Plovdiv city guide.pdf

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PLOVDIV

Autumn 2008

International

Plovdiv Fair

29 September –

04 October 2008

The Old Town

A crossroad of cultures

No 1

www.inyourpocket.com

Enjoy your

COMPLIMENTARY

COPY

of Plovdiv

In Your Pocket

Autumn 2008

Contents

ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES

Contents

Arriving in Plovdiv

Touching down

The Basics

Essential reading for those not sure where

they are

History

Introducing Plovdiv

How the past has shaped the present

Keeping in touch

Let your Mum know how you are

Culture & Events

Autumn Salon of the Arts, Plovdiv 2008

Where to stay 15

Places to recharge the batteries and catch up

on your beauty sleep

Dining & Nightlife

Restaurants

Where to wine and dine

Cafés

Feed the addiction

Nightlife 40

Enough to keep any pub crawlers on their hands

and knees

What to see

The Old Town map

Getting around

Making sense of transport

Directory

Shopping

Go on a spree

Health & Lifestyle

Prevention is better than cure

Sports

Time for fitness

Business

Oligarchs anonymous

Maps & Index

Street index

Index

City map

City centre map

Bulgaria map

Autumn 2008

foreWord

Plovdiv is Bulgaria‘s second largest city after Sofia and

definitely less stressful.

During the summer it is not just hot it is HOT. Plovdivians

have their local wisdom in the following sentence “Gusto

maina Filibeto, ogin pada ot nibeto” “Hey dude, it is nice

in Plovdiv, but fire falls from the sky”.

Spring (April, May and mid-June) and autumn (mid-Sep-

tember, October) are the best off-season months (except

for the few International Fair days in mid May and end of

September). This is the best time to visit as the weather

is good and not too hot or too cold. The cultural venues,

theaters, concert halls, etc. are in full swing and let’s not

forget the off-season rates.

Plovdiv is one of the most appealing cities in Bulgaria and

the Balkans with its first foundations laid here between

6 - 80 0 0 yea rs a go th u s maki n g i t ol d er th a n Rom e or eve n

B ei ji n g. Pl ovdi v i s a grea t c om bi na ti on o f real h i s tori cal a n d

a rc h e ol ogi c al treasu re s wi th th e l i vel i n e s s o f a m o d ern ci t y

and great cultural and night life. The most visited and ad-

mi re d i s th e h ill y Ol d Town, b uil t on th re e h ill s call e d tep eta.

Th e maze o f cobbled streets which meander th e area and

contain the cuddled up revival houses with their colourful

façades and ornate decoration don’t fail to impress and

take you back in time. Read more on page 30.

Th e m od ern par t o f th e ci t y c entre is buil t al on g th e mai n

p e d e s tria n s tre et s ta r ti n g a t th e C e n tral S q ua re ( Pl osh ta d

Centralen) and passing along Dzhumaya Dzhamia just

next to the Old Town on the west. This long street runs

past all kinds of monuments, fountains, the ruins of the

Roman stadium, shops, restaurants and cafés all the

way to River Maritsa. This is the liveliest part of the city

and especially in the evening it seems like the whole

population has gathered here, strolling up and down.

Th e streets between th e centre and th e train station are

also something not to miss. The buildings here have not

been restored as in the Old Town and the architecture

is closer to the capitals’ Sofia feel, but they also hold

their charm.

Don’t miss out on climbing the hills of Plovdiv, the views

you can enjoy from their tops are amazing. Read more

on page 10.

Plovdiv is also famous for the International Trade Fairs

conducted for already 63 years, for 5 days in mid May

and at the end of September. During these few days the

city welcomes an additional 150-160 000 people so

accommodation is hard to find and rates are obviously

more expensive. Read more on page 45.

Europe In Your Pocket

With the launch of Moscow In Your Pocket now

imminent, check out what we have to offer in the

Russian capital at www.inyourpocket.com: the full

content of Moscow IYP is now online. There are

also online guides to Sarajevo and Banja Luka,

Bosnia to enjoy, ahead of print editions to both

cities, to be launched in October and November.

Elsewhere, Glasgow In Your Pocket is in the

final throes of preparation: expect the guide to

hit newsstands before Christmas.

The biggest news of all though at In Your Pocket

is our new, much improved website, coming soon

to public beta. Check it out at beta.inyourpocket.

com , and let us know what you think via email:e-

ditor@inyourpocket.com is our address.

ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES

Editorial

Editor-in-chief Steven MacAulay

Assistant Editor Vesela Lyudskanova

Research Angel Ivanov, Petya Racheva,

Veronica de Boer, Vesela Lyudskanova

Layout & Design Krassimir Apostolov

Photos Petya Racheva, Veronica de Boer,

Vesela Lyudskanova

Cover Veronica de Boer

Sales & Circulation

Publisher Discover Bulgaria Ltd.

General Manager Veronica de Boer

Marketing Manager and PR Petya Racheva

Sales & Circulation Vesela Lyudskanova

Available from Airports – Burgas, Varna,

Plovdiv and Sofia, airline companies, rent-

a-cars, hotels, bars, restaurants, business

centres, shopping malls, foreign embassies

and international forums. To order your copy

online visit www.inyourpocket.com

Text and photos copyright Discover Bul-

garia Ltd. – Bulgaria In Your Pocket 2008.

Maps copyright cartographer. All rights

reserved. No part of this publication may

be reproduced in any form, except brief

extracts for the purpose of review, with-

out written permission from the publish-

er and copyright owner. The brand name

In Your Pocket is used under license from

UAB In Your Pocket (Vokieciu 10-15, Vilnius,

Lithuania tel. (+370-5) 212 29 76.

Editor’s note

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guides is independent from paid-for

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clearly marked as such. We welcome all

readers’ comments and suggestions.

We have made every effort to ensure

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responsibility for changes and errors.

Plovdiv In Your Pocket

Mladost 4, bl. 473, vh. 2-3,

pristroika, parter

(opposite the Business Park)

1715 Sofia, Bulgaria

tel.: + 359 2 881 01 02

fax: + 359 2 881 53 32

bulgaria@inyourpocket.com

www.inyourpocket.com

Printed by Infopress Group Bulgaria

Published 2 times per year

15 000 copies

Plovdiv In Your Pocket

arriVing in ploVdiV

With points of arrival characterized by confusing signs,

most of which in Cyrillic, and staff who only speak English

if they feel like it, your first five minutes in Plovdiv can often

feel like landfall on a faraway planet. A healthy mixture of

patience and good humour should be enough to set you

on your way.

Message from the Mayor

Dear citizens and guests

of Plovdiv,

Plovdiv is a city with his-

tory and traditions of long

standing – it is one of the

oldest cities in Europe

and indeed the oldest

city in Bulgaria. Today it

successfully interlaces

the spirit of the past and

its European present and

future.

Plovdiv is a city on the

crossroad between the East and the West. That is the

reason why the people, who have come from far away,

become enchanted by what they see. The monuments

of culture are almost 200, including the Ancient Theatre

of the old Philippopolis, the Roman Stadium, the Nebet

tepe Archaeological Complex, the old Plovdiv... And along

with the antiquities are the renovated city centre, the Row

canal, the International Fair in Plovdiv, the green areas for

recreation and amusement of the citizens and guests of

Plovdiv. These places are well known even abroad.

I am convinced that everyone, who has visited the city

once, will keep coming back enchanted by the spirit of

Plovdiv, by the hospitality of the old houses and southern

temperament of the local citizens. Anyone, who has been

in contact with Plovdiv, falls in love with the city for ever.

And for us, the citizens of Plovdiv, it is a privilege to be

a part of the spirit of this unique place, hidden between

the seven hills in the Valley of Maritsa River.

By bus

Central Bus Station Yug, H-2, bul. Hristo Botev 47,

tel. 62 69 37, www.hebrosbus.com, www.avtogari.

info. International buses arrive and depart from the central

bus station on bul. Hristo Botev 47. Facilities include ticket

offices, cafés and restaurant, 24 hour left-luggage office

(garderob-1Lv) in the main passenger’s hall.

Getting to town: Taxis are always on hand and can take

you to the city centre for approximately 3-4Lv. Buses No

1, 7, 11, 18, 20 and minibuses No 4, 8 will also get you to

the centre. By foot, go straight along bul. Hristo Botev and

then turn to the left along bul. Tsar Boris III. It will take you

approximately 15-20 min.

By car

Plovdiv is since historical times the centre point of various

cross roads.

Coming from Sofia you take the A1 on which you are blessed

wi th a b ou t 137 kil om eters o f relati vel y good h i gh way. D epar t-

ing from northern Greece you can take the mountainous route

86. You cross the border at Asenovgrad and keep on driving

north until you reach Plovdiv.

In case you come from Turkey take the highway E80 to Svi-

lengrad via Edirne (Odrin) going on via Harmanli and Haskovo

Plovdiv is just ahead.

Burgas-Plovdiv (270km) should be done via the E773/E871

provincial until after Stara Zagora. Do not miss tiny exits with

written София (Sofia) on it!

Parking in Plovdiv is generally less difficult than in Sofia. Traf-

fic jams are also less even during rush hours and drivers a

little bit more tolerable than the Sofia nervous bunch, so you

will not hear too much honking of car horns like in Sofia.

Welcome to our city !

Slavcho Atanasov

Mayor of Plovdiv

Street smarts

By plane

Plovdiv International Airport (Letishte Plovdiv) , K-8 ,

often referred to as Plovdiv Krumovo Airport, is located

12km southeast of the city centre on the main highway

Plovdiv-Asenovgrad. It has one terminal and is specialized in

servicing charter passenger flights for the Bulgarian moun-

tain ski resorts (Pamporovo - 60km, Borovetz - 90km and

Bansko 163km) during the winter period from December to

April. During the period May to November there are hardly

any passenger flights, except for landings of aircraft originally

destined to Sofia airport. The capital is some 150km away,

via A1 (Trakiya) highway. There is only one café.

Getting to town: the only way to get to town is by taxi, ap-

proximately 15 min. The fare to town should not cost more

than 20-30Lv (€10-15). Make sure you check the sticker

on the windscreen indicating the rates in BGN. Charges are

supposed to be metered and since this is an out of town

course the driver switches the meter on exiting Plovdiv, so

you pay 1 and ½ fare.

There are no regular buses except for the pick-up services

of hotels or travel companies.

The railway stop of Plovdiv-Asenovgrad trains is about 1 km

from the airport’s terminal.

Plovdiv Airport provides bus transport for the passengers of

all international carriers in case of irregularity, when Plovdiv

Airport is used as an alternative airport of Sofia Airport or

any other Bulgarian airport.

Street Улица (ул.) Ulitsa (ul.)

Square Площад (пл.) Ploshtad (pl.)

Boulevard Булевард (бул.) Boulevard (bul.)

Highway Магистрала Magistrala

Bridge Мост Most

By train

Plovdiv`s Central Station (Tsentralna gara), H-2, open

24hours, is located on the south side of the centre of Plovdiv.

There is a luggage office (garderob), just inside the station

left of the information desk. It is open 24 hours and the fee is

2Lv per item for 24 hours. The station has special facilities for

disabled people. The central pedestrian street Ivan Vazov will

lead you to the centre of the city - pl. Tsentralen, the Central

Post Office as well as the Trimonzium Hotel. The cheapest

way to get to the other parts of the city is either by walking

or by taking buses No 9, 29, 44, 99 or minibus No 3, 5, 16,

19 from the bus stop, just from the same street.

 The Plovdiv

telephone code is: 032

Autumn 2008

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