Practicalities
Blagoevgrad's train station is about 1km southwest of the centre on ul. Sv. Dimitar Solunski; bus #2 or #3 will save you a walk into town. The majority of Sofia-Blagoevgrad buses pick up and drop off in the car park immediately in front of the train station; most other services use the terminal 200m south along ul. Sv. Dimitar Solunski. The best source of information - not only on Blagoevgrad but the whole region - is the Pirin Tourist Forum (Mon-Fri 8.30am-6.30pm and sometimes Sat 10am-4pm; tel 073/81458 & 36795, ) near the Hotel Kristo , which can advise on accomodation throughout the Pirin area - although it can't book rooms on your behalf. The Tourist Forum's main concern is the development of eco-tourism, and it may have details of up-and-coming villages where homestays are available. Blagoevgrad's two downtown hotels cost the same, but are completely different: the allegedly three-star Alen Mak near the main square (tel 073/23031, fax 20713; US$36-60) is a large, soulless conference venue with notoriously bad service, while the Kristo , in the Varosha district, just uphill from the Church of the Annunciation (tel 073/80444; US$36-60), is a relatively new venture offering cosy ensuites in a traditional-style galleried building. A very last resort is the Bor (tel 073/22491; US$18-36), a less salubrious hotel at the top of a steep flight of steps in the park - it's hell to reach after dark or with luggage. Good places to eat and watch the streetlife are Pizza Napoli - which does tastier pizzas than Planet Italia - or, if you just fancy salad, soup and grills, almost any of the cafes on Todor Aleksandrov. Though most places stop serving food an hour or so earlier, you can usually keep drinking till midnight. To enjoy Bulgarian cuisine in comfort, track down Mehana Izvora near the river, which also has live folk music, or Kuklite in the Varosha, a former favourite with the university crowd. The restaurant of the Hotel Kristo offers decent grill food, and has a nice outdoor terrace with good views. Coolest places to drink are the air-conditioned Kristal on the corner of pl. Balgariya and the snazzy Cafe Luksor diagonally opposite - although there are so many cafes along bul. Balgariya and neighbouring streets that it's often best to stroll the area until you find a place - or style of music - that takes your fancy. After midnight, clubbers gravitate to the numerous disco-bars off pl. Balgariya. Underground , recognizable by its London tube sign, is a split-level cellar with three bars (one for beer only), where you can indulge in unrestrained but trouble-free drinking and dancing to hard rock, soul or salsa. Blagoevgrad is home to some prestigious cultural institutions and festivals: its theatre and chamber opera (both named after the poet Nikola Vaptsarov) are among the best in the provinces, and the Pirin Folk Ensemble (based at the Yavorov Hall, next to the American University building) is the most popular troupe in Bulgaria. A children's piano competition takes place at the chamber opera in late February or early March, while the Theatre Days (late April to early May) are Bulgaria's equivalent of the Edinburgh Festival, with drama companies from all over Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia competing for prizes at the Vaptsarov Theatre
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