Must-See Plovdiv Day Tour from Sofia

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Sofia, Bulgaria

High interest

Booked 5+ times today.

9 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Getting an in-depth experience of Plovdiv from Sofia in a day is tricky, but on this full-day tour, explore Bulgaria’s second city with a guide. Travel in a shuttle bus from Sofia and learn about the history of Plovdiv on a sightseeing tour through the city with your guide. Afterwards, take time to explore independently before returning to Sofia.

Travel comfortably in a shuttle bus from Sofia
Learn about Plovdiv from your guide
Take time to explore the city independently
Stroll through Plovdiv’s historical center

What's Included

Group tour
Transportation
Guided sightseeing tour in the heart of Plovdiv (if option booked)
English - speaking driver or guide, depending on the booked option.

Food and drinks
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Sofia Center, bul. "Yanko Sakazov" 7, 1527 Sofia, Bulgaria
The meeting point for the tour is Vasil Levski Monument, Yanko Sakuzov Blvd 7 Ask for travel agency City Tour. Please be there at 8:15am. The bus departs at 08:30 am and will not wait for you if you are late.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Vasil Levski Monument

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Plovdiv Old Town

5 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Vasil Levski Monument

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Rough terrain- please wear comfortable walking shoes
Please warn us if you have a 0-2 years old baby when you make the reservation so that we can prepare a special seat for them

For the safety and enjoyment of all guests, anyone who appears intoxicated or behaves in a way that makes guides uncomfortable may be removed from the tour. No refunds will be issued in such cases.
The expected departure from Plovdiv to Sofia is 3:30 pm. The expected return in Sofia is at 5:20 - 6:00 pm.
In rare cases, if fewer than 3 participants select the same guided language (English, Italian, or Spanish), the tour will be conducted with an audio guide or smart guide instead of a live guide. This will not affect the price or the overall tour itinerary as described in your reservation.
Guides are not obligated to provide guided commentary while inside the bus. Explanations and guided tours typically take place at designated stops and attractions rather than during transit.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

travel_a

We had a lovely trip with Iva. The tour was punctual and the bus to Plovdiv was comfortable. There was a bakery near the starting location which made it easy to grab something to eat before the trip started. There was a bathroom break around 10 minutes before we reached Plovdiv. We had a nice guided tour in Plovdiv, where Iva explained the history behind each of the attractions. After the guided tour, we had some time to explore the city on our own and grab lunch. Iva also gave us restaurant recommendations. The return trip also started on time. All in all, it was a great tour and Iva was a lovely guide. Plovdiv is an amazing city with a lot of interesting historical attractions, which can easily be explored for a day or two. Can totally recommend this tour for people who only have limited time to explore the city.

Reviews

4.5

based on 318 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

We had a lovely trip with...

travel_a, Mar 2026

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you for the wonderful feedback! We're delighted Iva's lovely guidance, punctual schedule, comfortable bus, thoughtful stops, and restaurant tips made your Plovdiv day trip—exploring its amazing history—perfect for limited time. Hope to welcome you back soon! City Tour Team

Worth Visiting Old Houses

Jun_Z, Mar 2026

Went in a light rain. The old town looks ok. The old houses are similar in style. It is a place worth visiting. The guide Pavel did a good job, bringing us to many sites and explained some histories.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thank you for the great feedback! Pavel's good job guiding you through many sites and sharing histories made your old town visit worthwhile, even in light rain. Hope to welcome you back soon! City Tour Team

Fantastic relaxed tour

Ruth_B, Mar 2026

Alrxander was fantastic and very patient. Very knowledgeable too, we learned loads of interesting facts

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you for the fantastic feedback! Alexander's patience and wealth of interesting facts made your tour truly enriching. Hope to welcome you back soon! City Tour Team

Lovely trip

Sandy_C, Feb 2026

it was a very lovely trip, I enjoyed the city itself. Very peaceful and cute town. Our guide is Caroline, and she explained many histories of the city, which is amazing. I fully fell in love with the city

Response from Host, Feb 2026

Thank you for the wonderful review! Caroline will be delighted by your praise for her city history insights and how Plovdiv's peaceful, cute charm won you over. Hope to roll out more like it for you! City Tour Team

Enjoyable day

Walter_S, Feb 2026

Great day excurtion to Plovdiv, on time,informative guide, very interesting historical place to visit.

Response from Host, Feb 2026

Thank you for the wonderful review! Our guide will be delighted by your praise for the on-time excursion, informative insights, and Plovdiv's fascinating history. Hope to roll out more like it for you! City Tour Team

An amazing walk through Plovdiv history

Srishti_M, Feb 2026

Tuni was a great guide, giving a lot of information and helpful tips! The tour started on time and since we were only 7 people, the guide took a small traveller van and was flexible with the plan.

Response from Host, Feb 2026

Thank you for the wonderful review! Tuni will be delighted by your praise for his info, tips, punctuality, and flexible small-van approach with just 7 guests. Hope to roll out more like it for you! City Tour Team

A very worthwhile day trip from Sofia

Julianna_C, Jan 2026

Very informative tour! Sonya was very kind and knowledgable as she is a Plodviv local. We had a great time walking around the city, getting the best views, and having free time to explore.

Response from Host, Feb 2026

Thank you for the fantastic review! Sonya, our Plovdiv local, will love hearing how her kindness and knowledge made your walking tour, views, and free time so enjoyable. Hope to see you for more Bulgarian gems soon! City Tour Team

Lovely

Richard_G, Dec 2025

Seamless operation. The local guide is bit shy. Free time is adequate for a quick bite plus a visit to the ancient theatre.

Beautiful city wrong guide

Tanny_L, Dec 2025

The city is beautiful with rich history lists of sites, beautiful and festive blvd. But the guiide was very tired. 2 hrs on the bus he did nothing. We were bored. I would recommed this tur with another guide.

Plovdiv Day Trip

Anonymous, Dec 2025

It was an interesting day out, the guide was very knowledgeable, good amount of time to go out and explore + shop on your own! overall great value for money

OK day out but not a huge amount to experience.

Jonathan_G, Dec 2025

This trip is fine if you have echausted Sofia (we we think we did in a pretty full day) and could a day of relative down time. There is 4 hours of travelling (tbh we appreciated the chance to catch up on sleep) and, be warned, much walking up/down steepish roads and quite tricky/slippy pathways. Beyond the initial Roman ruins and some moderately elegant Bulgarian Renaissance buildings (we were listening Maria!) the sights were a bit sparse. Found it difficult to fill the 2.5 hours of free time even with the need to get lunch. Call out to Maria who - as most tour leaders - did a grand job of injecting energy and commentary and couldn't be faulted. I guess this a comment on what there is to see in Plovdiv than on the management of the tour.

Nice houses

Clarisa_Y, Nov 2025

I think it was good to have someone explain Plodviv who actually lives there. I also liked having some free time to explore the city on our own.

This was great. They were...

Gisele_L, Nov 2025

This was great. They were on time, we had a nice tour and I just loved the city. I wish I could have stayed one night there, as I discovered Plovdiv is a very nice town.

Beautiful Plovdiv tour

michael_m, Nov 2025

Plovdiv is an amazing city and it was a great tour. The tour guide was very informative and seemed okay but I was on crutches as I had a knee injury and he didn’t really wait for me when moving from one site to the next. There’s a lot of walking to do and it was all done too fast.

Good trip well worth a...

phillip_m, Nov 2025

Good trip well worth a visit, the bus journey was 2hr and the guide informative...had plenty of time to explore the city after the tour by ourselves.

Nice day tour to Plovdiv with Diana

Tamas_S, Oct 2025

Departure was on time, Diana, the tour guide was really nice and helpful. On the way back, already close to the capital city, water started dripping over the front seats, then it splashed on some of the passengers. Fortunately, there were still unoccupied rear seats, so they could manage to move to the back of the coach.

An interesting tour despite the weather.

CHAIM_S, Oct 2025

The day of the trip was rainy, but despite everything, the guide was excellent and explained the history of the city to us well.

Really good. Excellent...

Karen_S, Sep 2025

Really good. Excellent guide. Safe driver. Interesting commentary. Steady pace and just enough free time to explore

We took one look at the tiny van and left

Nathan_A, Sep 2025

We took one look at the tiny van for the tour and left. Tour’s from Sofia require long trips - 1.5 to 2 hours each way. Naturally the tour operator wants to “pack ‘em’ in”. The prospect of a long trip in the middle seat of a small car was not acceptable.

Very interesting visit

Luis_M, Aug 2025

Plovdiv is a great historic place. We used almost the full day, and visit is quite well organized. On top of this, the guidance of María was great, very friendly and professional.

Very good, Tuni was very...

Thomas_G, Aug 2025

Very good, Tuni was very knowledgeable. Plovdiv has a lovely old town, with plenty of historical buildings.

Do it in cooler weather!

Marianna_O, Jul 2025

Plovdiv is absolutely stunning! Our tour guide, Tuni, was fantastic - he really went above and beyond to make sure everyone was comfortable. He managed the pace perfectly, including bathroom breaks, and did a brilliant job of showing us all the amazing sights and sharing the city's rich history. He even gave us some great lunch recommendations! We had a small group, which made the whole experience really nice and personal. The only suggestion l'd offer is to try and go when the weather's a bit cooler. Honestly, it was scorching hot while we were there - so hot that it was hard to fully appreciate how beautiful Plovdiv is when you're hot drenched in sweat! Just a heads-up: like most walking tours, there's a fair bit of walking on uneven and sometimes steep paths. Definitely wear comfortable shoes and light, breathable clothing (linen's a great choice!), hat, sunnies, sunscreen plus an umbrella. Oh water as well! Even with that, the heat was intense! FYI-We were on a small van- even with the air conditioning on, it was very warm for everyone on the way back home.

No AC, no water.frizer used by driver only and didn share with..........

Artavazd_M, Jul 2025

The worth travel ever....didnt like the guide at all..he was not good with behavour....in the bus was so hot, that one of the passangers need help

Plovdiv

sylwia_z, Jun 2025

They changed the time of departure do may times it was annoying They text urgent msg to be at 8:30am And it supose to be 9 AM.. But we finally left after9... Bus had old AC it wasnt comfortable Plovdiv was amazing (good we walked three Alonę)

What a pleasure to sit in...

Patrick_M, Jun 2025

What a pleasure to sit in the theater that Marcus Aurelius once sat and know you can now see concerts there. Also, where else can you go to an H+M and see Roman ruins?

Plodivic,#2025

Stephanie_V, Jun 2025

We really enjoyed our day trip in Plodivic , our driver was very polite . He gave us some information during the way .

It's meh.

lia_A, Jun 2025

It's overall an 'okayish' at best experience. Bus delayed due to traffic and we would not allowed to go into Amitheateer becuz there was gonna be a concert held that that location. Another museum were closed that day due to wutwver reasons. Honestly thr experience wasn't that great, will not recommend

Great things to see, just rushed

ERIC_E, Jun 2025

The town was beautiful and the sights were great. As far as a location it is a 5 star. The tour portion gets low stars. After a 2 hour drive you get out and receive a 30 minute talk about the city history. Normally this would be interesting. However your time in the city is very short. Averaging 3-4 minutes at each stop. The first 30 minutes would have been better spread across the walking tour locations.

There is so much history...

WH_B, Jun 2025

There is so much history in Plovdiv. The Old Town is excellent. Our guide - Raliza - was well informed and very friendly.

Nice tour with to...

Grigori_T, May 2025

Nice tour with to Plovdiv. We used option with live guide. Live guide need to practice more and talk louder (or use portable acoustics). Bus was very old but ok. Plovdiv is great, you need to check it for sure. Tour was good for the price.