Sofia can be a beautiful city in one direction with spectacular Byzantine architecture, and in the other an ugly place of soviet monstrosities that really should have been thought about before they were built after the destruction rained down on the city during the Second World War.
Some of the best attractions still standing, and well worth visiting are the Alexander Nevski Church, and Sveta Nedelya Cathedral. The national museum has a good collection of artefacts from the region's long history, while the galleries of the city host exhibitions optimistically described as interesting.
During the long hot summer, the gardens of Ploschtad Blatenburg are a pleasant place to spend the afternoon relaxing, and have been immeasurably improved since the Bulgarian government decided to remove the spectacularly unpleasant mausoleum dedicated to former Prime Minister Georgi Dimitrov in the mid nineties.
