Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, gets a bit of a bad rap in comparison to other cities in Eastern Europe. It lacks a scenic riverfront to walk along and enjoy. Thanks to the unimaginative grey-brown communist apartment blocks that fill the inner city after widespread destruction during World War II, vast sections of the city appear very drab and monotonous. It can be hard to tell one street from the other. Many of the footpaths are so filled with broken tiles you may start to wonder if you've taken a wrong corner on one of the uniform streets and ended up back in Asia.

But some of the streets and buildings are just breath-taking. I've yet to visit a city that has so many gorgeous temples and churches. Every second corner seems to house a church, each one not just a building but a work of art.  Alexandar Nevski Cathedral is the most well know and it's breath-taking (photo above) but even the 'smaller' churches are still fabulous. The pre-communist era buildings that remain are grand, ornate and make one feel about the size of a dwarf walking past them.

If you are travelling around southern-eastern Europe or just passing through on your way to Greece or Turkey, there's a pretty good chance your path will take you through Sofia. It's a transport hub for the area. And if you have the time, Sofia is definitely worth stopping for a few days. It might not steal your heart the way Prague or Belgrade does but we really enjoyed Sofia. The people of Sofia are amazingly friendly. In summer there are stunning parks with great playgrounds. In winter there is ice skating and the fabulous indoor playground of Capella Play a The Mall (not the Mall of Sofia, just 'The Mall'). Just outside the city on Vitosha mountain there are gorgeous little towns, hiking, skiing and forest to play in.

It's also an easy place to get around with children - taxis are very cheap and trams are easy to navigate. But of course the best way to enjoy the gorgeous buildings is to take a walk.

DIY Sofia Walking Tour

There are a lot of great walking tours in Sofia. Hostel Mostel, where we stayed, has a fabulous free map that outlines them all.

During our first visit there Colin took the kids one morning so I could wander the city with my camera. My path - from Sveta Nedelia Square down Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard to Alexander Nevski Cathedral. From Alexander Nevski Cathedral I wandered the side streets to Graf Ignatiev Street and walked back through the fruit and book markets to the main shopping area. The walk took a few hours as I was stopping a lot to take photos. You could do it with kids as there are plenty of coffee shops, restaurants and of course the markets along the way.

I was lucky enough to be exploring on the last sunny winter's day before it started snowing in Sofia. And here's what I saw:

St Nedelya Church

Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard

Church of St George

Considered to be the oldest building in Sofia, this 4th Century church is hidden inside the Sheraton hotel at the start of Tsar Osvoboitel. Well worth stepping inside to see.

Archeology Museum, inside Sofia's oldest Ottoman Mosque

Ruska Pravoslavna Tsarkva

This Russian Church was one of the smallest churches I saw in Sofia, but it's not far behind Alexander Nevski for awe-inspiring beauty.

Alexander Nevski

This building is enough to make any art history student or architect weep. It's pretty impressive and well worth going inside to see the ceiling and the giant candelabra suspended from the dome. Sadly no photos allowed inside.

Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church

Street Markets

Being winter decent fruit was a little hard to find in Sofia, but the fruit markets were fantastic.

OK now I'm going to cheat a little - I didn't make it past these buildings on my walk but saw them the next day, covered in snow. Definitely worth the detour. They should be at the start of the walking tour but it snowed overnight so there's no way I can hide the face that I'm cheating ... so here they are at the end.

Bayan Bashi Mosque

Church of St Petka

The second oldest building we saw in our walks around Sofia was the 6th Century Church of St Petka. It's now half hidden in a underpass between two lanes of road.

I hope you enjoyed this Photo Friday walk around Sofia.