrific
Tommy gave the best tour ever! Hands down, great perspective and use of his “two grandmas” for understanding cultu…
caioa75
00Interesting stories, culture and candy.
The tour takes 2 hours and it presents the 6000 years long Sofia’s history in an interesting way. The guide was rea…
F2222KAjaviera
00Excellent tour in Sofia by Vasil.
My friends and I went on this tour our first morning in Sofia. The tour lasts 2 hours and you get to see the main m…
Marko K
00Best Sofia experiance by Slavyan
If you come to Sofia and don't go on this tour, you will miss out on its best part! The tour lasts 2 hours and you …
Trader_9
00Excellent tour by Vasil
I have just finished this free tour in Sofia , hosted by Vasil. Despite being a very cold day , VASIL held our atte…
Indinaya
00Definitely must-go!
This tour is must-go if you are in Sofia for more than 24 hours. Our guide Dino shared a lot of historical and cult…
392gerryd
00Free Sofia Tour is a MUST!
I am local and frankly, this is the third time I am bringing international friends on the Free Walking Tour of Sof…
Ante R
00Free walking tour
Nikola did a great job in showing us around the most important sites of Bulgarian capital. He told us very interest…
jonicsw
00Best walking tour in sofia
Lovely walking tour we really enjoyed the tour with the best guide - kris, helping, enthusiastic, teaching and has …
RotemElron933
00Lovely Sofia
We had a tour with Stoyan who was such a great guide. Some stories about places like the palace and the yellow bric…
Contribute
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
251 reviews
Excellent
230
Very good
18
Average
2
Poor
0
Terrible
1
Alexa J.
Cincinnati, OH16 contributions
Jul 2022
This was one of my favorite experiences in Sofia. I had a bit of knowledge on the topic already since my background is in modern eastern European history, but this tour is completely accessible, informational, and interesting for anyone.
I went on July 1, 2022, and I can't stress enough the value of this tour--it is roughly three hours, and the entire time you are walking around Sofia (although we found some places to sit when available) and learning about Bulgaria's recent socialist history. Our guide was very knowledgeable and had a degree in modern Bulgarian history, so it was wonderful to pick his brain and learn both about history and how history is taught in Bulgaria. He also shared a lot of personal history about his family and what their experience was like under socialism.
While walking around Sofia, we saw many fascinating sites, and our guide pointed out things that I hadn't known or noticed during my own explorations. For example, he told the story of the giant glass (not a ruby!) red star that used to be above the parliament building and how it was removed by helicopter. It now resides at the Museum of Socialist Art, which this tour inspired me to visit the next day.
10/10 for the friendly and knowledgeable guide, great walking tour of Sofia, and the depth of knowledge and sense of history provided.
I went on July 1, 2022, and I can't stress enough the value of this tour--it is roughly three hours, and the entire time you are walking around Sofia (although we found some places to sit when available) and learning about Bulgaria's recent socialist history. Our guide was very knowledgeable and had a degree in modern Bulgarian history, so it was wonderful to pick his brain and learn both about history and how history is taught in Bulgaria. He also shared a lot of personal history about his family and what their experience was like under socialism.
While walking around Sofia, we saw many fascinating sites, and our guide pointed out things that I hadn't known or noticed during my own explorations. For example, he told the story of the giant glass (not a ruby!) red star that used to be above the parliament building and how it was removed by helicopter. It now resides at the Museum of Socialist Art, which this tour inspired me to visit the next day.
10/10 for the friendly and knowledgeable guide, great walking tour of Sofia, and the depth of knowledge and sense of history provided.
Written July 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Shravan
1 contribution
Mar 2023 • Couples
Had an exceptionally great tour with our guide Martin. The 3 hour tour was far from dry, it's was very very fun and Martin's energy and passion came though the entire tour. Loved to also hear about the communist history as well as the personal stories of Martin.
Written March 25, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Matt
Wolverhampton, UK176 contributions
Whoops, sorry forgot to leave my review earlier.
We contacted the company before we travelled to check the free tours were still operating in this covid time. Got a quick response.
Our guide was Nikola, who was very informative and friendly taking time to speak with as many of us as he could during the walk between different stops.
THe tour went at at a good pace and provided enough detail about each of the sites. Nikola was happy and able to answer all of the groups questions.
We enjoyed listening to him so much, when he said he was conducting the afternoon communism tour, we agreed to go back for more with him.
This tour is paid for, but is very reasonable and takes in different sites.
Both tours were very good and i highly recommend them both 👍
We contacted the company before we travelled to check the free tours were still operating in this covid time. Got a quick response.
Our guide was Nikola, who was very informative and friendly taking time to speak with as many of us as he could during the walk between different stops.
THe tour went at at a good pace and provided enough detail about each of the sites. Nikola was happy and able to answer all of the groups questions.
We enjoyed listening to him so much, when he said he was conducting the afternoon communism tour, we agreed to go back for more with him.
This tour is paid for, but is very reasonable and takes in different sites.
Both tours were very good and i highly recommend them both 👍
Written May 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Franca R
2 contributions
Jun 2022
You cannot leave Sofia without experiencing this! I had this tour on Saturday 11st of June 2022. I reserved online and paid online but you can also show there at the agreed time and place and then pay at the end of the tour.
I joined the group and enjoyed the walking tour A LOT. Dino was my wonderful guide and lead me to discover the past of this fantastic country and how this was and is now for the new generations. He asked all my questions and we had the chance to discuss the role played by Italy during the Cold war.
The walk takes around 3 hours and it is very pleasant as you will hear his stories while witnessing what the places you are seeing and having under your feet experienced for decades. Absolutely wonderful feeling.
I definitely would do again if in Sofia again and I strongly recommend all to do so.
I joined the group and enjoyed the walking tour A LOT. Dino was my wonderful guide and lead me to discover the past of this fantastic country and how this was and is now for the new generations. He asked all my questions and we had the chance to discuss the role played by Italy during the Cold war.
The walk takes around 3 hours and it is very pleasant as you will hear his stories while witnessing what the places you are seeing and having under your feet experienced for decades. Absolutely wonderful feeling.
I definitely would do again if in Sofia again and I strongly recommend all to do so.
Written June 14, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
bowsermania
Chicago/Colorado129 contributions
Obviously, the overwhelmingly positive reviews should be enough to convince you to do at least one of their tours. My review is to thank Ana for her Free Walking Tour and Stefan for guiding the Communist Tour.
Ana is an actress in “real” life, and her enthusiasm and presentation reflect that. She is engaging, participatory, and reflects her passion for this beautiful city. The tour is an excellent way to get a broad introduction to the historic center so that you can make plans for what you might want to spend more time with later. What you don’t see, Ana is happy to tell you about so that you can decide whether it might be something you would want to visit independently.
The Communist Tour starts late in the afternoon, so if your visit isn’t in summer, plan for cooler, darker walking. I think it enhances the mood…. Anyway, Stefan took us to many of the most important remaining symbols of the Communist era, while thoroughly explaining its history from beginning to end. Some very interesting stories most of us were clearly unaware of, as well as personal stories from his childhood and family. Unbiased, unvarnished, thoroughly enjoyable and interesting.
A great way to experience Sofia.
Thanks!
Ana is an actress in “real” life, and her enthusiasm and presentation reflect that. She is engaging, participatory, and reflects her passion for this beautiful city. The tour is an excellent way to get a broad introduction to the historic center so that you can make plans for what you might want to spend more time with later. What you don’t see, Ana is happy to tell you about so that you can decide whether it might be something you would want to visit independently.
The Communist Tour starts late in the afternoon, so if your visit isn’t in summer, plan for cooler, darker walking. I think it enhances the mood…. Anyway, Stefan took us to many of the most important remaining symbols of the Communist era, while thoroughly explaining its history from beginning to end. Some very interesting stories most of us were clearly unaware of, as well as personal stories from his childhood and family. Unbiased, unvarnished, thoroughly enjoyable and interesting.
A great way to experience Sofia.
Thanks!
Written November 10, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Gianpaolo A
4 contributions
Dec 2021 • Friends
Definitely one of the highlights on my Trip to Bulgaria. Guide (Martin? I’m very bad with names) was very knowledgeable and passionate about history and you’ll get to see historic parts of the city you would usually miss. It’s great to hear stories taken from personal experience of his family and friends. Highly recommended
Written January 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Clàudia A
26 contributions
Absolutely loved the experience! It was the best way to get to know Sofia and learn about the Bulgarian history and culture.
Our guide was very fun, well informed, and he made the two hours of the tour fly by. He even gave us a little guide book created by the 365 association with a lot of helpful information to get around the city.
Would definitely repeat! 100% recommendable.
Our guide was very fun, well informed, and he made the two hours of the tour fly by. He even gave us a little guide book created by the 365 association with a lot of helpful information to get around the city.
Would definitely repeat! 100% recommendable.
Written October 30, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Mags M
6 contributions
Nov 2022 • Solo
That was very peaceful and informative walk around the city. Really appreciate those young ones who are very eager to promote and inform both locals and tourists more on their history and their country as a whole. Well done and keep it up!
Written November 27, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Kim M
Walnut Creek, CA116 contributions
Sep 2022
We took the free Communist Walking Tour of Sofia with Stefan and were riveted by his anecdotes about life under Socialist rule. Then, the clouds broke and a downpour caused us to take a break and retrieve our umbrellas. When we returned to the designated continuation spot for the last hour of the tour, there were no signs of our group. We haven't forgotten about finding a way to compensate Stefan and/or 365 for his excellent presentation. We'd hoped to stay for the duration and learn more about the NDK complex.
Written November 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Razvan Catuneanu
1 contribution
Jul 2022 • Couples
The whole tour was an awesome experience. Martin, the tour guide, was such a nice guy, full of energy and great story teller. We enjoyed a lot and we recommend this tour for anybody who wants to discover a bit of Bulgaria’s history.
Written July 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Hi, I'll be in Sofia the week of March 14th and am interested in going on the communist walking tour. What time(s) do the tour(s) start each day?
Steven
London10 contributions
4pm. Do it. It’s incredible!!!
Brigitte L
Vienna, Austria
Sind die Führungen auch auf Deutsch?
karl z
Olten, Switzerland15 contributions
Soweit ich weiss, hat es mit eingeschränkten Tagen bzw Zeiten auch Führungen in andern Sprachen als Englisch. Ob Deutsch dazugehört, weiss ich vor allem deshalb nicht, weil ich von vornherein auf Englisch aus bin wegen der dichteren Verfügbarkeit und dem internationaleren meist weitgereisten Publikum.
Dreamer11641351995
Belfast, UK
Can I book on this with 3 children aged 11,13 and 15 - all would be able to cope with the length of the tour and the content. Thank you
Jan602016
Essex, UK30 contributions
There would be no problem booking with 3 children. It’s a fascinating tour and the 3 hours seem to pass quickly. We had a short break about half way through. I am sure you will all enjoy it.
MealsandBoon
London, UK2 contributions
What time does it start and finish?
Stephen R
United Kingdom118 contributions
The tour I did lasted about 3 hours and started around 2pm I think but you need to check with the agent you use.
59Indiana59
Mutxamel, Spain16 contributions
Es en español?
Rodolfo C
La Plata, Argentina44 contributions
No vi que lo ofrecieran. El inglés del guía que nos Yoco es cristalino. Muy bueno
Blanche
Paris, France7 contributions
Hello!
We leave Sofia at the end of this day.
Is there a possibility to do this communist tour this morning or at the beginning of the afternoon?
If not I will regret it because I am sure it would be Interesting
Anne
Blanche
Paris, France7 contributions
Hello!
We leave Sofia at the end of this day.
Is there a possibility to do this communist tour this morning or at the beginning of the afternoon?
If not I will regret it because I am sure it would be Interesting
Anne
Will we learn also more about the main sights of Sofia (churches, mosques, synagogues) on this Tour? And will we have the Chance to visit them / see them from the inside?
