NEW! Princesse Outlet: On Malinov Boulevard in Mladost 4 next tot the hit supermarket: a complex with outlet stores (about six already open and apparently more to come), bowling, games for children and a bar. Opened in November 2007

Supermarkets

Not all big supermarket chains have found their way into Bulgaria, but a few German and Austrian chains are well represented in Sofia. In or close to most supermarkets you will mostly find a pharmacy, a bank, a dry cleaner and some other small shops.

Billa

Billa is open from Monday till Saturday from 8am till 10 pm, on Sunday from 9 am till 9 pm. They don’t carry many foreign brands, but that’s not why you came to Sofia anyway, did you? Billa supermarkets are situated on the following addresses:

Billa Motopista,Bulgaria Boulevard 55

Billa Slavia, Sofijski Geroj street

Billa Liulin, Tsaritsa Joanna Boulevard 72

Billa Mladost, Boulevard Alexander Malinov

Billa Nadejda, Lomsko Shosse

Billa Ilinden, Opeltchenska Boulevard

HIT

Hit is a German chain with two addresses in Sofia. The supermarkets are somewhat bigger than Billa and they carry a slightly larger choice with more household items, toys,... The opening hours are 8 am till 10pm seven days a week.

Hit Mladost, Malinov Boulevard 75

Hit Ljulin, Obelsko Shosse 20

Kaufland

Another German chain that looks more like a discounter though they carry also well known brands. The choice of household items and appliances is larger than in HIT. The supermarkets are open from Monday till Saturday from 7am till 10pm, on Sunday from 8am till 9 pm.

Kaufland Drujba, Boulevard Republica 60

Kaufland Mladost, Filip Arvamov street 3

Elemag (in full Elemag Gourmet)

A chain of smaller supermarkets specializing in luxury food products and with a very nice meat counter. They are situated in Lozenets (Zlatovrag and Kozak street) and in Igrev (Elemag street)

Fantastico

Supermarket chain with a lot of small shops and a few larger supermarkets. Over 20 locations in Sofia.

Picadilly

Bulgarian chain with only two locations in Sofia, in two shopping malls: City Center Sofia and Mall of Sofia. They are open from 9am till 10pm 7 days a week.

Metro

Metro supermarkets belong to the same chain as Makro in Belgium and Holland and Metro in Germany. Their target market are self employed and companies and you need a member card to get in. For security reasons children younger than 7 are not allowed.

Electro

It is amazing how many very large stores with electric appliances there are in Sofia. They sell everything under one roof : fridges, car stereo’s, televisions, pc’s,….

Technomarket

All information on their site in English and Bulgarian: http://www.technomarket.bg/

Densi (Denci)

Studentski Grad, Boulevard Mladenov 90

Mladost, Boulevard Malinov, in the Hit supermarket

Ljulin, Boulevard Obelsko Shosse

Boulevard Gotshe Deltchev

Technopolis

Beyond doubt the biggest store. The address is Sofia Business Park 1715 in Mladost 4 (the store is close to the ring road actually just outside the business park. They don’t only sell all electric appliances, but you can also buy gifts, perfumes, fitness equipment and many other things.

Shopping Malls

 There are 4 major shopping malls in Sofia...and more to come

Tzum is the oldest and the only mall in the center of the city, at the begiining of Maria Louisa Boulevard, next to the Sheraton hotel. It is open from Monday till Saturday from 10am till 21pm and on Sunday from 11am till 8pm. Most stores represent expensive brands, but the fact that it is less crowded than the other malls makes it a nice place to visit.

City Center Sofia is situated on Arsenalski Boulevard. Some 100 stores going from discounters to well known fashion houses. There is also a cinema and a Picadilly supermarket.

Mall of Sofia is on Alexander Stamboliiski Boulevard. Over 100 shops and also a supermarket.

Sky City is not easy to find on Kosta Lulchev street in the Geo Milev area. Sky city is open from 10am till 10pm, the Fantastico supermarket from 7:30am till 10pm.

Shopping streets

Everywhere in the city you will find shopping streets, small shopping malls and shopping booths, mostly concentrated around the bigger bus stations.

The major shopping streets are in the city center.

Graf Ignatiev street  is one big shopping street starting under Vassil Levski Boulevard at the crossing with Evlogi Georgiev Boulevard to end close to Vitosha Boulevard. The part between Vassil Levski Boulevard and Rakovski street is closed for cars. The cheapest shops are between Evlogi Georgiev Boulevard and Vassil Levski Boulevard: shoes, cloths, a shop with imitation women’s bags, an old shop selling a few thousand different buttons and a shop called Sofi: they specialize in large sizes for men’s clothing (up to 8XL).

The closer you get to Vitosha Boulevard the more expensive the stores are (you don’t need much imagination with a store called “Expensive”). In the stretch between Vassil Levski and Rakovski there is also a market with vegetables and fruit. The quality is mostly better than in the supermarket, but beware of the prices: you won’t be the first tourist buying a banana for 7 Leva.

After the crossing with Rakovski street, walking in the direction of Vitosha Boulevard, you cross Salveikov square, with the well known book market. Unfortunately the book market is so popular since so many years that it is hardly possible to find something original or cheap. Most of the books for sale here, are also available in the two big book stores on Graf Ignatiev street.

Rakovski street: most stores are situated between Graf Ignatiev street and Patriarch Evtemii Boulevard. Also a few luxury decoration stores.

Vitosha Boulevard: is the biggest and most famous shopping street of Sofia. Clothing from famous brands, clothing sicounts, very many perfumeries, shoe stores, gift shops, a few restaurants and more.  From Nedelia square till Patriarch Evtemii Boulevard the street is closed for cars.

Prices are similar to other European cities but you may find a good price in the Zara outlet or in the oulet department of Morgan.

Pirotska street: just in front of Tzum, next to the Halli on Maria Louiza boulevard: the only real pedestrian street of Sofia (all others have trams driving through) with the feel of the Sofia of the nineties. Small stores in an old fashioned setting. Maybe you will find here what you did not find in one of the brand name stores on Vitosha.

NDK is the national palace of culture: concert and exposition hall at the end of Vassil Levski Boulevard, in a park next to Vitosha Boulevard. Under NDK (take one of the stairs in fron of the building at the side of Vitosha Boulevard a nice fountain is hidden, but also a small shopping mall with dozens of shops: small boutiques carrying some original (and less original) items. If you descend the stairs that lead you even further under the ground you end up in a kind of clothing market with small booths. The neon lights and the absolute lack of any form of decoration give you the feeling to walk around in another era.

Tsar Simeon street crosses Hristo Botev Boulevard and Maria Louisa Boulevard and is divided in three different parts: above  Hristo Botev boulevard are the stores with car parts, between Hristo Botev and the Women’s market shops with local and Turkish made underwear, and between the market and Maria Louisa Boulevard oriental, mostly Turkish shops, with clothes, food and decoration objects.

 Markets

There are open air markets everywhere in Sofia. Sometimes just a few booths selling fruit and nuts, sometimes a real market selling about everything.

De Women’s market: take a left turn on Slyvnitsa Boulevard at the end of Maria Louisa Boulevard, just in front of Levov Most (Lion’s Bridge). The mrket is on your left side on Stefan Stambolov Boulevard and you can literally buy everything: vegetables, fruits, shoes, cloths, tools,…

Close to the Roumanian embassy there is a market selling only fruits and vegetables.

The vegetables and fruits market on Graf Ignatiev street (see also above)

The tourist market in front of Alaxander Nevski Church (souvenirs, second hand stuff, war souvenirs, imitation watches and more.)

The Hali (Halls) on the corner of Pirotska Street and Maria Louisa Boulevard. This is a kind of covered market in a nicely restored building with fixed booths or shops selling cloths, household items, fruits and vegetables. There are also e few butchers and bakeries and a liquor shop.

Iliantsi in the Iliantsi district is everything at the same time: an open air market, a covered market, a mall. Hundred of booths and shops in different surroundings: open air, a real shopping mall, an Asiatic market with very narrow passages. Very often two prices are mentioned: one for individual purchases and one for multiple items, as the market also serves as a wholesale center for the many small shops of Sofia and surroundings. If you like shopping, Iliantsi will take a full day to visit.