After much agonising, I have finally decided how I will be travelling to Bulgaria. Below is some of the pros and cons of each option and the real reasons why I came to my decision.
Rail Inter railing from London to Bulgaria.
This sounds like the obvious choice, it’s green and genuinely well exciting, but it is also costly and time-consuming – I’d need to be ready to leaving a week – two weeks earlier than planned depending on the route. Though a sleep train from Paris to Vienna then to Budapest was incredibly tempting in the end I realised I’ve got way to much planning to do before I leave! The journey without stops would have taken over 48 hours. Since I’m only working 2.5 days a week whilst in Bulgaria I wanted to save all my travelling for when I’m there.
Plane via a reasonable airline.
Most reasonable airlines such as British Airways etc. fly to Sofia, but not to Plovdiv, which is about two hours outside Sofia by bus. However, with the fear of giving Ryan air control over my luggage this seems like a reasonable option. Daily BA flights from London Heathrow to Sofia came in at £112, which is not that bad considering you get a tasty little breakfast and baggage included. However, all the flight departs at 8:25am from Heathrow and unfortunately that is miles and miles away from where I live – so without a car I would be relying solely on the tube to get me to my plane on time. Throwing in that the first train isn’t until at 5:15am ish it would be a tight squeeze to say the least. Then, with the hassle of having to travel by bus from Sofia to Plovdiv this option soon becomes awkward and difficult.
Plane via a Budget airline.
Ryan air fly’s direct to Plovdiv, it has irregular flights all departing London Stansted at ungodly hours and coming in at roughly £80 with a hold bag. My knee jerk reaction is no, I don’t want to start my epic adventure with a shitty Ryan air flight, but after much agonising mulling, the offer of a lift to the airport (Stansted is way closer to my house) tipped the boat. It’s cheaper and direct, although I will hate every minute of the experience and there will inevitable be a screaming baby sat directly next to me – I will be flying with Ryan air. Apologies for my bad behaviour world! Someone tell BA to fly to Plovdiv.
nichol keene 