Sofia - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
Housing varies depending on family size but generally there are three different types. Apartments closer to the embassy, and housing duplexes closer to the mountains (approx 15-20 mins away to the embassy). From what I've seen the apartments appear to be 3 bedrooms on average. each one is a little different even in the same building but overall are spacious. While the layout of our apartment is a little odd overall we love our apartment it's spacious and full of natural light. The houses duplexes from the ones i've been to seem to be large, some with many stairs between levels, also with some funky layouts but in general the houses and duplexes seem nice. - Jun 2023
Government housing ranged greatly from what we saw. Our apartment was very spacious, had two bedrooms (one which had its own balcony facing Mt Vitosha), two baths, a living room, kitchen, and study. We were right next door to the embassy so trip to work was about 5 minutes. In the city center there were also apartments that were on the top floor with a 360 degree balcony. Depending on traffic or weather it could take around 15-30 minutes to drive into the U.S. embassy. About 30 minutes (or 45 minutes if weather was bad) outside the city, were the houses for bigger families. They were up the mountain and had two stories plus had basements. - Mar 2019
Apartments and free-standing houses. Embassy housing is very good, ranging from 5-30 minutes or so commute. We are very happy with our housing, although we would prefer to be in a complex with some sort of common area. (We are 1 mile outside of the public transport system range) - May 2016
Apartments near the Embassy and a few in the center but mostly houses near the mountain. - Dec 2014
Small apartments downtown and small houses by the mountain. No closets or storage rooms. - Nov 2014
Excellent!!!! I mean it.. We live in Lozenetz and have a 3 BD, 4 BA, 225 m2 apartment. Those in Dragalevtsi and Boyana are also very nice (No apartments there. SFH only) - Aug 2014
Housing is mainly apartments in the city and houses in the suburbs located in the mountain. Most foreigners live in the South Park area of Lozenetz close to the US Embassy, in the city center, and in houses in Boyana or Dragalevci. Apartments are usually not well kept and even if they are new they deteriorate quite rapidly given the scant attention owners place in maintenance. Traffic in Sofia has gotten worse in the last years,infrastructure has not improved and this makes commuting more time consuming and frustrating. - Jun 2011
There are apartments and large houses. Apartments are typically in the city itself. Houses are up on the mountain and are pretty nice. During rush hour, it can take 1/2 hour for me to go about 3 km from my house towards the city to get to the embassy. - Oct 2009
Foreigners tend to live in apartments in Lozenets very close to the city center. Others live in chalet-style homes in Boyana and Dragalevci, lovely neighborhoods with many green areas and less pollution. There is a massive real-estate boom at the moment and you will see new neighborhoods and very cool apartment buildings being built. - Feb 2008
