Bulgaria
Plovdiv
A Roman theatre still in use, in one of Europe's oldest living cities.
Plovdiv is Bulgaria's second city and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, spread across rocky hills above the Thracian plain. Its Roman theatre still hosts summer performances with the rooftops as a backdrop, a Roman stadium lies beneath the main pedestrian street, and the Old Town's painted 19th-century merchant houses climb the hills above. Below them, the Kapana quarter's lanes are packed with galleries, cafes and bars.
Suggested stay
2–3 days
Language
Bulgarian
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+3
Why you'll love Plovdiv
Roman layers a theatre, a stadium and a forum sit right in the modern centre
The Old Town cobbled lanes of painted National Revival mansions spilling over the hills
Kapana a compact creative quarter of street art, small galleries and busy bar terraces
Thracian wine Mavrud and other local grapes from the vineyards around the plain
Best time to visit
Mar-Oct
14-32° days
42.142° N, 24.750° E
UTC+3 · Europe/Sofia
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Weather & when to go to Plovdiv
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Mar-Oct
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Plovdiv
December and January are cold and often grey on the Thracian plain, and the Old Town's house museums and terraces are at their quietest. For the Rose Valley day trip, the rose harvest peaks around late May and early June.
Top things to do in Plovdiv
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Ancient Theatre of Philippopolis - the Roman theatre on the hill
history culture arts 👍 PopularA 2nd-century Roman theatre set into the slope between two of the city's hills, uncovered by a landslide in the 1970s and restored. Its marble tiers look out over the plain, and it is used for opera and concerts on summer evenings.
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Old Town - Revival houses on the three hills
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedSteep cobbled lanes lined with brightly painted 19th-century merchant houses with overhanging upper floors. Several are open as museums, including the Balabanov House, the Hindliyan House and the Kuyumdzhiev House, home of the Regional Ethnographic Museum.
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Roman Stadium and Dzhumaya Mosque
history 👍 PopularThe curved end of a Roman stadium lies sunk below Dzhumaya Square at the top of the main street, with more of the track running under the shops. Beside it stands the Dzhumaya Mosque, one of the oldest Ottoman mosques in the Balkans.
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Kapana - the creative quarter
culture arts nightlife music food 👍 PopularA tight grid of lanes just off the main street, named 'the trap', where old workshops became galleries, craft beer bars, cafes and small restaurants. It is the city's liveliest spot in the evenings.
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Nebet Tepe - the Thracian hilltop at sunset
history scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedThe highest point of the Old Town holds the remains of the Thracian and later fortress, with wide views over the river, the city's hills and the plain. It is the classic place to watch the sun go down.
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Bishop's Basilica - early Christian mosaics
history culture artsA large early Christian basilica with extensive floor mosaics of birds and geometric patterns, preserved under a modern museum building in the centre. The nearby Small Basilica has more mosaics.
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Hisar Kapiya and the Church of Sts Constantine and Helena
historyThe old fortress gate is the gateway into the Old Town, and just inside it the church of Sts Constantine and Helena has a richly carved and painted interior from the Revival period.
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Bunardzhika Hill and the Alyosha monument
history scenicA wooded hill west of the centre topped by a huge Soviet soldier monument, with one of the best panoramas of the city and its hills.
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Thracian food and wine
foodOrder shopska salad, kavarma stews and grilled meats, and try Mavrud, the dark red grape of the Plovdiv and Asenovgrad area, in the wine bars of Kapana and the Old Town.
Best areas to stay in Plovdiv
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Old Town
Couples and history lovers $$Cobbled hills of painted Revival houses
Explore hotels in Old Town →
Kapana
Nightlife seekers $$Arty lanes of bars and galleries
Explore hotels in Kapana →
Centre
Budget travellers $Pedestrian main street and city gardens
Explore hotels in Centre →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Plovdiv
Getting to & around Plovdiv
Getting there
Most visitors fly into Sofia and continue about 2 hr by coach or train; Plovdiv's own small airport has only a few flights
Flight
Sofia Airport (SOF)
Take the metro into central Sofia, then a coach or train to Plovdiv; the coach takes around 2 hr and the train a little longer, both arriving near the centre.
Train
Plovdiv Central station
Trains run from Sofia and on east towards Stara Zagora and Burgas; the station is a walk from the main street
Coach
Yug bus station
Frequent coaches from Sofia and the Black Sea coast arrive at Yug, beside the train station; some northern routes use Sever
Drive
The Trakia motorway links Plovdiv with Sofia to the west and the Black Sea coast to the east
Getting around
Walking
The Old Town, Kapana, the main street and the Roman sites are all close together and best seen on foot
Free
City bus
Useful for the stations and outer districts, less so for the compact centre
TBC
Taxi
Plentiful and inexpensive; use a clearly marked company taxi
TBC
Car hire
The easiest way to reach the Rhodope monasteries, Thracian tombs and wine villages
TBC
Day trips from Plovdiv
Bachkovo Monastery
Half dayMountain monastery
Bulgaria's second-largest monastery, founded in the 11th century in a Rhodope valley, with frescoed churches and a refectory. Easily paired with Asen's Fortress.
Getting there
bus | car
About 45 min by bus or car via Asenovgrad
Asen's Fortress
Half dayCliff-top medieval fortress
A medieval fortress and its restored church perched on a crag over the Chepelare river gorge, with dramatic views into the Rhodopes.
Getting there
car
About 30 min by car above Asenovgrad
Koprivshtitsa
Full dayRevival-era village
A mountain village of painted Revival houses, stone bridges and house museums, where the April Uprising of 1876 began.
Getting there
car
About 1.5-2 hr by car
Starosel and Hisarya
Full dayThracian tombs and wine
Visit Thracian cult complexes and wineries around Starosel, then the Roman walls and mineral springs of the spa town of Hisarya.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1 hr by car
Kazanlak and the Rose Valley
Full dayThracian tomb and roses
The UNESCO-listed Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak (seen via a replica) and the valley that grows roses for rose oil, which is at its best during the harvest around late May and early June.
Getting there
car | bus | train
About 1.5-2 hr by car, bus or train
Rhodope Mountains
1-2 daysMountain villages and gorges
Head south past Bachkovo to the Wonderful Bridges rock arches, the village of Shiroka Laka and the gorges of Trigrad.
Getting there
car
About 1.5-2.5 hr by car south
A little history of Plovdiv
Plovdiv grew from a Thracian settlement on Nebet Tepe, and in 342 BC Philip II of Macedon took it and gave it the name Philippopolis. Under Rome it became Trimontium, the city of three hills, and a major provincial centre with the theatre, stadium and forum that still surface in the modern streets.
The Ottomans took the city, as Filibe, in the 14th century, and in the 19th century wealthy merchants built the painted Revival mansions of the Old Town. After 1878 Plovdiv was the capital of Eastern Rumelia until its union with Bulgaria in 1885. In 2019 it was a European Capital of Culture.
First settlement on the hill of Nebet Tepe
Philip II of Macedon takes the Thracian town and renames it Philippopolis
The city comes under Roman rule as Trimontium
The Roman theatre and stadium are built
Ottoman conquest; the city becomes Filibe
Merchants build the painted National Revival houses of the Old Town
Becomes capital of the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia
Eastern Rumelia unites with the Principality of Bulgaria
Plovdiv is a European Capital of Culture
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Limited
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+359
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Plovdiv
▸ When is the best time to visit Plovdiv?
March to October has the best weather for the Old Town, the Roman sites and the terraces of Kapana, and summer brings evening performances in the Roman theatre. December and January are cold and often grey.
▸ How many days do you need in Plovdiv?
Two days covers the Old Town, the Roman sites and Kapana. A third day lets you add Bachkovo Monastery and Asen's Fortress, or a wine and Thracian tomb trip.
▸ Is Plovdiv a good day trip from Sofia?
It works as a long day trip, since coaches and trains take around 2 hr each way, but the city rewards a night or two: evenings in Kapana and sunset on Nebet Tepe are highlights.
▸ Which airport should I fly into for Plovdiv?
Most visitors fly into Sofia, which has far more routes, and continue by coach or train. Plovdiv's own airport is close to the city but has only a handful of flights, so check it first if one happens to suit.
▸ Is Plovdiv expensive?
No, it is one of the more affordable cities in the EU for eating, drinking and staying. Guesthouses in the Old Town cost more than hotels in the modern centre.
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