Sofia Metro: Lines, Tickets, Hours and the Stations for Sights

The Sofia metro is the only underground railway in Bulgaria, with 4 lines and 50 stations, and one €0.80 fare covers any ride on it. Here are the lines and where they go, the tickets and how a bank card caps your spending, the opening hours, the airport line and the station I'd use for each sight in the city.

The Sofia metro at a glance

The metro opened on 28 January 1998, and 7 more stations are under construction. A visitor mostly rides it to and from the airport, out to the railway and bus stations, and between Serdika and NDK at the two ends of the center.

I'd use the metro for anything farther than a 20-minute walk. In the old center itself, the stations sit close together and walking is often quicker than going down to the platform and back up again.

The four metro lines

M1 and M4, the red and yellow lines

M1 and M4 share one track through the center, from Slivnitsa and Lyulin in the west, under Serdika and Sofia University, out to Mladost 1 in the east. After Mladost 1 they split: M1 trains go on to Business Park Sofia and M4 trains go to the airport. Between Serdika and Sofia University, any red or yellow train will do.

The M4 is the line most visitors ride first, because the airport is its terminus. Trains start empty at the airport, so you always get a seat into the city.

M2, the blue line

The blue line runs north to south across the center. Going north from Serdika II it reaches Lavov Most and then Central Railway Station, where the trains and the Central Bus Station are. Going south it passes NDK, by the National Palace of Culture, and ends at Vitosha station, where the buses to Boyana and the mountain leave.

At Obelya, the northern end, M2 trains carry on as M4 trains along the red and yellow track.

M3, the green line

The green line is the newest. Its first 8 stations opened in 2020, 4 more followed in 2021, and 3 new stations at the northeastern end opened on 14 August 2026. It runs from Gorna Banya and Ovcha Kupel in the southwest, through NDK II, Patriarh Evtimiy and Orlov Most in the center, to the districts northeast of Hadzhi Dimitar.

Every M3 station has glass platform doors between the platform and the track. For a visitor, Patriarh Evtimiy is the useful stop: it sits a short walk from the bars around Tsar Shishman and Graf Ignatiev streets.

Changing lines: the three transfer points

Three pairs of stations connect the lines in the center, each joined by a passage underground:

• Serdika and Serdika II link M1 and M4 with the blue M2. This is the main interchange, under the Largo in the old center.
• Sofia University and Orlov Most link M1 and M4 with the green M3, near the edge of Borisova Gradina.
• NDK and NDK II link the blue M2 with the green M3, at the south end of Vitosha Boulevard.

Changing between metro lines does not count as a transfer on your ticket, so it costs nothing extra. You only pay again if you leave the metro and board a tram or bus more than 30 minutes after your first tap.

Sofia metro tickets and fares

Every fare has been in euros since 1 January 2026. The metro and the trams, trolleybuses and buses share one ticket system, so the same fares and cards work above ground.

Paper single tickets come from the ticket desks and machines in every station. The day cards load onto a Sofia City Card or an Ultralight card at the ticket desks, and the day pass is also sold in the Mpass app. A paper single does not let you change onto a tram or bus, so if you plan to, pay with a card instead.

Paying with a contactless card

The easiest way to ride is to skip tickets altogether. Tap a contactless bank card, or a phone with Apple Pay or Google Pay, on the blue reader at the gate, and it buys you the €0.80 Ticket 30 plus. Card payment has worked at every station since November 2021.

The bank charge goes through after midnight, and it never goes above the price of a day card:

Use the same card every time, because the cap only counts taps from one card. Each passenger needs their own card or phone, and paper tickets do not count toward anyone's cap.

On a three-day trip with the airport at both ends, card taps come to €6 at most, even if you ride ten times a day. The €7.60 72-hour card costs more, and I'd only buy it for the night buses, which it includes.

Sofia metro hours and how often trains run

The first trains leave a little after 5 AM, and the last ones pass the center around midnight. On weekdays, and Friday counts as one, the last train toward the airport passes Sofia University at 11:26 PM, line 3 leaves Patriarh Evtimiy just before midnight, and line 2 leaves NDK at 11:58 PM and 12:14 AM. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays the last trains move by a few minutes.

In the center at rush hour, from about 7:30 to 9:30 AM and 5:30 to 7:30 PM, trains come every 2 to 3 minutes on the busy stretches. Off-peak it is every 5 to 7 minutes, and up to 10 minutes late in the evening. The airport branch runs less often: every 7 to 14 minutes on weekdays and every 12 to 15 minutes at weekends.

After the last train, night buses N1 to N4 leave Knyaz Alexander I Square on the hour from midnight to 4 AM. Most of Sofia's nightlife sits within walking distance of the center, so a late night out rarely needs anything else.

The airport line

Sofia Airport station stands next to Terminal 2, on the same level as arrivals, about a minute's walk from the hall. From Terminal 1, a free shuttle bus runs to Terminal 2 around the clock. The M4 then reaches Serdika in about 20 minutes, with Sofia University, the stop for Alexander Nevsky, one station before it.

The ride from Sofia Airport to the city center costs the same €0.80 as any other trip. For the railway station, change at Serdika to the blue M2 line toward Obelya and get off at the second stop.

Metro stations for the sights

Most sights in the old center are a short walk from Serdika or Sofia University.

Serdika is a sight in itself. The Roman streets and buildings of ancient Serdica were uncovered while the station was dug, and they lie open around the concourse, free to walk through from 7 AM to 10 PM.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is one stop from Serdika on the red and yellow lines and about 850 m from it on foot, a 10-minute walk, so in good weather I'd skip the ride.

At the south end of the center, NDK station sits by the park in front of the National Palace of Culture, at the south end of the shopping stretch of Vitosha Boulevard.

The two southern trips start at Vitosha station, the end of the blue line. Bus 64 goes from near the station to Boyana Church, with its frescoes from 1259, in 30 to 50 minutes from the center, depending on connections. Bus 66 climbs from the same station to Aleko on Vitosha Mountain, with more departures at weekends.

Luggage, children and step-free access

Each passenger carries two pieces of luggage free, and each extra piece needs its own ticket. A large suitcase can count as one of the extras, so a family with a lot of bags may pay a little more at the gate.

Children under 7 ride the metro free, which makes a family trip from the airport cost less than a single taxi ride.

All stations on M1, M2 and M4 are wheelchair accessible, and 12 stations on the M1 and M4 track have rope screen doors along the platform edge.

Most stations have a small bakery counter near the exits, which is where a lot of Sofia street food gets bought on the way to work: banitsa, pizza slices and pastries for a euro or two.

Is the Sofia metro safe?

Yes. Every station has video surveillance around the clock and an intercom to the control center, and the trains and stations are air-conditioned. Pickpockets are the one real risk, in crowded trains at rush hour and on the airport line.

Outside the metro, Sofia is safe to walk around the center in the evening, and unlicensed taxis at the airport are a bigger risk than anything on the metro.

Metro, tram, taxi or your feet

The National Historical Museum, in the Boyana district, is not on the metro, and bus 63 or a 20 to 25-minute taxi ride gets you there.

I'd walk between Serdika, the cathedral and Vitosha Boulevard, ride the metro to the airport, NDK and the railway station, and take a licensed taxi after midnight. Taxis in Sofia cost about €5 for 5 km by day, against €2.40 for three metro rides.

Central Railway Station, on the blue line, is where trains in Bulgaria leave for Plovdiv, the Black Sea coast and Istanbul, and the Central Bus Station stands next door. Trams, trolleybuses and buses take the same €0.80 fare and card taps, so getting around Sofia above ground costs the same per ride.