Mistakes everyone makes in Plovdiv
Five mistakes that cost time or money in Plovdiv, and what to do instead.
- Airport
- PDV has only small seasonal traffic
- Perperikon
- a full day, not half a day
- The theatre
- In summer see it at a performance too
Most mistakes in Plovdiv happen before you reach the city, in the planning. People look for a flight that doesn't exist, spend a Monday in front of closed doors and squeeze Perperikon into half a day. Each one has a simple fix.
1. Looking for a direct flight to Plovdiv
Plovdiv's airport (PDV) only has the odd seasonal route, so hunting for a direct flight wastes time and sometimes ends in a pricier ticket with a connection. Instead, look for a flight to Sofia. From there it's metro to the centre, train to Plovdiv, about 3 h total.
2. Saving Monday for the house-museums
Hindliyan House and the Ethnographic Museum are closed on Mondays, and anyone who heads up Saborna to see them that day arrives at locked doors. Instead, make Monday the day for everything that opens daily: the Ancient Theatre, the Roman stadium, Nebet Tepe and Alyosha. Leave the houses for Tuesday.
3. Perperikon in half a day
Perperikon is a full day, because the drive alone takes 1 h 40 each way. Planned like Asen's Fortress or Bachkovo, it leaves too little time at the site itself. Instead, with half a day go to Bachkovo or Asenovgrad, and keep Perperikon for a day when you have a car and time.
4. Driving into the Old Town
The Old Town's streets are narrow, steep and cobbled, and a car saves nothing there, it only needs somewhere to park. Instead, park below the hill or don't rent a car at all, since everything is a walk away and a city-transport ride is €0.50.
5. Seeing the theatre only by day
By day the theatre is beautiful, but empty. From late June to early September it hosts evening opera and concerts of the Opera Open festival, and only then do you see what it was built for. Instead, if you're there in summer, check the programme and get a ticket for one evening performance.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Is the Old Town free?
Walking through it is. The house-museums and the theatre charge, and for more than three Old Plovdiv sites there's a combined ticket.
What's closed on Mondays in Plovdiv?
Hindliyan House and the Ethnographic Museum. The Ancient Theatre, the stadium, Nebet Tepe and Alyosha open every day.
How much time does Perperikon need?
Perperikon needs a full day. The drive alone takes 1 h 40 each way.
Ready for Plovdiv?
Where to next
Plovdiv in 2 days
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→A city wrapped around three bends of the Yantra, built around the fortress where the Bulgarian tsars once ruled
How well does Plovdiv suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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