Where to stay in Plovdiv

In Plovdiv you choose between two quarters five minutes apart that behave very differently at night. In the Old Town everything goes quiet after dark except footsteps on the cobbles. In Kapana that's when people go out. A hostel bed is €11–16, and whichever you pick, everything else is a walk away.

Outside the door are big cobbles, a courtyard wall and the upper floor of the house next door leaning over the lane. After dark there's no music and no traffic, and in the morning you're first at the house-museums and the theatre. The price is the climb. From Dzhumaya Square it's uphill over uneven stone, and two addresses the same distance away on a map are not the same walk with a suitcase. For a room in the Old Town, check the exact address, not just the quarter.

It suits couples, people who come for the Old Town itself and anyone who gets up early. It doesn't suit anyone with heavy luggage or plans to come back late from Kapana.

Getting aroundHow you get from the station to either part of town:Getting around Plovdiv →

Outside the door is a narrow, crooked street with café tables, murals on the walls and shops on the ground floors of the old craftsmen's quarter. The ground is flat and the main street is a couple of minutes away, so it's the better choice with a suitcase. It stays lively late into the night, and you hear it through the window.

It suits short stays, solo travellers and groups who want dinner on the doorstep. It doesn't suit light sleepers, who should look for a room with a window onto the courtyard.

BudgetWhat that night and day actually cost:What Plovdiv costs →

For one night

For a single night, pick Kapana. You don't climb with your luggage, dinner is on the doorstep, and the morning climb to the Old Town is done without a suitcase.

• Don't rent a car for the sake of your room. The Old Town's streets are narrow and cobbled, parking is a problem, and everything is a walk away.