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The cheapest way from Sofia Airport to the city centre is metro line M4 from Terminal 2: €0.80, about 30 minutes to Serdika, running roughly 05:30 to midnight. A licensed taxi from the official desk costs around €10 to €15 and takes 20 to 30 minutes. A private transfer with a driver waiting at arrivals starts at €25 for up to 4 people, fixed price, paid on the day.
Landing at an odd hour, travelling with kids, or just not sure which terminal you're in? Send us your flight number. A real person in Sofia answers, usually within minutes.
💬 Ask us on WhatsAppYou walk out of arrivals, tired, phone on 4%, and a friendly man asks "Taxi? Taxi, my friend?" This is the moment most visitors overpay. Sofia's airport is only about 10 km from the centre, and a normal ride should cost you roughly the price of a sandwich and a coffee. The guys who approach you inside the hall are not the official service, and their meter can run at several times the normal rate.
The good news: getting into Sofia is genuinely easy once you know the three honest options. Here they are, with the situations where each one makes sense. I live here and send friends, family and our own guests through this airport every week, so this is the version I'd give you over a beer.
The metro station sits right outside Terminal 2, connected to the arrivals level. Line M4 takes you to Serdika, the central station under the old town, in about 30 minutes, with stops at Business Park and NDK (the National Palace of Culture, handy for Vitosha Boulevard).
A single ride costs €0.80. You don't need to hunt for a ticket machine: just tap your contactless bank card or phone on the barrier. After four taps in a day the system stops charging you, so the most you'll spend on public transport is €2.00 a day.
Take the metro if: you land at Terminal 2 before about 23:00, you're one or two people, and your luggage is a backpack or a small suitcase. Skip it if: you're at Terminal 1, arriving late, or carrying big bags up and down stairs at Serdika sounds like a punishment.
Sofia taxis are cheap by European standards. A licensed car charges roughly €0.40 to €0.56 per km, which puts the ride to the centre at around €10 to €15, depending on traffic and exactly where you're going.
How to do it right:
✅ Go to the official taxi desk in arrivals (OK Supertrans at both terminals, Yellow at Terminal 2). They give you a ticket with a car number.
✅ Or order through an app: Yellow or TaxiMe. Uber and Bolt do not operate in Bulgaria, whatever an old blog post told you.
✅ Check the price sticker on the rear side window before you get in. If the per-km rate looks strange, it is.
❌ Never follow someone who approaches you inside the terminal offering a taxi.
The catch with taxis: queues at the desk after a few flights land together, drivers who speak little English, and no one waiting for you if your flight is two hours late. For a solo traveller that's fine. For a family of four at midnight, it's less fun.
This is what we arrange for our own guests. A driver tracks your flight, waits in arrivals with a name board, helps with the bags and takes you straight to your hotel or apartment door. The price is fixed before you land, so a traffic jam or a late flight doesn't change anything.
Is it more expensive than a taxi? For one person, yes. But do the maths for a group: four friends in a Mercedes C-Class pay €25, which is about €6 each. Eight people in a Vito pay the same €6 each. That's close to taxi money, with no queue, no guessing and no negotiation.
And if you'd rather start the trip with a story: we also do an airport pickup in a restored 1985 Trabant, the plastic car of communist Eastern Europe, with a driver who tells you about the era on the way in. €90 per car, up to 2 people with suitcases. Not the practical choice, and that's the point.
⚠️ The metro only serves Terminal 2. If you land at Terminal 1, there is no metro station there.
Sofia Airport has two terminals a few kilometres apart. Most international flights use Terminal 2, but some low-cost, charter and regional flights arrive at Terminal 1. Your booking confirmation or the airport's arrivals board will tell you which one.
From Terminal 1 you can take the free shuttle bus to Terminal 2 (about five minutes) and catch the metro there, or simply take a taxi from the desk. If you book a transfer with us, just send the flight number and we'll check the terminal ourselves.
A lot of budget flights land in Sofia between 23:00 and 02:00. The metro stops around midnight, and the late-night public transport is not something I'd recommend with suitcases after a long travel day.
That leaves the taxi desk or a pre-booked transfer. Both are safe. The difference is that at 01:30, with a delayed flight, the transfer driver is already standing there with your name, and the price is the same as it would have been at noon.
About 10 km. Around 30 minutes by metro to Serdika, 20 to 30 minutes by car depending on traffic.
Around €10 to €15 with a licensed taxi from the official desk or an app. If someone quotes you €40 or more, walk away.
Yes. Tap a contactless bank card or phone directly on the barrier. €0.80 per ride, capped at €2.00 per day.
No. Neither operates in Bulgaria. Use the Yellow or TaxiMe apps, the official taxi desk, or a pre-booked transfer.
With a SoFun transfer the driver tracks your flight and waits, at no extra cost. The price stays the same.
No. You confirm on WhatsApp and pay the driver on the day, cash or card.
Yes, same prices in the other direction. Most guests book both at once.
Send your flight number, arrival time, number of people and address. We confirm in minutes. From €25, pay on the day.
💬 Book my airport transferAlready in Sofia? Read our full guide to getting around the city.
I've been organising activities, transfers and weekends in Sofia since 2018. Everything in this guide comes from moving our own guests through this airport, not from other travel sites.
