What to do in Sofia on a rainy day
Rain is a good excuse to do something you keep postponing while the sun is out.
Museums that fill half a day
The National Museum of History in Boyana, Square 500 behind the cathedral, the Archaeological Museum in the centre, the National Museum of Natural History on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard and the Sofia History Museum in the former Central Mineral Baths. Earth and Man is a mineral museum and is unexpectedly beautiful.
Check the closing day before you go; for many museums it is Monday.
Moving indoors
Climbing gyms, swimming pools, bowling, badminton and table tennis halls, yoga and dance studios. Many offer a trial visit or a single-entry ticket, so you do not need to sign up for a month just to try.
Games and puzzles
Board game clubs have hundreds of games and usually someone who will explain the rules. Escape rooms suit a group of three to six, and they are one of the few formats where strangers start talking within five minutes, because there is simply no time for awkwardness.
Learn something in an afternoon
Workshops in pottery, cooking, painting, candle making or brewing. They usually need booking and run in small groups, which also makes them good for meeting people.
Slow places
Bookshops with cafés, tea houses, the City Library, an afternoon film. Sometimes a rainy day is simply an invitation to do nothing useful, and that is a normal plan too.
Rain with people
If you want to do something but not alone, rainy days suit small indoor gatherings: games, a film, coffee. See what is on in Haide today, or gather three people for something you feel like doing.