Travel information

Transport
Sofia is easily accessible by air, train, bus or car and the transportation means is your choice. The taxi fare from airport, the Central Train Station and Central Bus Station to the Vitosha Park Hotel is ca. 5–6 Euro. When you decide to choose the taxi company we recommend the use of OK Super Trans. This company has a desk at the Airport. If you need a taxi, please, go to this Desk and order it. The same company can be also used from the train and bus stations. Vitosha Park Hotel also maintaines an official contract with the same company. To avoid overcharging, it is recommendable to use only this company to reach the Hotel.

Parking
For those who will come by cars, parking places are available near the Vitosha Park Hotel at a price of four BGN (~2 Euro) per 24 hours.

Visa requirements
The entry formalities for Bulgaria vary according to the country of origin. For EU countries visa is not required. Please, contact your travel agent or the Bulgarian Embassy in your country for formalities. The Congress Secretariat will send you a letter of invitation upon request. It should be understood that this letter is only to help delegates to raise travel funds or to obtain a visa and is not a commitment on the part of the organizers to provide any financial support. Applications for a letter of invitation should be received by the Congress Secretariat before 1st Aprill, 2006. Please, note that visa application can take a lot of time.

Clothing/Weather
Early summer in Bulgaria is normally warm (25°C on average), but this period of the summer can also be rainy. For the excursions and field trips you will need rain-protection clothes and shoes suitable for climbing.

Currency
The unit of currency in Bulgaria is the lev (BGN) (= 100 stotinki). Exchange rate: the official bank exchange rate is 1 Euro = 1.955830 BGN. The exchange rate at the airport is relatively low. At the Hotel there is a bank desk where you can change your money during the working days. There is also an ATM (automatic telling machine) at the hotel that can operate with international credit cards.

Public transport
There is a well-developed public transport network in Sofia of trams, busses, troley busses and metro. For more information please visit: http://www.sofia.com/transport/

Special attention
Money care: please, watch out for your pocket money. Unfortunately there is a risk from pick-pocketing, especially in crowded places and the public transport.

More information
More information provided by BulgariaTravel.org you can find here.